Well they're cheap! when i was studying in aus, i bought a 4 yr old Yaris at AUD8k Maintenance will cost a bomb but you can always look for a Chinaman mechanic..itll always be half the price.

aus is a good country if you appreciate work life balance. blue collars workers are paid well there. Imagine the salary of waitress is more less the salary of a bank teller. why not?

however, assuming you're a professional by nature (Doctor/lawyer) - you get paid well but 40% of your incomes goes to the gov.

basically the rich are paying for the poor in Aus

Yeah, it's cool to know how maintain your rides. It's really a guy thing. but i do saw many girls who really know more about car maintenance even guys can't beat them

Yeah, they like to compare with US on this manner. They're also complaining about their living expenses which is higher than US.

Cars is real cheap. I saw my nissan sentra which they called pulsar with better specs and accessories cost AUD6k nia.....$hit! i paid 150% more in RM even after conversion currency.
Oz won't make u rich nor poor. Well, may look for further investment on this.

but they forgot the wage is not high enough than them unless you are from silicon valley lol

I got a friend who is an IT professional migrated to Aus 3 months ago and still not getting any job yet. Of course savings are getting low.

On the other hand, a friend who already work there for years with good income and property decided to come back to MY for good of his family. It got me thinking that it suppose the other way around.

So for me, I'm fed up with all the success and failure stories. I'm going there and experience it myself.

agree with you... everyone 'luck' is different..
what happen to your friend, might not happen to you..
dont just listen to stories flying around !..

I followed my husband to Australia a year and a half ago, he's an engineer.

I used to work in media industry back in Malaysia. It was very hard for me to get a "proper" job as I'm only on a business visa, not a PR or citizen. And my profession is not required here, the employers would rather get someone reliable (those who sure can stay long) and with local experiences.
AND... I do think they choose candidates based on skin color too. That's normal everywhere though. Like we won't hire bangla as our office clerk no matter how high qualification they have.

Ok. So I started as a waitress in Japanese restaurant, teach Chinese to Angmoh, do part time data entry jobs, enlarged my social circle and made connections. Finally working full time as a marketing exec for a local association (the president is a former Malaysian Chinese). Lucky me to even jumped to another higher paid position few months later...
anyway now i'm unemployed again, preparing for the next relocation.

I would consider myself to be lucky because i've met plenty from Malaysia or Singapore that couldn't even get a job here. Especially the wife/girl friends following their partners (usually engineers) here. They used to work high post. like managers, seniors in corporates but now not even a chance to attend for interview.

I could get a job at the very begining because I "lowered" myself to work as a waitress, i don't care about the status. Other people would.

I'm now one of these poor and sad housewives staying at home, doing the house chores, waiting for hubby to have dinner every evening.
Yea sometimes i live like a fortunate tai tai too.
But if i could choose, i want to work. I don't want to waste my work experience, i want to go out and meet people, being treated fairly, being independent.

So before coming, both husband and wife need to discuss about it thoroughly. How your life would change and what are you going to do if you're retrenched and have to go back to Malaysia and start over again.

*

To me, life in Perth is boring. I'm not an outdoor person and i enjoy colorful and vibrant city life.

Some Malaysian SIngaporean famillies came ten years ago. Hoping to give the "Better Education" to their children (they were in primary school). Some are doing good now, some are not.

Due to peer pressure, they intend to not using the native tongue and only speak in English. They use fxck words in the conversation with parents and do not want to further study as the salary as working in subway is good enough for their living. Government is generous, they don't really need to think about the future.

Not like in Malaysia, we struggle hard.

