Yep as annielee pointed out you are subjected to a waiting period of 2 years in order to access centrelink benefits ie newstart allowance. Even if you could access that, you will need to fulfill some tests ie assets test in order for you to receive the allowance.

If your first language is english (ie you speak english at home), obtaining an 8 in all bands is not unachievable. However, don't be overconfident either. Just practise on sample ielts questions before the exam, especially writing. Also becareful not too screw up the speaking test (it's the easiest to fumble amongst the four by saying all the 'las' 'mas' and 'niamind') You should be lucky if you're taking the ielts in Malaysia. This is because I heard that taking it in countries eg Australia and UK is much harder (probably stricter judging and marking on the writing and speaking tasks) compared to in Malaysia.

Thanks for the reply. Just need to plan for the worst and pray for the best.

By the way, how much buffer funds should we bring across to Australia? If we are assuming a period of 1 year without work? Please give a ballpark figure for
- rental,
- utilities (electricity and gas),
- internet and living expenses like groceries,
- insurance (medical + life),
- etc (anything else that is not mentioned on the list),
for living in Melbourne / or its surrounding suburbs.

Thanks for your help.

think this estimation cost has been asked quite a lot of times already, u can do a search within this topic and find the answer...
all the figure will depends on your lifestyle.. like for rent, if u rent a room is a lot cheaper than renting a whole apartment or house.. and it depends on suburb as well.. groceries, depends on whether u go for local or branded (good quality) stuff..

Annie Lee was right. It is quite hard to give one number that suits everyone. As some suburb is cheaper than another, and the cost of travel depends on distance from where you stay.

Here is the ballpark figure.
Rental including utilities: 1 room ($200/week); An apartment ($500/week)
Mobile line + Internet: $600/yr
Insurance (medical): $100/yr
Food + groceries: $30/day
Travel (Bus + Train): $1800/yr

Note: Just a ballpark figure for reference only.

Hi tatagal,
Can i re-confirm with you? Insurance (medical) is just $100 per year? Or is it supposed to be per month?
By the way, mobile line + internet of $600 per year is really cheap if compared to Malaysia.

I understand this is a ball park figure for reference only.

Anyway, thanks for your input.

This post has been edited by lostintransition: Mar 13 2013, 12:34 PM

mobile here is quite cheap if u dun go for telstra.. u can get $19 per month (again depends on what you are after)
internet, if u r renting a room, usually that will be bundle in..
if u rent a house, that is about $60 (TPG) per month..and there's initial fees of a bout $150 (i think)

what im trying to say is, if you are renting a room, it will work out cheaper if you dont mind..

if you plan to rent a house, u need to allocate more funds.. as u need :
- bond for the house (usually 4-6 weeks rent)
- furniture for the house (rented house comes unfurnished most of the time)
- utilities (internet, need to pay setup fees, cant remember gas n electrity u need to pay startup or not.. if yes, less than $30)

how to apply PR in there? not staying at least 1-2 yrs there like singapore?

Ops. is $100/mth for the medical. Possible to get cheaper than that. You can check with Medibank, HBF, Bupa... and get an idea what package you want.

Regarding the internet and mobile, can refer to Annie's comment. If you think you are normally going to skype back, you can go for prepaid mobile + internet instead of postpaid. Another option is to go for mobile broadband.

Hi Tatagal,

I just regress through this thread and noted that you are an accountant. Just asking, how are things on the ground for accounting? The competition for accounting is tough, no doubt...anything else to add?

Thanks for your input.

Trying yr luck in Aus? What happens if you are jobless for >1 year?
Do you have a family to feed? What is your current profession? Is it in demand or niche that Australia needs?

The last thing you want to do it to end up in dead end jobs like supermarket cashier, croupier, parking lot attendant, etc (no disrespect to those jobs).
If yes, better to be in M'sia.

Your questions really keep me wide awake at night....

australia is not for you if you don't bother to do some basic search

Well, i guess is very much on yourself. For my case, i'm not selling all my property just heading down under besides selling my cars. It's all about personal decision and children education.
Always try and see how's it going. no harm to try, only burning some cash and time. Try do some casual work while looking for your profession job.
You won't starve to death.
Talk about cash, it's too subjective how much you gonna spend and which city you're staying. If you're staying in sydney or melb, it definitely rental is the highest in urban area. unless you're staying in kampung.
My piece of advise, if you alone earning RM 10k/mth in malaysia, no point for you to migrate. You can get a nice lifestyle back home. If less than that, then of course you could try. Malaysia is very much underpay which i think only banking and O&G industries could pay higher. Others might be not so lucky. (Please correct me if i'm wrong with this statement. Thanks!)

Yes...agree

This post has been edited by lostintransition: Mar 14 2013, 09:05 AM

If he isn't working for a year, he won't need private health insurance, he can just forget about the insurance part.

but u have to remember as a PR, we only have a year period to decide to buy Private insurance to be eligible for the government rebate (if you are >30 years old)
after a year here, if u decide to purchase the insurance, u will need to pay more.. (if the rule is still the same lar)

and if without insurance, u better hope u dun need 'extra' medical, even some are covered by medicare...

Health Insurance loading

This post has been edited by annielee: Mar 14 2013, 09:16 AM

This explains it all
Attachment
So basically the loading won't affect you before you hit your 31st birthday.

yup, if u r <31, u got plenty of time to decide..

Thank you to all "sifus" for your inputs

I really learn alot from this thread and will definitely conduct lots of research before asking...hehehe By the way, do you guys congregate at Facebook or something??? Like is there a Facebook page for Malaysians working in Australia? Just want to soak up all information...

This post has been edited by lostintransition: Mar 14 2013, 10:04 AM

PM you the FB group..
there are few FB group for Msian in Aus..