What's it like to live in australia?

Question

me & a friend of mine have been considering moving to australia. we currently live in the united states.

i just want to know as much as i can about life in australia,in general.

whats the shopping like? drinking age? nightlife? diet/lifestyles? etc. anything else important to know would help too.

also,which parts are best to live in. what are problems about living there? what about the economy/gas prices/and jobs?

any answers you have will be greatly appreciated; thanks!

Answer 1

Very nice. Very safe from bombings and terrorists.

Answer 2

it's ironic you ask this, my brother just got back from travelling there, for school.

he said this:

life is very expensive there, for example, a small order of "burger king" is about 9 bucks, without a drink

its beautiful

it was the time of his life, but of course, it costs a lot to live

gas isn't that expensive

he didn't have a job there, he was there for school

night life is cool

you pretty much have to live on fast food, unless you know how to cook, but of course, more money needed here

cars on the left side of the road

car driver sits on the right

but the hardest part, im sorry to mention again, is the money, but i guess since he was travelling, he had usd, but if you go there with a job, you will make a decent amount

minimum wage is 14 australian dollars

o yes, at this time its winter, and won't really go below 50 degrees, and it's usually very hot there

Answer 3

Have you considered whether you'll be able to get a visa to come and live in Australia? Immigration visas are restricted to people with skills, qualifications and experience in jobs in which workers are in short supply in Australia.

Go to :

http://www.immi.gov.au/immigration.htm for information.

If you can come here, you'll find that Australia is a great country. Our climate is fantastic and our country is very beautiful with, as I'm sure you know, thousands of km of magnificent beaches and surf.

Australian people on the whole are very laid back and our lifestyle is great. The food here is amazing with an enormous variety of authentic cuisines with the emphasis on Asian styles but Italian, Greek and other types of food are also very good and widely available. At home, most people use a lot of fresh produce and food tends to be less highly processed than in the States.

Our drinking age is 18 and laws against underage drinking are strictly policed. Nightlife is excellent in the cities and tourist areas and is very similar to what you're accustomed to. The nightclubs don't shut at 2 am in Queensland, NSW or Victoria and I don't know about the other states. In some places though, nightclubs have a 2 am or 3 am lockout where you can't enter a club after that time, but if you're already inside, it's fully operational. These measures were introduced in an attempt to stem drunken street violence where groups of drunks were cruising from club to club causing problems in the street. It's still fairly days to see if the measures are effective against the street violence, but now that law abiding patrons are used to the rule, doesn't seem to cause any problems for them.

Our economy is one of the strongest in the world and is far stronger than the US economy. Our government operates with strong budget surpluses and, for PRs and citizens, there are excellent social services including universal health care. We have very low unemployment and everyone who wants to work can find work. In many industries, employers are desperate for workers and immigration from suitably qualified people is encouraged in order to keep our economy strong. Our shopping is good, but because of our small population and distance from places like the US and Europe, some prices are higher here, but this is balanced to a large extent by our high wages and salaries. Overall, Australians enjoy a high standard of living comparable to the middle and upper levels found in the US.

Gas prices are higher than in the US. Currently petrol (gas) is about $1.60 litre ($6.00 gallon), but our cars use less fuel than US gas guzzlers so it's not as bad as it seems. Our wages are high and the minimum wage is $16.49 per hour for adult workers. Tipping is unnecessary here. A tip for excellent service is appreciated, but never demanded: our minimum wages apply to everyone in all jobs so no one needs tips to survive like in other countries.

Australia is completely metric and has been for so long that many people have little idea of gallons, pounds, miles or farenheit temperatures and won't be able to help you with conversions. You'll find that very strange at first, but it doesn't take long.

Everywhere in Australia has great places to live depending on the type of climate you prefer if if you are after big city life or something more relaxed. Sydney is our largest city with around 4 million people and is also our most expensive city for housing and general cost of living. Melbourne and Brisbane are both lovely cities and are less expensive than Sydney but housing costs are rising rapidly. Adelaide is smaller, cheaper and quieter and its economy is in worse shape than the east coast cities. Perth is a nice though small city and its economy is booming, but it's very isolated over on the west coast. Tasmania, our island state is lovely, but it's probably a big quiet for young people from the US.