*

Anyway it all depends on individual

wow..such a full story both + and -
mind to share which media field are you in?

many people think that oz is a greener field, do u think so?
will u consider to come back to msia after a while, or is it worth to stay there for there rest of ur life?

soli, just ask for certain opinion

i was in journalism.
The jobless malaysians/singaporeans, they were in finance, accounting, IT... all professionals.

still in our late twenties so looking forward to try out other cities before really settling down in a country.
australia may still be the choice but may be not.
will consider to go back to KL if we're rich* enough.
*rich - can afford to buy a good location landed house (now have a condo) and two quality cars, and able to travel to overseas at least once a year + plus enough savings for the future children's education fees.

in terms of safety, affordablitiy etc, australia is definitely a good place to stay.
if you don't mind to just work 9 to 5, and being that minority in the company where nobody really listens to you.
angmohs talk a lot and do little.

* this opinion is based on my personal life in perth. heard life in melbourne and sydney is much different.

IT? Deswai. No demand at all. My friend here 8 months no job.

It is going to be an expensive experience. My suggestion is to go get a night shift job at your local 7-11 first. Use your daylight hours to look for a professional job.

Sadly the exchange rate is going down =(

not to worry. will going back up especially after the election this year

anyway,anyone looked for accountant for tax return?

not sure if I should look for accountant but I would like to get as much return as I could. Hope to get $4k back

Dear All,
Finally receive my EOI yesterday. I am about to submit my visa application.
I am not sure if I still need to attach all my employment verification letter to the skill migration portal or should I just attach ACS letter ?

Points test and skills assessment
□ Applicants who are required to meet the points test must provide evidence to support their claims against each relevant criterion.
Evidence that the main applicant has, at the time of invitation, obtained a suitable skills assessment in their nominated occupation on the relevant Skilled Occupation List (SOL).

Lastly, do I have to go thru the medical examination now or wait for the instruction from case manager?

□ Form 26 Medical examination for an Australian visa.
Two other forms provide background information:
 Form 1071i Health requirement for permanent entry to Australia
 Form 1163i Health requirement for temporary entry to Australia
□ Form 160 Radiological report on chest x-ray of an applicant for an Australian visa.

Please let me know if you have gone through the process. TQ..

This post has been edited by jurlique08: Jul 16 2013, 04:30 PM

How soon did they come back to you once you submit your EOI? May I know if you are from which profession? I just want to know what is the timeline.

hm...
actually i have a relative staying in Melbourne as well...but their story is like this...wife managed to secure a job as an accountant while husband was unemployed for months (almost over a year), he was a head chef here in KL at one of the 5 star hotels...but because his wife wanted to migrate to Australia, he had to resign from his job and went off Australia instead....now he is starting his own mini company selling tarts n desserts for parties and events.


meanwhile, me n my gf thinking of going there to work too after we get married...but at the same time we are very afraid...coz of the stories heard, well, are mostly negative stories...it seems many malaysians who went there, ended up unemployed n suffering there....some returned to malaysia, and some unwilling to give up and keep trying...

hence i assumed that the australians are kinda biased towards us asians...not all, but most companies prefer not to hire asians...or am i wrong?

Wrong??? One of my relative is married to an European(not those black, brown or yellow types) Spent almost a year looking for a job in OZ without success. In the end, they moved back to his home country. That was a few years ago at the height of the boom. Just like Canada. If one has a foreign credential(Europeans ones included)l, chances of finding a professional job is slim

you are not wrong.

You should use this site for an estimate of your tax payable/refund before considering using a registered tax agent LINK It has been suggested in this thread as well a few months back

Please note that there have been changes from last year that may affect your tax payable/refund compared to last year. Tax free threshold has increased 3 times to $18200, whereas low income offset has been massively reduced to $445, and the private health insurance tax offset will be income tested for the 2013 income year as well, this means that you may not be able to receive any rebate at all if your income for surcharge purposes is above $130K (single income)

Just attach whatever been asked(ACS,employment reference letter,CV)

Normally you have to wait until CO ask you to do medical examination because it could take up to many years to get CO assigned to your application

Thanks. Me and my colleague getting about same pay received $6.5k back this year. The only difference is I don't have to pay medicare levy