The average livable wage?

[Guest Ellie]

Hi Ellie

 

The way the building trade as gone reminds me of when it last happened round about 1991-1992. I remember it well because my then husband was a brickie and the strain of him not working plus the mortgage rate rocketing leaving us with negative equity was a real killer . Needless to say the marriage was short lived but I was a lot younger and there were other factors. I'm just trying to say I jnow how tough it must be for you and I can't see how you've anything to lose by going to Oz.

Good luck and i'm sure your wedding day is gonna be one hell of a day ( the honeymoon can wait till your in Australia anyway)

 

Jillx

 

Thanks Jill. It's sad that your marriage didn't work out it is so hard. However they say things happen for a reason. But where did I go wrong? My first marriage didn't work out then I found the brickie. Remind me when we are in Adelaide, if it don't work out I want a rich guy and I want to marry for money

[Guest jill wright]

Hi Ellie

 

No its not sad no regrets there and I have a lovely daughter Lucy from it! Eh anyway I went one better and married a baker people will always want bread

 

 

 

 

Jillx

[Guest Ellie]

OMG and cake! Life without cake or fresh crusty bread is unthinkable!! And what a skill. I made some bread once and it was as heavy as a rock and the dog wasn't even impressed so I won't be rushing into that. In fact I have had to promise never to make it again. God bless your OH!!

[Guest sarahsmartiepants]

this web site pi55es me off:arghh:....I just typed a big reply then when I pressed submit it said I wasnt logged on:arghh: cant be bothered now:realmad:

[cormcvcr]

this web site pi55es me off:arghh:....I just typed a big reply then when I pressed submit it said I wasnt logged on:arghh: cant be bothered now:realmad:

 

You make me laugh!!!!!

 

Have your coffee and try again! x

[Carole Jolly]

this web site pi55es me off:arghh:....I just typed a big reply then when I pressed submit it said I wasnt logged on:arghh: cant be bothered now:realmad:

 

that keeps happening to me... naturally I thought I must be doing something wrong.. but not anymore. dare not type long messages anymore. the shorter ones seems to work. oh and I just tried to put one of those faces in the end the text and it would not sent, says too many... only allowed four, taken up by sarahs frustrations. lets try again. LOL

[Beanbear]

Deb, the tutoring I am doing is through even start - the one you saw advertised in the paper. It gave details in the advert of how to register (as usual quite a long drawn out process, but nowhere near as bad as the whole TRB saga!) When you are registered schools can approach you from getting your details off the website, which they have access to.

 

It is easy to be disheartened by the massive obstacles to teaching here, but as people have said the alternatives back in England are far outweighed by what is on offer here. I have now found that a bit of perseverance and a positive attitude can help a lot, as well as lots of wine!

 

Constantly feel very sorry for those in difficult circumstances in the UK. There is very little help for those who try to help themselves and that's the irony. As someone said recently on here though, perhaps it's easier for those of us who've come with less money to survive on a budget as it's what we are used to. It certainly is possible and your eye has to be on the future - a better place to bring up the kids, financial security (love the fact that companies have to pay your pension for you on top of your salary) and bigger spaces in which to work and live. Oh and of course beautiful uncrowded beaches.

[Guest Deb17]

I'm going to have to try and re-register with them Beanbear...when I saw the ad I was having severe (and expensive to fix) technical problems with my PC so couldn't send them an e-mail to register. Instead I gave my contact details in at my son's school but surprise, surprise, nobody has ever contacted me...I'll try again, sigh.

[Guest tiggs]

Fantastic and thoughtful post Alexis, hats off to you.

I know and understand exactly where you're coming from and it reminds me of all the reasons we wanted to come to Oz in the first place. Believe me, in spite of all the negatives I try to impress on people I still believe this is a great country --- for values like patriotism, which had been turned into a dirty word in Britain because of all its BNP hijacked connotations, for the safety aspect (living in Birmingham and getting my bag pinched off me right outside my front door was no picnic) and for other values like equality, freedom of speech etc. too. I don't actually expect my own opinions and experiences in Oz to dissuade the people who are truly determined to get here. Please accept that I only do this in the interests of presenting a more balanced picture of life in this particular city, and occasionally venting my own frustrations! Certainly if people want to get out to Australia and give it a go then I wish them every success in their new lives.

As I do to you as well.

Deb

 

 

This is a great post! for deb

 

if people come onto sites like this and only post the positives then we would all be doing a disservice to those still in the uk. There are great things about Oz and there are not so great things about Oz. A balanced picture of life is far more useful

 

Adele

[laura girling]

Hi There,

You took the words right out of my mouth, the only thing I would say different is that I wouldn't have said it on here, because I know how excited people are to start there new lives as i once was.

But seeing as you have said it I will have to agree with you.

My Husband is a hairdresser and a very good one, we had a great Hair salon business in England and thought it would be easy to get a good job here.

We weren't wrong YES you can get a job easy but $17 Dollars an hour to raise a family is a joke, we have 3 children two are under kindy age.

