Rental - Depending on where you are planning to stay. I can't speak for the rest of australian states but will try and provide info on NSW (Sydney) as its where i am based. Its usually the saying of the further you stay away from the city the cheaper it gets except for those upper class luxury suburbs which are expensive

Ranges from AUD120 - AUD200 sharing with others. if you do not mind sharing a room with others or having 7 people in an apartment you can get really cheap deal since you probably want to spend most of your time working anyway. Certain accommodation only have 1 toilet. A lot of notices are sticked onto traffic lights and poles looking for housemate... if you are a hot chiq, your chances are higher in getting the accommodation.

Job - if you are staying in the city, i highly doubt you will wanna take a casual job as a fruit picker as they are like pretty much very far away, not mistaken last time i went and pick fruits when i stay in the city area it takes me about 2 + hours drive away... Buses and trains may not reach the area or you have to transit many times. Working in retail on a WHM visa for instance restaurant staff, clerk, data entry, customer service maybe an easier find but not sure the chances of malaysian.

i once worked in restaurant casually and received AUD12 per hour + super + tax returns in sydney. It kinda ranges from employer to employer as I know some friends who works in thai restaurants received AUD7 an hour without any benefits and some who works in better upper class restaurants receive better remuneration. If you work in a professional sector the chances of better remuneration is higher.

Food - it can be cheap or expensive depending on your diet. If you like to eat steak everyday or eat a lot then its gona cost you pretty much a lot. but if you buy your own groeceries and cook then it could save ya more. the portion of food are higher therefore if you pack like from the fellas from chinatown in the take aways, it may last you for 2 meals for AUD10.

It does seem that things are generally more expensive in australia if you convert them to ringgit everytime you spend but with the higher remuneration it may make things actually cheaper than in malaysia

My answers are in no way accurate but based on my experience and information that i have gathered while living in sydney.

annielee: with the soon electricity price hike a lot of ppl earning aussie dollars find it difficult to cope =( survive yes but then to do more than surviving is a tad bit difficult lolz

lets see what the coalition has to say lol this labor government like to eat money only lol

this is my 5th year in sydney... wont be going back for good in the near future since theres a steady job right now though might wanna change lol...

yea i do agree with your purchasing power in regards to the dollar... thats coz probably coz you spend a lot... judging by your handle, you seem to be female... shop lesser please (no offense on any discrimination as it is not intended) but then if we take a petrol pump attendant that is near my malaysian home, the last time i check with is a couple of years back his wages are RM600 a month and he is able to survive just that kenot get luxurious stuffs...

never heard of it and have never been to WA... but try using this site... www.whereis.com as it will provide you a map to know the specific area that you are going to as it has the whole map of australia and then tells u the direction and how much time / km away from places that you wanna go... i have tried entering info based on welshpool and perth though i have no adresses it returned with les than 10km so i think its probably part of / near the city area

cost of living, sorry cant help you there but judging that its near perth, things may be cheaper...

definitely you can bring money back to malaysia while working abroad... its your money anyway but then if you decide to bring over AUD10,000 of any currency in / out of the country you have to declare to customs

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Added on March 19, 2010, 7:23 amTotally off topic and tumpang thread.... annielee where you working in nsw? mayb can come out yum cha lolz

This post has been edited by witchx: Mar 19 2010, 07:23 AM

erm i only had my PR for 2 years actually... came here for studies and then decided to stay and then got a job and might not apply for citizenship depending on how malaysia handle the dual citizenship stuffs.

im currently living in the city, ultimo to be exact but will be moving out to the lower north shore... wut bout urself?

annielee: i think we are very off topic atm and decide to take our random chatter to PMs as i dont think our personal chatter contributes to this thread. cheers

This post has been edited by witchx: Mar 19 2010, 08:49 AM

theres marginal tax rate / marginal deduction rate

the more you earn the more they tax ya... they dont tax the whole 40% of your salary... that would be overkill.

Always get a Tax File Number!! even keeping money in bank you get taxed... but then after my calculation, i still earning similarly to in malaysia if we are having dollar to dollar comparison =( i iz phailed

them_me_you : marketing... actually i do not intend to make it sound that my life is that bad... not saying that my salary is in anyway bad atm...

annielee : i think we went through that before which I agree you can spend on more stuffs cause with the exchange rate you will live way comfortably with your AUD being spent in malaysia.. but then right if go out eat chicken rice in in sydney, will cost me bout 9 bux a plate malaysia 5 ringgit (extra rice extra chicken the last time i ate)... if talk bout branded goods then don't really need to compare already if wanna take LV products and pricing for both malaysia and australia.

