lorluc

Reynella East...primary & high school next door to each other....

http://www.resc7.sa.edu.au/

I have 2 at the primary and one at the high school....but you MUST live in the zone, especially for the high school. Very popular school....which has led to them having to be very strict. Probably would still get into Primary school out of zone. Plans afoot to make it a R-12

Not heard it for definite....but if it is true, then IMO, the right decision.....

This country needs to manage/cope with what we've got now....

 

Like I said, I don't realistically have the time to 're-train' now...need the money, like yesterday!

 

Good for you, if you can afford to be going to college instead of working. I would much rather have preferred doing that for the last 2 and a half years than sitting on my ass, but being on a temp. visa we couldn't afford it...

Temporary visas are the PITS in my opinion.

I have to be honest and i am sorry if this causes offence.....but I am astounded that in 2.5 years of trying every possible avenue, you have not been able to get any work at all.

You are saying that for 2.5 years who have been 'sitting on your ass'......and saying that it is expensive to do college on a temp visa.

Did you try adult education centres such as Hamilton College? Courses there in all sorts of subject, including computers, word, myob etc........these cost $50 a term. I did many courses there in the early days ( 3 years ago) to improve my job chances....and I was never asked what visa i was on or asked to produce proof. Yes...of course with the likes of TAFE, UNI etc, it does make a difference.

What about self learning at home? You obviously have a computer...many things you could have done at home.......

The local messenger papers are always advertising courses.....did you ring these up and enquire about the costs?

I understand its hard to juggle work and kids.....i have 4 of my own...

Sorry...whilst i do sympathise ....I just find it hard to understand that after making every possible effort in the last 2.5 years ... it has led to nothing.....

Office experience? Not a fat lot actually. I did three and a half years as an admin assistant in local government, but that was 20 years ago, before I went off to uni! I apply for loads of office jobs and sent my CV to all the big agencies...I think my experience was too long ago for them to take any notice of it. All I get back from them is a standard rejection e-mail.

 

Availability and standard of childcare facilities is great, yes, depending on where you live. I still wonder, for people with a couple of small children, and who may be still on temporary visas, if the cost of full-time childcare wouldn't take up most of the wages earned...it could end up leaving you no better off financially to put your kids in a childcare centre.

No good emailing them...you need to actually make an appointment and go in and register..... I can assure you they wont take much notice of emailed resumes...unless of course you are applying for a particular job and they are interested in you.

Of course most of them are in the city...so need to set aside a day..make a couple of appointments. They will test your skills etc.

Agencies kept me going in work for a good couple of years....all part-time work as well...in admin

MYOB is a very good skill to learn.......

I agree....childcare would be very expensive on a temp visa....

what office work experience do you have?

Have you signed up with any agencies?

I have to say i have found the childcare facilities and availablity over here excellent...both for pre-school and school age kids

Finding jobs to fit in with school hours is very hard. It's what some of us ideally want....but unfortunately they are scarce.

After nearly 3 years, I finally got a job that fits in with school hours...i work 9.15am till 2.45pm, 3 days a week.

But even with this, I still have to worry about care during the school hols...........so this is something to bear in mind when you finally do get that 'school hours job'.

For most of the previous 3 years, I worked through agencies. I always managed to get part-time work in admin.......normally around 2/3 whole days a week or part-time hours that didnt fit in with school hours...e.g. 10-4pm etc........but i stuck with it...gained some australian work experience. I used a great child care centre for my son....and on some occasions (if i couldnt start once i took the kids to school) used before school care.

I was lucky that my husband was home from work in time to collect the kids from school.

My advice to everyone is to take what you can get....even if it means using care for yr kids in the short term. The more experience you get....the more doors it opens....you can bargain a bit more....

Good luck...it isnt easy!

but in some case, Temporary Resident visa also get Family Tax A, Childcare Benefít in 2 year waiting period. I read it on OZ CenterLink website

This link gives you the residency requirements for Family tax A etc

http://www.centrelink.com.au/internet/internet.nsf/payments/qual_res_ftba.htm

Thanks everyone for your responses...very helpful!

