lorluc

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????

That's great news, thanks for you reply, sounds perfect.

Your welcome...anything else you want to know...fire away....

I just got home from work ............. it's 40 degrees at work ................ INSIDE!!! No aircon just a piddly little fan, and because of the job I do I've had to have gloves on all day and heavy safety boots ............ my feet are killing me now.

 

We're all going to start work at 5.30am for the rest of the week to see if it makes a difference. You'd think after 18 years here I would be used to it.

Bet you smell lovely when you get home!!!

Had to give my red record book into the doctors for the kids immunisation record and the nurse has phoned me back to say they need to have the hepatitis B shot.

we have been here since november and i havent come across a thread asking for info on this?

Has any of your child/children had it and are they ok after it, thanks in advance:unsure:

 

sue xxx

Yeah my youngest son had to have it. If you want to claim child care benefit, their injections have to be up to date as per the aussie schedule.

Matthew was fine...no after effects that i can remember

Someone said that their Chef husband would expect $20 an hour at the high end if lucky.....sure I'm not over yet but have seen many chef..even cook...jobs ..that are $20 to $30 an hour. seems that good wages are possible like the uk.

Really? Please tell me where you have seen these jobs advertised. My husband has been a chef over here for 3 years....and I'm not talking just a chef...i'm talking chef/manager and head chef positions.....the highest hourly rate he has ever earned is $22.77 per hour.....and that is as a Head Chef...but that is in contract catering.

If you want to work in restaurants and hotels and do split shifts and weekends etc...etc...you may earn around $25....but you will be working bloody awful hours!

There is a restaurant who are always advertising for staff, offering great money...but those adverts are in the paper every couple of weeks.....i wonder why?

I'm not trying to put people off coming over....just being honest and saying how it is!

Lorraine

Does any body have children that go to Happy Valley Child Care Ctr?? Really keen for anyones opinions on this nursery.

My son spent a very happy 2 1/2 years there.....he left in October to start school. It is a great child care centre and is also right next door to Happy Valley Kindy....very handy if you work...as they work closely with the childcare centre, picking up and dropping of kids.

Great staff...very friendly and professional.....

Highly recommend!

As for better eductaion, I have found that private school is most favoured here and this costs money ($4k), yes it is alot less than a UK private school but you can get good schools in the UK without going private.

And there are good public schools here as well.............

You do not need to go private here to get a good education. My kids are thriving in a very good public school...

Hey all

 

Have been trawling through all the forum pages and have to say the information pages are really helpful to the unsure of us out here!

 

My husband Alex and I (Donna) have a 10 year old son Morgan and are seriously considering - again! - applying to move to Oz, Adelaide in particular. Unfortunately every time it gets to filling out the forms I lose courage and push them to one side and before we know it the impetus has gone.

 

Hubbie is a chef (managing a team in an industrial unit at present) and we would hope to get over as it seems that this is on the shortage list but there does not appear to be anyone else on here that is one. If there is or you know of a chef who has moved over could you get them to get in touch with me as I would love to know what the work situation/pay etc is like as the recruitment sites are not great for chefs.

 

So many questions to ask and so many what ifs the whole thing is quite scary. Has anyone used a migration agent or would you all recommend doing the forms yourself?

 

Perhaps just now I will leave and hope someone can answer the above.

 

Thank you in anticipation!

 

The Sandisons

Hi

My husband is a chef and worked in contract catering in the UK. He was Head Chef at commercial sites in the UK

We have been here for 3 years and he has found it very different over here. Contract Catering is not as big here as in the UK...almost non existent. Very few places have staff restaurants as there are fast food outlets and cafes, pretty much on every corner.

The main companies here are Compass/Eurest, Spotless, Sodexho....most of the jobs can be found in schools and aged care services. A full time wage would be in the region of $38-$40K for a chef or chef/manager...and believe me, they will make you work for it!

My husband is a Head Chef at a school and does earn more than i have mentioned....and is permanent...but the hours and stress that is involved, really doesnt make up for it.