If anyone has any ideas about a job that would be better paid please offer your advise.

I do like Adelaide, but the struggle here is a lot more difficult than we anticipated.

good luck with everyone's dreams.

 

Laura.

[Guest smit]

that keeps happening to me... naturally I thought I must be doing something wrong.. but not anymore. dare not type long messages anymore. the shorter ones seems to work. oh and I just tried to put one of those faces in the end the text and it would not sent, says too many... only allowed four, taken up by sarahs frustrations. lets try again. LOL

Im glad im not the only one............done it about 3 times, cant be bothered with long posts now.

[Guest smit]

Hi There,

You took the words right out of my mouth, the only thing I would say different is that I wouldn't have said it on here, because I know how excited people are to start there new lives as i once was.

But seeing as you have said it I will have to agree with you.

My Husband is a hairdresser and a very good one, we had a great Hair salon business in England and thought it would be easy to get a good job here.

We weren't wrong YES you can get a job easy but $17 Dollars an hour to raise a family is a joke, we have 3 children two are under kindy age.

If anyone has any ideas about a job that would be better paid please offer your advise.

I do like Adelaide, but the struggle here is a lot more difficult than we anticipated.

good luck with everyone's dreams.

 

Laura.

Look in the paper and you will find the trades with the shortages , or most advertised , are the ones with crap pay, eg hairdressers, mechanics. Why do 4 year apprentiships when you can earn the same casual in a shop !!!!!!!!!!!! dumb!

[Guest sarahsmartiepants]

Look in the paper and you will find the trades with the shortages , or most advertised , are the ones with crap pay, eg hairdressers, mechanics. Why do 4 year apprentiships when you can earn the same casual in a shop !!!!!!!!!!!! dumb!

You can earn more in a shop, $20 an hour in coles or Maccas:huh:.

sarah

[The Monaghans]

Seems to be bloody hard to get in job in retail though. In the UK I was in the civil service and handled millions of pounds a year. In Australia I applied for a job at Woolies stacking shelves and was turned down on account of the "high calibre of candidates who had already applied!" Dear old hubby says this translates to "we've had lots of students apply for this job and we'd rather pay them minimum wage than pay you something half decent actually..."!:biglaugh:

[Guest sarahsmartiepants]

Seems to be bloody hard to get in job in retail though. In the UK I was in the civil service and handled millions of pounds a year. In Australia I applied for a job at Woolies stacking shelves and was turned down on account of the "high calibre of candidates who had already applied!" Dear old hubby says this translates to "we've had lots of students apply for this job and we'd rather pay them minimum wage than pay you something half decent actually..."!:biglaugh:

Exactly......which brings me back to employers use and abuse of casual staff:mad:,,,,,say no more!

sarah

[Guest Deb17]

I get the Advertiser every Saturday looking for jobs and read the articles too, on how Aussie employers really need to start utilising the wealth of skilled mature workers they have out there. In reality it just doesn't seem to be happening. Employers out here are still resistant to hiring anyone over 30 and retraining them...look at all the thirtysomething ladies on here who wouldn't mind going out and working part time, who have life skills, experience and personality some 16 year old bimbette doesn't. We'd got past all that in the UK because employers realized life/work balance was important and older workers, once retrained, had so many other advantages over youngsters...like not going out partying all night and ringing in sick next morning! I wonder how long it's going to take for the Aussie bosses to wake up to reality and acknowledge that they have lots of intelligent, skilled people in this country who are undervalued but willing to work, but not for peanuts, because we're not monkeys.

[Guest sarahsmartiepants]

I wonder how long it's going to take for the Aussie bosses to wake up to reality and acknowledge that they have lots of intelligent, skilled people in this country who are undervalued but willing to work, but not for peanuts, because we're not monkeys.

About 20 years:biglaugh:, then there is also the good old minimum wage, which makes them want to employ the youngsters ( i sound like an old biddy now!)

My daughter (16) got a pt time job in Hungrys and only got 3 hrs a week, then they ring her at 7.30 am "can you come in ASAP, someone is off and we need you!"

She has now left and got another job to start, hopefully will be better

sarah

[Rachiegarlo]

Your kids are better off getting jobs in retail, such as checkout chick, or kmart, big w or deli service in the supermarkets. They close at decent hours and have a strong union so your kids are less exploited. The ones my kids work at havebeen very good with them dropping some hours when in yr 12 and although will ring them if they are desperate are ok if they say say they can't do extras.

 

On the older people's thing, when I went Uk side I was shocked to see pensioner type people clearing tables and trays in Maccas cos these are def young peoples jobs here.

[Guest Deb17]

On the older people's thing, when I went Uk side I was shocked to see pensioner type people clearing tables and trays in Maccas cos these are def young peoples jobs here.

 

Exactly...personally, back in the UK I preferred the fact that Maccas amongst other places, employed older people in this way. They did their jobs more efficiently and were pleasant, polite and friendly...something the youngsters often weren't.