 

Just one more thing. You mention benefits? Do we need to have lived in Oz for a length of time before we qualify or do we qualify immediately?

 

We have a Permanent Residency Visa.

 

Thanks again

 

Hermione, Stephen (Brickie), George 4 & Harry 1

You have Permanent Residency.....you will be entitled to claim family assistance, rent assistance and child care benefit.....again it will be earnings related.

Everything else, i think is a 2 year wait

I think the centre that my son recently attended charge around $65 a day. If you are on a Permanent visa, you will be able to apply for child care benefit which will reduce the fees.

Child care benefit is family earnings related...more you earn, the less benefit you will get.

Also, on a quarterly basis, 50% of your out of pocket expenses (i.e. the fees you have actually paid after benefit has been taken off), is reimbursed to you.

A permanent resident is entitled to Family Assistance, Rent Assistance and Child Care Benefit. These benefits are earnings related.

Your earnings in the Uk during the Australian Tax year will also be taken into account. (Oz tax year July-June)

E.g. If you arrived in January 2009.....they will want to know what you earned in the UK from 1st July 2008. It will then be converted into a dollar figure.

I met someone the other day who was out here on a Perm visa, and had been told by their agent, they weren't entitled to any benefits. Yes that is true to a certain extent...but the ones mentioned above are excluded from the 2 year waiting period.

Surely it would make more sense to look at a different school.....you mentioned you were moving? What about in that area?

IMO, keeping him home will only make things worse in the long run....you may never get him back to school. What about the social aspect of school? How will he make friends? Surely that is also an important part of 'education'?

I'm suprised at how much your child is expected to do in reception...my son is in reception and certainly has no pressure.

Also...surely the different years have different play areas where only certain year levels are allowed to be?

I've seen at first hand what happens when a child is 'allowed' to stay home...and believe me you dont want to go there.....

I didn't know Medicare did ambulance cover, and there's nothing on their website that I can find with reference to it. Can someone post a link?

 

Never had cover in 18 years here, not needed it either.

Do they mean Medibank????

Just got this paragraph from the Medicare website:

What is not covered?

Ambulance

Medicare does not cover the cost of emergency or other ambulance services. In Queensland and Tasmania, this service is provided free by the state government. NSW and ACT provide free ambulance cover for pensioners and low income earners.

In other states, you can arrange ambulance cover yourself from the ambulance authority in your state. Alternatively, you can arrange cover with your health insurer as part of your Hospital or General Treatment cover.

Note that ambulance cover can vary - some insurers provide cover for all ambulance travel, while others only provide for ground travel or other limited arrangements, such as in your state of residence only. Check the details with your insurer to ensure which type of ambulance cover best suits your needs.

We were stung...had only been here 2 months and had to all an ambulance for my son...cost was $700.

Never had to call an ambulance before...ever...

We now have cover through mutual community......$43.20 a year...which includes the 30% gov rebate...which i can only assume we get as we have also got medical extras insurance.

My daughter, as she is 18 and working full-time, has to have her own cover...$21.60 for the year.....again hers includes the 30% rebate as she also as extras insurance.

I urge people to donate.....this is just awful.

Our kids school are doing a non-uniform day where the kids make a gold coin donation for not wearing their uniform.

Also organising a shoe box appeal, where kids donate toys etc...

Maybe see if your school is doing something? Or maybe encourage them to?

Sky news are reporting the toll could rise to over 100......

What can anyone say????

I have done a few courses at Hamilton School, within the Adult Education department..and they are very good and cheap! My courses cost me about $50 for a term....each subject of course.

Would just like to add...that my be an idea to get yr kids names down asap...i know that they were getting very full. We've recently had the collapse here of the ABC childcare centres and that is having a knock on affect to other centres.....

So - we paid tax in the last 2 tax returns but can't claim family benefits (temp 495 visa) - would we be eligible do you think??

