Kiwis Moving to Australia

We moved to Queensland, Australia nearly 4 years ago. Queensland appealed to us because of warm winters, only one plane to catch back to New Zealand (places like Perth and Townsville have extra expense and time because of distance) and because we thought a huge city like Melbourne or Sydney would be too scary and expensive. We were pretty discouraged by the low wages and lack of work opportunities in New Zealand too.

We made the firm decision to move after we visited the Sunshine Coast during the winter. The Sunshine Coast is a tourism destination, and we didn't consider it seriously to live and work, especially as it gets crazy in the summer. We talked to many positive people, including Kiwis that moved over years ago and Australians that said, 'why not?' We met some people from the UK that moved over with just their clothes - they said, 'don't think too hard about it, just do it!' Trying to nut out every little detail can be paralysing; taking action is often the best strategy.

Back in New Zealand, Kiwis were more reserved, cautious and negative. 'Seems risky.' 'Maybe you should have a house to come back to first?' 'X spent $15, 000 getting their furniture over.' 'Australia's not all it's cracked up to be.'

New Zealanders are allowed to live and work in Australia for as long as they like, even if they don't become Australian citizens. They can't vote, go on the dole or join the defence.

There were around 1000 families moving to South-East Queensland from New Zealand each week when we moved over. Many others were moving from the UK, South Africa and other states of Australia. I'd estimate two-thirds of people living in Qld are were not born in Qld.

Many people from the UK move to Australia and New Zealand. They tend to love the climate and lifestyle, but miss family and find it very expensive to go back for visits on the other side of the world. They also missed their careers and income in the UK.

We moved from the North Island to the South Island and back to the North Island of New Zealand. We've seen most of this small country. It cost about the same to fly within the islands as it did to fly to Brisbane or Sydney. Being just over the ditch, it wasn't that far or expensive for family to visit. We were keen to experience living in another country. And if we hated it, we could always go back to NZ.

We decided much of our stuff like appliances was too old to justify the expense of shipping over, but still in good enough condition to sell for a decent price. We found an auction outlet that would collect our belongings and sell them, depositing money in the bank as things were sold.

The main stuff we decided to take was our bedroom suites (new rimu furniture and near-new beds), and more expensive toys, like LEGO. Plus the family dog.  From memory, it cost around $2000 to ship over what we did (not a full house-lot), using professional movers. All our clothes fitted into suitcases.

The dog's airfare, boarding kennels and vet check before coming over cost more than airfares for 2 adults and 1 child. We had to buy a crate for the dog (was cheaper than hiring one, as didn't have to send back). Cats and dogs need vet checks shortly before leaving New Zealand, but there are no quarantine times.

We left our young son with family, with the intention to come over nearly 2 weeks later. The dog was staying in kennels near Auckland that was experienced with dispatching pets overseas. Our son was too upset being left behind, and within a week, I had to fly back to get him. We all ended up sleeping on an air-bed together until our bedroom stuff arrived.

Things were a bit stressful until hubby was settled into work and money was coming in. We think it is an easier option to sell possessions and buy new ones, rather than paying for freight and waiting several weeks for it to arrive. Also, customs can be pedantic if they spot animal fur on a couch or decide that your lawnmower hasn't been steam-cleaned well enough - so they will order fumigation/steam-cleaning at your cost.

We had to find somewhere to live and also find jobs. We found temporary accommodation in a bed and breakfast (which was more like bed, shower, toilet, no breakfast) and hired a car. We'd heard of others with good jobs that got transferred with work and got put up in comfortable hotels. Not us, we were sink or swim - we are not entitled to the dole and had to find a way to support ourselves, or go back to NZ.

To hire property, one needs local ID and has to jump through plenty of hoops. These are some of the things we had to get sorted ASAP in roughly this order:

1. Tax file number from Australian Tax Office - needed for employment and to apply for Queensland Driver's licence
2. Bank account - we'd already made arrangements while still in New Zealand, but had to go in and sign to activate our account.
3. Queensland Driver's Licence - from Queensland Transport. One can drive in Australia on a NZ licence, but a QLD licence is essential local ID. We did a short written test, paid a small fee and were issued with licences. My husband had no trouble having his truck and trailer licence transferred over, but he had to redo his forklift ticket, as they don't accept the NZ certification.
4. Accommodation - we found somewhere to live fairly quickly, but unfortunately, it turned out to be a cockroach infested oven. If you're from a colder climate moving to a subtropical/tropical region, be sure to get a house with air-conditioning and not too much sun-exposure, because the summers are HOT! We needed 100 points of ID (QLD driver's licence, NZ passport, phone referee/rental ledger are usual requirements). All our rentals have done 3 monthly inspections, which we never got in NZ. Most are okay with 'outside pets.' We had to cough up 4 weeks bond plus 2 weeks rent in advance - ouch!
5. Transport - Buying a new car is considerably cheaper than in NZ, but buying a used car was more expensive. There's no ACC in Australia, so one has to pay an extra insurance with registration incase of being sued for causing damage to someone (people can sue in Australia too, something that doesn't happen yet in NZ). It is highly recommended to have tinted windows and air-conditioning in cars in Queensland. Initially, we bought one new car and used public transport (buses and trains). We were given a second car by someone that couldn't bother re-registering it. When that car died and finally got towed away, we were able to buy a later model second car.
6. Employment - Hubby started a job truck-driving, but found it too stressful trying to find his way around in a foreign city initially. So, he did temping for several months (after he got a Qld forklift ticket). When he went back driving, he got a GPS navigation device. I only wanted part-time work to fit in with being a parent, and worked as a merchandiser and then an image library assistant (neither of which I'd done before). The wages are approximately 25% higher than New Zealand and superannuation is added onto the package, not subtracted off. No tax is paid for the first $15, 000 earned. We could claim work-related expenses like work-boots, work sunglasses and computer expenses.
7. Medicare card - this enables discounts on doctors visits and other medical services. By going to a 'bulk-billed' doctor, we don't have to pay a cent.
8. Centrelink - we didn't know about this initially. Families can receive childcare rebates and other entitlements from the Australian government, depending on income. Otherwise, childcare can seem outrageously expensive. We've chosen Family Daycare for childcare, which is affordable care in carer's houses - the carers must pass police checks and safety checks. We've also received one-off payments here and there from centrelink too, sometimes hundreds of dollars.
9. Household items - it was fun to go shopping for new items. Second-hand stores were a bit of a rip off, but we bought a couple of old sofas, and to get rid of them, we just left them on the side of the road - within an hour, they were gone - someone squeezed them one at a time into the back of their old hatchback. Furniture is quite cheap. We bought some of our furniture from IKEA - trendy and looks more expensive than it really is. We were told by a UK immigrant to haggle with appliances and furniture - can usually get $100-$200 off larger items. We had to buy a water efficient front-loader washing machine, which we received a government rebate on (a water-saving incentive during the drought). So just as well we didn't ship our water-guzzling washing machine over with water restrictions.
10. Childcare/school - with no family members to do free babysitting, we arranged a few hours at a childcare centre for socialisation and so I could work part-time. We were to discover that our son would not be starting school on his 5th birthday the coming May, but would be starting while still 4 at the beginning of the year (a non-compulsory year called 'prep' - equivalent to NZ Year 1). Many schools have outside school hours care, but our son did better with a Family Day carer - where small groups of children are cared for in the carer's home.