There are plenty of restaurant and hotel jobs....but that's not all it seems. Most of them are advertised as casual, offering say for example 25-35 hours....and there is no guarantee that these hours are there every week.

There is a shortage of chefs in Australia for a reason..........no-one wants to do it....you can earn the same money in other jobs and have a much easier time of it.

My husband would love to get out of catering and do something else....he has applied for other jobs.......but without any luck.

Of course, this is just our experience....

Good luck!

Lorraine

hi all. I'm new here and am almost 100% sure this is the right area for me to start a new life in Australia.

anyway I'd be going over and looking for a Chef job. I'm looking at starting on $20 to get a min wage idea.

To me $500 a week seems fine to start, I've seen some great places to rent for $300 a week. Would that leave me with enough to live on with whats left?

 

also what income tax and national insurance would be taken out of wage?

 

I'm looking to apply for th skills visa, is it worth paying an agent to help? what would be the total cost for that? and what good ones are out there to help out with application?

HI

My husband is a chef and to be honest $20 is going to be a pretty good rate......and that would be at the higher end as well. But to get that kind of wage, they will want your blood, sweat and tears as well!

The majority of the chef jobs are casual......which if you are a family looking for security is not helpful at all.

There are permanent jobs out there, but not very common.

Jon is lucky that he has managed to get permanent work.

Lorraine

We got pet insurance from pet plan - $300 a year for up to $7000 cover.

It's great peace of mind. Vets bills here are just as silly as in the u.k

You can do it all on line.

We do to. Pay around $60 a month for 2 dogs.........wouldnt be without it, especially over there with all the things that they can get into trouble with!

So u all going to Moana? That's good then.............much more space for us down at Silver Sands then............

Hi

Hope your little one is okay. Exactly the same thing happened to us. We had only been here 3 months when my son had a fit. We were at a friends 40th birthday party in Hallett Cove...

An ambulance was called and was there within a few minutes....but we knew it would cost us. We did know that you have to pay for an ambulance, it was just one of those things we hadn't got round to doing.

It's about $100 for a year.........

My son was taken straight to Flinders A&E and admitted straight away. We then spent 3 days in hospital which was all covered under Medicare.

Its horrible when something like this happens. My son had never fitted before, and it was the most scariest thing of my life!

Hope all is well.

Who cares? Just coz u choose to live in a different country doesnt mean you have to forget everything in your old one.

I often buy clothes for the kids from the UK. I use Ebay and buy brand new items such as Next, Lonsdale and other brands...........

I have 3 in primary school. My 13 year old starts High School in January and is continuing in the state system. The High School she will be attending offers her everything she wants/needs......

Thanks for your help with this. Looks like the costs are more reasonable than in the UK so thats good!! (no surprise!) Will certainly look into the Seaford CC wen we (hopefully) get there.

 

Thanks

Emma

Costs do look reasonable compared to the UK, but remember wages are lower here.........

Okay...this has been my situation up until recently.

My son attended Happy Valley ChildCare centre on the days i worked. I got childcare benefit towards the cost.........but the amount you get will be based on your income.

When he started kindy, i chose to send him next door to Happy Valley Kindergarten. They have arrangements with the Childcare centre, where the pick the kids up and drop them off. With kindy times being 8.45-11.30 or something like 12.30-3.15.........it is very hard to work when they start there.

I would have liked my son to attend the kindy at the school.....but decided that things had to be 'convenient' for me. Both kindys are excellent!

Schools have before and after school care and also vacation care.............

Like the other benefits, if you decide to take the benefits on a fortnightly basis, make sure your income estimates are accurate. They will work out your childcare benefit on this information. If your estimate is wrong and you earn more...you will be expected to pay back the benefit you shouldn't have received.

Lorraine

If you

My kids are at Reynella East Primary and one is going up to the high school in January............Very happy with everything.............

But they are getting very strict with the zone now..........you must live in the Zone! Big, big waiting lists...........

My kids have been going there now for 2.5 years...............They are in reception, year 3 & 7..........

I know kids at Woodcroft College and also kids who will be attending there next year............have heard good things.........