Ageism as well as sexism was pretty much left behind since companies had changed their attitudes. Here, well, as Sarah says, we'll just have to hang on another twenty years for the Aussies to catch up...hell, by then I'll be clearing up in Maccas myself and using a zimmerframe to stack the strays.

[Rachiegarlo]

if you get one with a seat you'll be able to sit down on the job

[Guest marty]

Well said.

Our combined income in the UK was 43 grand and we struggled on that!

Now in Australia we're having to live on practically that same figure in dollars!

It's nuts I tell you. The figures just don't add up.

I really like lots about Australia but no work, no money... you can't live on fresh air and scenery when it comes down to it. You can't eat the sand at the beach! Sorry to be so depressing for those people on the other side of the world but this is reality peeps!!!

 

 

If its not a rude question why did you and most people on this thread come to Aus, for a better life I bet, I have been here over 30 years and I can remember how bad it was then, I was lucky as things were diffrent then and we got PR before we arrived so we got the dole, but it was still hard, it took me over 18 months to get a job even though I was a qualified tradesman in the UK my qualifactions were not reconised here even thought the immigration authoriies in the UK assured me that they there were, I can only assume the same has happened for you all, thats why you are here you have been fed BS from the immigration authorities I can only say things will get better even if you do spend some of your savings youll soon start saving again beleive me, stick to it and welcome to Aus.

[Guest Deb17]

if you get one with a seat you'll be able to sit down on the job

You see the advantages in every situation!!!

What a superlative idea...hope it catches on in time for me to finally find some paid employment!

[Guest Deb17]

If its not a rude question why did you and most people on this thread come to Aus, for a better life I bet, I have been here over 30 years and I can remember how bad it was then, I was lucky as things were diffrent then and we got PR before we arrived so we got the dole, but it was still hard, it took me over 18 months to get a job even though I was a qualified tradesman in the UK my qualifactions were not reconised here even thought the immigration authoriies in the UK assured me that they there were, I can only assume the same has happened for you all, thats why you are here you have been fed BS from the immigration authorities I can only say things will get better even if you do spend some of your savings youll soon start saving again beleive me, stick to it and welcome to Aus.

 

Yes Marty, like a lot of others on here we came out for a better life, and yes, I also think we were fed a lot of BS by immigration...I bet other happy shiny people on this forum are already quite heartily sick of me bleating on about it.

Back home I was a primary teacher, came over as the MAIN applicant on temporary 495 visa and have spent two years fruitlessly searching for a job. Although not expecting to walk into a job straight away I did think after two years I would at least be being offered contracts...instead I've just signed up to work as a casual in childcare centres on $17 an hour! Hubby retrained as a baker over here at TAFE, mainly to get a skilled qualification (he worked as an extremely competent chef/cook in pubs for years but no paper qualifications.) He's the one who's now been working for 12 months so we CAN apply for our PR now, but only after having made some hefty financial sacrifices along the way, including of course, the cost of his training at full international student fees and our family of four living entirely off our savings for a year until he got his job.

We DO want a better quality life for us and our children and acknowledge the benefits of living in such a great country, but just wish we were being treated as equals with the rest of the Aussie residents...I should stop moaning really, I can put in my PR forms in a few weeks. Just getting that visa EVENTUALLY in my passport will make me fractionally happier and shinier I'm sure!!

[Guest sarahsmartiepants]

I think there are less shiny happy people than you think Deb! They just dont always like to admit for some reason or another! The main one being there is always some idiot ready to say "if you dont like you can always go home":mad:!

I think the most unhappy are those who come here, encouraged by the governmnet saying "we need you" only to find, yes they do need you but are unwilling to try you.

There is a complete lack of liasing between departments that should all be linked and work together so they all know the rules. I hear so many people who are told different things different, things as basic as medi care!

Why when you are paying tax and training for a career here should you have to pay international student fees???

The whole system is a joke, you're the main applicant and you cant get a job.

This is how the great state of SA is going to populate its self, because lets face it, thats how they are doing it.

"what kind of visa can we bring in now....we need more applicants"

sarah

[Guest Deb17]

I think there are less shiny happy people than you think Deb! They just dont always like to admit for some reason or another! The main one being there is always some idiot ready to say "if you dont like you can always go home":mad:!

I think the most unhappy are those who come here, encouraged by the governmnet saying "we need you" only to find, yes they do need you but are unwilling to try you.

There is a complete lack of liasing between departments that should all be linked and work together so they all know the rules. I hear so many people who are told different things different, things as basic as medi care!

Why when you are paying tax and training for a career here should you have to pay international student fees???

The whole system is a joke, you're the main applicant and you cant get a job.

This is how the great state of SA is going to populate its self, because lets face it, thats how they are doing it.

"what kind of visa can we bring in now....we need more applicants"

sarah

 

Exactly Sarah, the government departments don't liaise with each other, or seem to have any form of grand strategy as regards migration...and they keep moving the goalposts on people applying/waiting for visas which is infuriating at the very least, and causes unnecessary hardship (and heartbreak!) for many families.