My husband got offered a job in Australia. Not sure if gonna go yet,Can anyone tell me anything about it?

Moving to Australia
Australians seem to be more relaxed about some things than Americans according to a New Orleans man who arrived here several years ago. For instance there is a lot less "fly the flag patriotism" in Australia but just because you don't see the flag at every house does not mean patriotism does not exist. Most companies do not have dress codes for staff out of the public eye since staff would tell management to get ***ed if they tried it on.

Public Safety
Crime rates are lower than in the US. The murder rate is a fraction of that in the USA. One US criminologist here said the violence rate is actually not much lower but since Australians are rarely armed fatal injuries are rare. It used to be considered dishonourable to carry any kind of weapon. Most crime seems to be housebreaking by that ever present menace - the drug addict. Prostitution is now legal in controlled houses and some forms of gambling have always been legal so there has been little chance for organised crime to get big.

Road death rates are higher than in the USA, but the difference is marginal and Australian death rates are lower than they are in some western European countries. The last heavy aircraft accident with fatalities was in 1960. Three there have been three railway accidents with passenger fatalities since 1977, all of them in New South Wales.

AIDS has a low incidence. As soon as it emerged in the 1980s the Gov鈥檛 of the day started a big public awareness campaign. Sufferers are usually male homosexuals and intravenous drug users. A few non-fatal diseases are slightly more common than average in some areas, but there are no endemic diseases. There is no malaria except among people who have brought it into the country and tuberculosis is all but unheard of. Some of the more stupid people refuse to immunise their infants and there have been a few local cases of whooping cough. The last diphtheria case was in 1992. The larger cities and towns are well supplied with doctors who are trained to international standards, or better. Hospitals range from slightly sub-optimal to good. There are government and private health insurance schemes which have varying amounts of cover depending on how much you pay.

Housing
Most Australian housing vaguely resembles the California bungalow or the 鈥渞anch house鈥? There is usually only one floor and no basement. Typically houses built before about 1970 have 3 bedrooms, one bathroom. After that many houses were built with an "ensuite" which is a shower booth and water closet attached to the master bedroom with a full bathroom elsewhere. Kitchens generally are smallish but well appointed. Most houses do not have pantries or "dens". Recently though land prices have risen while the cost of building has fallen so newer houses are larger and better appointed. I have just paid yearly land tax of $758 on an 鈥渦nimproved land value鈥?of $269,666. This tax would be the same whether the house was big, small or non-existent. This tax does not include water supply or sewerage charges.

Apartments are usually called flats or units in Australia and can be rented or bought.

Major cites and most medium to small towns have safe water supplies and most have sewer systems. Cable TV and mobile (cellular) phones in larger towns. There are up to 5 free-to air TV networks available, multiple AM and FM radio stations. The landline phones work.

As in the USA real estate values vary with locality. I've seen houses sell here recently for a million plus but they are at the top end of the local market. I live 20 minutes walk from a major employment centre and a large shopping mall. There is an elementary school five minutes walk away (set to close unfortunately) with a convenience store, small children's play area, sports ground, park, restaurant, local general practice medico nearby. There are Catholic and government high schools within twenty or thirty minutes walk.

A natural gas pipeline and a coaxial cable for phone, I'net and cable TV run past the door. Power supply is 240V 50Hz and reliable. It went off the other day as some work was being done - must have been off 8 minutes. That's the only power cut for months and the previous one lasted about as long. American appliances will not work here without a transformer or if they are dual voltage. For more details on Australian power see the following site and follow the link for type 鈥淚鈥? from the 鈥淐omment鈥?column.

http://www.kropla.com/electric2.htm...

This city's population is about 310,000. The house is an older one with three bedrooms and one bathroom, separate garage, brick construction, tile roof, central heating on a gas furnace.

There are several real estate dealers (realtors) who operate nearly Australia-wide, look for websites for "The Professionals" and "LJ Hooker" among other reputable companies. In country towns you can get good houses for around AU$120,000 or less. It all depends on whether the population is growing and how much work there is. I've heard of one whole village being sold for a few thousand, which was a local joke here a few months ago.

Work
Australia needs doctors and dentists for country towns. There is plenty of work in construction and mining. There are two low-rise buildings going up and another almost completed not far from the shopping mall I just mentioned. Same thing is going on in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne and even in some of the larger country towns.

Income tax is "high" compared to the USA but lower than in many other countries. This is levied by the Federal Government. On a salary of $65,000 you can expect to pay about $17,000 tax. Another federal tax is the Goods and Services Tax. This is levied at 10% on all goods except fresh uncooked food. A third federal tax which many people never have to pay is capital gains tax. This is levied on investments once disposed of, if the value has risen. If the investment is held for more than about five years (don鈥檛 quote me) then the tax is not payable.

You will not pay much in taxes to the State governments unless you buy and sell land, apartments or a car. State governments also tax cars every year with registration fees, these are a few hundred dollars. I have a V8 coupe and recently paid $740. This included third party injury insurance.

Citizenship has required at least 4 years residence though there has been a move recently to tighten things up a bit, maybe put in a minimum competence in English.

hi there.
i live in melbourne australia and i love it. australia has a very laid back culture. there is lots of open space, even in the cities. nothing beats the smell of the australian bush. we like to think we are a friendly bunch of people. its very mulitcultural with a lot of programs run to help people feel at home from all over the world. each area is run by a council, so you can find out what services would be available in your area. i feel pretty safe living in melbourne
you'll love it here, come on over. depends which city you come to as to the type of social life you want. but everywhere you go you'll find the down to earth people and open spaces and beautiful weather does wonders for the soul.
I'd say grab the opportunity with both hands.
Travel is great being paid to do it is even better.

Once you arrive and get settled you'll probably have friends and family regularly wanting to visit you. So you won't even have a chance to get homesick.

A chance like this doesn't come along every day.
You'll love it.
How would we know what your husbands jobs will be like, dont even know what he does? LMAO
Best place on Earth. You'll love it.
Australia is the most wonderful place I have ever been and I'm trying to emigrate myself at the moment. - I'm sure you will love it, and if you don't love it - you can come home. But give it a go. Don't spend the rest of your life wondering 'what if'. You will regret it if you don't go and have a look! Good luck.