@Fujihime

where are you guys situated at this moment and what kind of engineer is your bf? if you are gona submit an offshore application you should best start now as it will probably take years to get the PR application approved. not to pour cold water, even the graduates who are onshore are waiting more than a year for their PR application to be approved and they are also working now... so if you are serious in getting it try applying it now. if you are onshore, agent is a waste of money coz they basically do the same things you have to do in regards to documentation and stuffs and follow up. its more convenient but not really applicable unless you are in some superbly difficult situation. Agents usually will charge 100% of the cost of the application fees ( do not quote me on this am merely guessing due to agent handlers in sydney)

im not too sure the chances of your bf getting the visa, plus points having relatives in australia but if the job field is not in the list for the required points, he can't apply under certain subclass. Im no pro in the migration stuffs but you can read probably read up in the DIMIA website. There are a point system whereby if you do not meet the required points, there are no chance at all in getting the visa under certain subclasses. if you are an offshore or onshore applicant that may provide more info to look into. dont think you can apply under him as a spouse coz if you are not married its de facto.... in the de facto stage if he get his visa and you tumpang, you guys ahave to prove a lot of stuffs that you are staying together, sharing a bank account, utilities, friends to be witnesses etc etc if you are onshore application but offshore no idea how it works

dont think i helped much, but probably seek advice from a migration agent... they may charge you a consulting fee then you can choose to proceed or not to proceed with the application

@fujihime - I think you only are looking at the bright side of things in regards to Australia lifestyle and the bad sides of Malaysian lifestyle. No doubt I have to agree with you in regards to the automotive pricing...
In regards to the working hours, it is not 100% true you leave at 5pm you can choose to do so, but at the end of the day you have to finish your job... it isn't fair that we get the same pay, we get the same workload, we both work 8 hours, myself finishing 100% of the workload and you only finish 60%... where's fairness and equality in that? if you have to stay back and finish to catch up you gota do it...

If you were gona stay in Australia long term and intend to buy a house, its way way way more expensive not to mention interests on loan. To help you understand better, visit www.domain.com.au or www.realestate.com.au and browse around the suburbs you may wanna live in and check on the pricing... Education level maybe good in Australia but I dare say that many graduates from local college / unis are more successful than those that has studied overseas or have education in Australia. A lot of kids brought up by the Aussie way of life are not better off than those that are brought up in Malaysia. Racism do exist in Malaysia but I feel its worse off in Australia especially during school times. Certain kids have little or no respect to their parents.. mostly due to upbringing and peers and the laws surrounding the minors and its very difficult to discipline your child ( no i do not have concrete evidence but based on my observation and only applies to certain and not all).

At the end of the day, its still up to you on how you can adapt to your lifestyle and where you chose to live in. My thought is that you look at pros and cons of both countries to be assessed before making a final decision. But getting a PR in australia and if you dont feel you like it in the first couple of years and decide to move back to malaysia thats still okay but once get citizenship it will be a bit difficult. I am in no way here trying to deter you from making your decision to move to australia

@ RBR - I've gota agree with your statement there.. There are many asian investors that has entered australia and kinda change how the working culture are around

I went with the route, study in Malaysia --> transfer / study to Australia --> Work in Australia

There will be pros and cons either way... You should read up more as there are many information through google and then possibly ask some specific questions for others to better assist you..

It was easier back then getting approvals for PR too (5 years ago) and I received the PR under a year but I was also lucky to have landed a job prior to to my PR approval under my bridging visa.

Will it be a good choice or not ?
Maybe, as we can't determine for yourself what is a good choice. For myself it was a good choice as after studying I was comfortable with the lifestyle there, and with technology, communicating with family / friends was not too difficult. Also when it come to the working environment, what are your strengths over the rest of the field? Since you are going to be studying accounting / finance, during your semester breaks if possible go take up some internship whether it is in Australia or in Malaysia as that will add something to your CV. When you are applying for jobs there, you are going to be competing with locals as well as migrants / potential migrants like yourself.

Will working at aussie better than malaysia ?
This is a very difficult question though many people say it is better working in Aus. I have not worked in Malaysia before therefore there is nothing much i can add. Sometimes it may be better in Australia and some scenarios it may be better in Malaysia. The flexi hours in Australia may be good but then again there are companies that do not offer that or makes you work late too. There are people who believes that you are a migrant and may hinder your progression, though I have not personally felt this yet as I work for a MNC which is multi racial. Malaysia may be more relaxed too as you can chill out after work with many family and friends. When you are in Aus, you are basically going to be rebuilding some contacts / friends

Eventho i know first few year in Aussie will be more difficult , without any one support , do u think i can make it ?
What do you mean without anyone's support? Monetary support? If you can't afford your fees, why are you even thinking of going over? However if you can afford the fees, you can do part time / casual work while studying for 20 hour a week and full time during semester breaks. That can assist you financially with daily expenses unless you plan to binge drink on every other day