Emigrating to Western Australia

[MrMonk]

Small but finite probability. I'm heading into my second interview (by conference call) for a legal specialist's position with a company in Geraldton. I've been looking on the Internet for information on salaries and cost of living in that area, as well as info on quality of life, etc., but haven't found anything that I could rely on. I also must have information on the medical care system there (I have two chronic conditions that need regular attention). Another, lesser, concern is how I, as an American, might be treated there. A female friend of mine worked in Canberra and Sydney during the Reagan/Bush I years, and says that she was treated terribly, so much so that she wound up quitting every job that she tried. This is from an intelligent and rather tough lady. I'm not interested in cutting myself another piece of hell.

[Djinn]

1. you might take a bit of ribbing

in fact you WILL, we're famous for it and you may need to develop a thicker skin - it's not personal we give shit to everyone, unless you're an arab or muslim or indigenous Australian it will all be pretty light hearted, I'm surprised at your friends story - most Australians don't care enough about politics to get that concerned about it and I suspect she hadn't got used to the culture

medical system here still pretty good (despite all HoWARd's best efforts) it's pretty much free (for immediate health needs - elective surgery not covered) for citizens and those on permanent resident visas

WA is a fairly isolated state - outside of perth you pretty much have to travel a LONG way to find a decent sized collection of people (Perth to the east coast is a 4ish hour flight for example and Geraldton is a 4 drive from perth) Gerladton is in the middle of nowhere in the middle of a nowhere state too so you'd want to fond of the quiet life

cost of living in Australia is generally a little higher than US in regards to consumer goods, and it regional areas it's often a bit pricier than in cities but we get MUCH cheaper health services, education and other public services which kind of balances it out a bit.

petrol is MUCH more expensive, even more so in regional areas and I'd imagine you'd go through quite a bit

www.realestate.com.au will give you a good idea re housing costs (rental and purchasing)

personally I couldn't live there, I need millions of people around me, but it's a physically beautiful area, if you don't mind the quieter pace and a certain percentage of rednecks (although it's not really a country town so it's not that bad) then go for it

[Violet_Crumble]

2. You won't be covered by Medicare...

Though if yr paying out of pocket, you'll find health care here costs less than in the US. The Medicare site's got all the eligibility info, but the way I read it was that people coming here on work visas aren't eligible..

http://www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/resources/welcome_kits/english/ma_medicare_eligibility.pdf

There's also the private health funds, which I'm pretty sure would do temporary health cover for foreign visitors...

I don't think that lesser concern of yrs is anything to worry about. I live in Canberra and though there's always going to be a few morons who do dump on people based on what their nationality is, they're very few and far between in these parts. I find it unbelievable that someone working in Canberra could have struck that attitude repeatedly and in such a way that she quit every job. I mean, we have a fair few Americans living and working in Canberra, as well as shitloads of international students, and with all the foreign embassies being based here, this is the sort of city where it's common to encounter folk of every nationality on a regular basis. But having said that, Geraldton's definately not Canberra, so just make sure that you can tell the difference between good-natured ribbing and the nasty stuff and you should be fine...

Violet...

[iangb]

3. Great little town..

......good services, friendly locals, and excellent fishing.

http://www.abc.net.au/health/healthmap/wa/resources/default.htm

http://www.geraldton.wa.gov.au/

[itchyvet]

6. iangb

iangb you gotta be kiddin, right ?

Have you ever been there ?

[MrMonk]

4. Thank you all for the input.

After three telephone interviews, I've been informed that I'm "definitely one of the top candidates", but they've put off the final decision until the end of May. That tells me that either they didn't get enough candidates in the first round, or they're thinking about canceling the program. I won't be holding my breath.

Thanks, again.

[itchyvet]

5. Geraldton prospects ?

Mr Monck,

Ref your query regards Geraldton, W.A. contrary to remarks made here, the place is NOT anything as portrayed on here by some respondents.

Just returned from visitng my son there last week, who's now been living there for nearly 9 years.

Ref the medical facilities there, HAH, LOL, they've gotta be the World's biggest joke.
OK, so the W.A. Govt just shelled out to build a new hospital (the old one had concrete cancer and was falling to bits) sadly the faciities that go to fill a hospital leave much to be desired.

For anyone with a cronic illness, I'd definately steer them as far away from the place as I could.

There is a two year waiting list on Doctors patient rolls before they'll allow you to utilise their facilities, unless you can somehow wrangle you way onto these lists, you're stuck with the public system, and what a joke that is.
Eighteen months ago, I injured myself bushwalking and fronted up at the hospital for treatment.
Waited 6 hours before I could see a Doctor, and when I did, the Doctor was fresh out of Africa somewhere and could hardly speak English, thus great difficulty in communicating with his patient(me)
eventually he rang up a specialist in Perth and handed the phone to me, to talk direct to this specialist who then listened to my complaint and voiced the procedure to follow to remedy the problem.
The local African doctor just sat there and listened in, though whether he understood properly, I haven't the faintest idea, suffice to say, if you suffer a serious illness, I certainly would not advise anyone to seek medical help in this town.

The town council consists of inbred families who have a severe problem with advancement and are lothe to relenquish the reins of control to modern ideas, which becomes very evident after a quick drive around the place and the mind boggling stuff ups they've made with development/traffic and suburban sprawl.

The good thing about Geraldton........ takes about 7.5 mins to drive through on your way to a better place......anywhere.

[Djinn]

7. no there isn't

there is a two year waiting list on Doctors patient rolls before they'll allow you to utilise their facilities

whoever told you that is lying

[Violet_Crumble]

8. What you said about that African doctor is pretty offensive...

The local African doctor just sat there and listened in, though whether he understood properly, I haven't the faintest idea

Yeah, obviously coz he can't speak so *you* can understand him, his professionalism is clearly suspect. Coz we all know that if someone speaks English with one of those funny accents that people who come here from overseas have, it must mean that they're stupid :sarcasm: Did it ever occur to you to open up yr mouth and tell him that you were having trouble understanding him? If you didn't, then the problem is yrs as far as I'm concerned. Most people want to be understood and if they're told they're hard to understand will go out of their way to ensure they're being understood. Yr sort of attitude annoys me coz I've been on the other end of it once when I rang to make a hotel booking in Washington DC for a head honcho I was working for. I've talked to plenty of Americans and my accent has never been a problem, but the American who took the reservation decided it was a problem and after a couple of minutes of her whining 'apples? Did you say apples?' and me speaking slower and slower until I'd come to a standstill, I worked out she was a moron who had a problem with anyone who didn't speak with an American accent and demanded I talk to someone who could understand basic English. Not surprisingly, she had no troubles understanding me when I said that and she knocked off the act and took the rest of the booking with no problems...

Violet...

[primative1]

9. LoL ...

This is hysterical. Is this place located anywhere near Wolf Creek ? :)