News

Boasting some of the most liveable cities in the world with a laid back lifestyle and great ‘work/life balance’, it’s no wonder that moving to Australia is so popular with expats. 

As anywhere, moving to Australia brings with it a lot of things to remember, from doing things in preparation for your overseas removal to learning the lingo (obviously, most speak English in Australia, but just like England they have their own slang words). 

• Get A Visa 

The first thing you must remember before moving from the UK to Australia is to apply for your visa and get this granted before travelling to the land down under. Australian visa applications are made through the Department of Home Affairs.  There are many options of visa to choose from which can be filtered down by choosing the most relevant situation to suit your needs. 

• Find A Place To Live 

If you haven’t already done so, whilst you are waiting for your visa application to be granted now is the time to look for somewhere to live. Unless you’re moving to Australia with an employer who will be paying for your accommodation whilst you are in the country, renting may be an option to consider as the average cost of residential property is $545,000, equalling to approximately £300,000. 

If you are looking to purchase a house in Australia, you’ll must do the following steps to buy a property: 

• Get a tax file number 
• Get a pre-approval on your loan 
• Apply for a mortgage
• Obtain approval from the foreign review board (anyone moving to Australia to live must get permission from the board before purchasing a property)

So, you’ve decided on renting a place in Australia, before emigrating it is worth collecting a reference from your current or previous landlord to provide to your new landlord so that they can guarantee that they are making the right choice by letting their property out to you. As well as this, you’ll want to consider setting aside some money to pay your security deposit (also known as a bond), which on average will cost around 4-6 weeks of rent, which will obviously vary depending on your rental costs. 

• Sort Out Admin 

Before moving to Australia, it is important to close any utility accounts, insurance policies and other relevant payments that you do not intend to transfer when emigrating to Australia. 

You don’t want to be paying for things that you aren’t using anymore, do you? 

Another administrative task that is recommended to carry out before moving to Australia is informing your solicitors of your house move and updating your will. Should anything happen to you whilst you are in Australia, you can be sure that your will is up to date for anyone included. 

All of these tasks are also likely to have contact details for you which will need updating, so updating important people of your new address is important to ensure that you still receive the essential communications from people. It’s also worth setting a mail-redirect up as well, as with so many places to remember updating your address it's highly likely that you’ll have forgotten somewhere. 

• It’s Time To Pack 

Packing is the next task to tackle when moving to Australia, in order for your overseas removal to take place. You should consider when moving from the UK to Australia the items that you may need to use in Australia that you don't use in the UK. The climate in Australia tends to be a lot more favourable in most areas than in the UK, and with this comes an increase in the need for holiday items such as mosquito spray, sun cream and swimwear. 

• Set Up A Bank Account 

Before you arrive in Australia, most banks in Australia offer the opportunity to open an account online so that you can start contributing money in Australian dollars to it up to a whole year before your overseas removal. All you will need for this is UK identification documents and your UK home address. For more information on opening a bank account in Australia, this Telegraph article put together by TransferWise has put together a really useful guide. 

• Organise Healthcare

With one of the most comprehensive healthcare systems in the world, you’ll need to understand how it works to assist in getting the best care for you and your family. Similar to the UK, the healthcare system in Australia is split into two parts; the public health system and the private health system.

The public system allows you to access care through Medicare, for free or at a lower cost, similar to the NHS in the UK, both of which are funded by the tax-payer. As obvious as it seems, the private system is paid for by an accumulation of government and private entities. 

So, when moving to Australia, you’ll need to make a decision on whether you want to use public or private healthcare. Either way, something to consider before emigrating to Australia is visiting your current doctor for advice and a check-up, especially if you are on regular medication. This way you can make sure that whilst you are looking for a new doctor's surgery when you arrive, you won’t run out of the medication you need. 

• Arrange Schools 

Again, the education system in Australia is much the same as the UK, with public school free for all Aussie residents and most students expected to wear a uniform. The school system won't feel unusual. With private schools, parents/guardians will be expected to pay for their child's education each year and should be aware that this cost will increase if they wish to send their child to boarding schools. 

When moving to Australia from the UK, your child will be familiar with the structure of the school, due to the structure reflecting what they are used to. Children are required to start school at the age of five and typically continue through until they’re 18. 

• Learn The Aussie Differences 

As anywhere in the world, Australia has its own form of slang words that may be completely different from the actual words that you are used to describing. Have you ever heard Australians refer to ‘nippers’? Weirdly this actually means ‘child’ (I know! I told you they can be completely different from the words you are used to). ‘Thongs’ actually refer to sandals and one you might be familiar with already is ‘barbie’, which is a barbeque (not a child’s toy doll). 

The final thing to remember when moving to Australia is that you must only walk on the left-hand side of the pavement and by law you are only allowed to cross at the designated crossings. Although you won't be penalised for walking on the right-hand side of the pavement, you can be fined AUD$70 for jaywalking. So keep that in mind when you take a walk around your neighbourhood. 

We’ve covered most of the things you need to know in preparation for moving to Australia, but if there is anything that would have really helped you to know be sure to let us know and we might add it into our guide. 

However, if you’re reading this as your planning on moving to Australia and are still looking for an overseas removal company, contact us today for a quote on 01752 548187.