Reply to: Current situation in Australia

[JoJoGabor]

I used Lester for payroll. No real problems, paid regularly. They are also authorised to sponsor you for the 457 - its better this way than the client sponsoring you as you can then work for any end-client. However I had problems with them when trying to get my 457 renewed after moving to NZ for 6 months and my first 457 expired. They took ages to renew my visa, so long I lost my contract renewal and had to return to the UK. Missed out on a 60% increase in my rate with previous client!! However the sponsoring laws had just changed at that time, so they were waiting for government approval

[gadgetman]

Well done on the contract.

Regarding insurance, you don't have to get it You get GP and emergency cover under the reciprocal health care scheme and many aussies don't have private insurance.

But if you get a non-urgent problem like with my knee then you may have to wait quite a while to get it sorted under the public system.

Already under my cover (only since June) both my wife and daughter have had two new sets of glasses, my son has had chiropractor visits and of course I'm getting my op done. I also have a tooth niggling me and need some glasses or lenses myself, so we are currently well ahead!

If you decide not to go private then do get "ambo" cover as a bare minimum though.

Regarding Lester, I refer you to my earlier comments.

[Funkywood]

Interesting note about the insurance. Another expense to add.

As for my update, I've got the Brisbane contract without even going for an interview, which is a first for me. Their first contract hire apparently so they were a bit slow with the paperwork. This one has also set the start date for another 2 weeks before I actually start so might make it to the slopes after all. Anyone had other problems with contract newbie clients?

The agent gave me the name of an umbrella/"contract manager" that has a number of 457s allocated and will get you one, for a price.

They reckon you can then work for multiple clients under them for up to the 4 years. Wasn't my plan but I'll see how things go before I decide how long to stay.

Oh yeah, their website is Lester.com.au

[gadgetman]

Quite lot more I would think. There's no easy answer.

Because I am on a 457 I can only get 'visitors cover' which is more expensive. Then there are all sorts of discounts and different packages and 'extras' you can add on. I am actually working for Bupa (known as HBA over here) and even I find it tricky to work out.

If you don't get private cover you actually get penalised in your tax by a couple of percent plus the older you are when you start the less governement rebate (max 30%) you get on the premium. But on a 457 I get a free pass on this bit.

Basically you MUST get amulance cover as it can leave you out of pocket by thousands. Fortunately this is cheap on its own. We have bought a top of the range package for the whole family including my 19 y.o. and this costs $340 per month after all the various discounts and rebates. This includes ambulance, hospital, dental, optical etc.

Ah Mr Gadget - What sort of costs are we talking about for health cover (I have Bupa in blighty, kept it going when I went t self employed and its about £30 per month here !)

You must take care of ones self, I stopped playing rugby when I went into contracting for that very reason

[Moscow Mule]

Correct. Skiing in Australia is the world's biggest rip off. Better to go to NZ. No wonder we're so ordinary at the Winter Olympics.

You used to be able to do a AU$99 weekend from Sydney. That was staying in a ski-bum hostel though...

[weemster]

Ah Mr Gadget - What sort of costs are we talking about for health cover (I have Bupa in blighty, kept it going when I went t self employed and its about £30 per month here !)

You must take care of ones self, I stopped playing rugby when I went into contracting for that very reason

[gadgetman]

I'd planned on going skiing now in Oz but I'm currently hobbling about waiting for an op to fix a torn cartilage. That reminds me weemster, make sure you take out private health insurance!

[JoJoGabor]

I thought the skking in Australia was expensive (Blue Cow and Thedbow) then went and did a season in Treble COne in NZ!! Now that must be the most expensive in the world, and for only 2 chairlifts!!! It is rubbish. Australia skiing was much bigger area and more varied and the snow is comparable.

Go to Japan if you want some good skiing close(ish) to Australia

[Jet Setter]

Correct. Skiing in Australia is the world's biggest rip off. Better to go to NZ. No wonder we're so ordinary at the Winter Olympics.

[Funkywood]

I was just sub 30 when I applied for it but sadly that's no longer the case as I left it as late as I could while the going was good at home, stretching it out by not actually getting here until a year after I applied. So no fruit picking for me I've just had a call from the agent in Brisbane though so that's a good sign.

Thanks for the update on the UK situation, it's hard to judge from here. Best thing I've got is the old pimp email index which has increased markedly since November when I think I went for 2 weeks without so much as a phishing email.

I'm getting a few a day now. One or two a month are actually personal, asking how I'm doing and if I'm back on the UK market yet. Then again I did tell a few that I might be back in July.

btw: After considering it I found out the lift passes for skiing here are some of the most expensive I've seen unless you get in before July. Cheaper to fly to NZ if you want more than a couple of days on the slopes.

[weemster]

Assume in that case you are sub 30.

My advice is stick with it over there - there isn't a great deal about here at the moment although that said things are slowly getting a little easier albeit very slowly.

[Funkywood]

Hi,

So did you have sponsorship in the first instance to get your visa ?

No. My original plan was just to try it out for 12 months while taking time off so I just got the working holiday visa.

I might end up going through the whole skilled migrant thing too unless I can get a foot in the door with my current visa so that they'll sponsor me. There's an equivalent of the BCS test that you have to go through so I'm looking at getting that done too. You'll know more than me about that if you've already gone through it all.

Given that there's still more work in London and Australia might be lagging the UK economically anyway I might just enjoy the time off before wading into the London market again.

[weemster]

Hi,

So did you have sponsorship in the first instance to get your visa ?

[Funkywood]

I'm trying to get .Net work in Australia right now and found Mycareer.com.au to be as good as Seek. Given the time of year Brisbane is my first choice and do have possible client who has had things delay the project (death in the family).

The agent says she's going push them a bit as I've only got just enough time left on my 1 year visa to cover it after the first 7 months were made somewhat redundant by a UK client keeping me on while I was over here. At this rate the visa will go unused as far as work goes. I got told the name of an agency that deals with those seeking sponsorship too so they are my next call as I fancy staying here until the UK picks up. Their site is gnjobs.com.au but it doesn't look to have anything good right now.

[gadgetman]

Sorry but that's total ball cokcs.

Its a myth about cost of living being cheaper. With some notable exceptions its 2 to 1 or worse on the vast majority of stuff.

I'm contracting through a management company in Melbourne. I started off trying to use Lester but everytime I contacted them my previous contact had left and I found them poor at dealing with my initial queries (conflicting advice depending on who you spoke to).

LAFHA and other tax breaks make a HUGE difference to net income. This is on a 457 visa. I'm happy to answer any specifics by PM.

Don't convert that to pounds - a A$1 will have close on the same spending power in Aussie as a quid does in the UK.