Please say yes!!

 

Donna x

IMO...u would be...but i'm not an expert in all this...just interpret things from what i read. But i understand that on a temp visa u are classed as a resident for tax...so i reckon yes.

But unfortunatley for the 'back to school' bonus, you have to be eligible for FA part A...

Hi Claire

 

The way I read it is that anyone who is an Australian resident for tax purposes and who lodges a tax return for 07/08 by June 2009 are eligible. So temporary residents who fit this criteria are eligible for the working person $950 payment.

 

Don't hold me to it but just my interpretation of what I have read so far.

 

Andy

Ah....but the way i read it...it says 'have paid tax' in the year 2007-2008. So you may have put in a tax return, but if your tax was 'nil' (which mine was) then you are not eligible...

What do you reckon?

The Government’s $950 Back to School Bonus will provide a one-off, up-front bonus to be paid to families eligible for Family Tax Benefit Part A (FTB-A) on 3 February 2009 for each eligible child of school age (aged 4 to 18 on 3 February 2009).

Although i admit this is good for us as we fall in the above category....a thought has occured to me....there doesnt seem to be too much for families with pre-school age kids in this package.

It seems that if you are a family, where the mother stays home to care for young kids...and maybe does some part-time work, but doesnt pay tax as she doesnt earn much...then you miss out on quite a bit here...

You miss out on the single income family bonus....because you're earning an income....

You miss out on the tax bonus as you would not have paid tax in 2007-2008

You miss out out on the school bonus because yr kids are not at school!!!

Oh good, they can use all the new halls to run drop-in centres for all the people who end up out of work!

 

All very well giving money to tax payers, but what about families such as ourselves where OH has been made redundant and therefore will possibly not be paying any tax!

 

If he paid tax last year (2007-2008)...you should get it...if i understand it correctly!

This looks very intriguing but there was one thing that caught my eye...

 

The remaining third of the plan is an immediate injection of $12.7 billion in one-off bonus payments of $950 each for low- and middle-income households and individuals through five bonuses to be paid in the next few weeks through either the Australian Tax Office or Centrelink.

 

It means 8.7 million workers earning $100,000 or less will receive a lump sum payment of up to $950 each from April.

 

Would this apply to ANYONE in full time-part time employment irregardless of type of visa?

 

I assume a person on a WHV would not get a look in though.

The link in the opening thread explains this really well.

lump-sum payment of up to $950 will be made to eligible taxpayers from April 2009. The bonus will be available to Australian resident taxpayers who paid tax in the 2007-08 financial year after taking into account available tax offsets and credits.

So if you were a resident and paid tax during 2007-2008 (after offsets etc) you will be eligible.

We lost our power for about 30 mins or so this afternoon, here in Happy Valley.....

When i arrived at school this morning...Reynella East Schools...the power was out. We could take our kids home...so i collected both boys....and then went to the High School to collect my daughter. As I did this, the power went back on...so the i took the boys back to school...They weren't happy!!!

But it seems, for the time being, we are not as badly affected as Victoria....keep our fingers crossed we are not!

We have evap and it is excellent! We leave it on during the night and soemtimes wake up feeling cold!

"Apparantly " Evaporative aircon isn't very good when outdoor temp is above 35.

could this be your problem ??

We've got evaporative aircon and it's bloody brilliant! We have too options on it...cooling or ventilation.....have put ventilation on by accident before now and that does chuck out warm air.

We had our's serviced recently and was told we had one of the best systems you can get.....and it works lovely.....

We leave it on over night...quite low and actually wake up and feel cold!!!

My husband has just worked from 7am till 9pm...no meal or proper breaks at all....in 41 degrees heat....the inside of his legs are red raw from sweat. The other chef's feet are covered in blisters.....

He is on a salary, therefore doesnt get paid overtime.........

Who wants to work like that???? I refer to the point i made on another thread...............there is a shortage of chefs here.....maybe we can see why now???

Oh and has to be back in work early....about 6.30am!