We have very few problems in Australia and living here is very safe. We have very strict gun laws and most people have never seen a gun, let alone been threatened by one. We have drug problems like in other countries and our share of crime and violence, but the absence of guns makes living here very different from living in US cities.

Answer 4

skittles does not know anything about australia, disregard her answer completely because all the facts she gave are not correct. check out www.australia.com then you can find out lots of info. www.ourbrisbane.com has lots of info also. just come here and have fun, im sure you will.

Answer 5

Australia's great. You'll love it!

Shopping is a big part of our everyday lifestyle. Australia has very large centres with the biggest brands.

The drinking age is 18+ here. This law is strictly enforced.

Nightlife here is very evident, especially in and around the City on a Saturday or Sunday night.

There are many foods here from all over the world. You are left with a very huge choice when you eat out. You could have an Italian food outlet on one side and a Chinese in another. The choices are endless!

If you care about the climate, live on the coast like most of us do anyway. The weather is moderated by the sea, therefore, the temperatures are milder compared to inland areas. Australia as you know can get quite hot compared to other countries but our winters are nowhere near as cold as other countries. Snow isn't everywhere.

I suggest you live in the Eastern States - Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. The lifestyle in those states are great.

Employment is alright. There are more opportunities in larger cities such as Sydney and Melbourne than say, Adelaide.

I hope this has helped and I wish you the best of luck here! :)

Answer 6

well for a young girl like you i'd choose melbourne, sydney or brisbane

i personally am not a fan of sydney because it's dangerous, especially if you're gonna be out at night alot

i'm a melbournian so i'll tell you about melbourne. I would actually recommend you melbourne because they're more happening here anyway

shopping - we have the best shopping in oz...i dunno too much about the shopping because i'm not a CRAZY shopper

drinking age - 18

nightlife - well it was awesome until they put this new rule where all the nightclubs shut at 2am, i think this is across australia

diet - well the great thing about oz is we're so multicultural, so all the food is genuine. we get the best asian food, we're supposed to have better vietnamese food than vietnam itself because our produce is better. and italian, greek etc, we have eveything. and so much of our food is cheap as well

lifestyle - ...umm i dunno how to really answer this but there's heaps to do, heaps of great events to go to, especially sporting events. There's heaps of outdoorsy things to do, endless opportunities

economy - ...it's always been good

gas prices - it's around $1.60 per litre of unleaded at the moment.

jobs - another reason why you should come to melbourne, there's a wider variety of jobs. it's not that hard to find a job i dont think, fmily friends from new zealand found them quite easily. but it depends what field you're in

i think there's alot of jobs in retail, science...i dunno lol

:) but yeh come to australia :)

Answer 7

So who is this friend anyway... I bet they're a cool person...

But Australia is a really nice and cool place, it does get hot at times, but thats not too bad. You should really keep to this plan. Aussi is a good Plan!

Answer 8

Hot.

Answer 9

I live in Perth

We are probably the safest city in Australia but the only down thing about living here is that it takes a 5 hour flight to get to places like Syd, Melb ect. but life over here is pretty laid back most of our shops are closed after 5pm except on Thursday night but however you will find over east shops are open til like 9pm or whenever and nothing is opened on a Sunday over here.

Night life is decent but then again if you wanna compare it to Sydney and the others it's probably not that crash hot. Were also one of the most expensive states to live in. We have the most sunniest days out of all the other capital cities. Oh and drinking age is 18.

Our economy is great, pretty much all the other states feed of us. Gas prices are sky high at the moment. We have some of the best beaches in Australia. Alot of people who visit say we have one of the cleansest and friendliest cities also.

At the end of the day you will find alot more things to do over east but something we do have is a much more laidback lifestyle.

Answer 10

Iused to live at the Northern Beaches close to Sydney for 3 Years and working too. Very nice there. you love it.....

Answer 11

The shopping is awesome, depending on what place you are at.

Drinking age is 18.

Nightlife, in cities are pumping, clubs are going etc.

Diet/ lifestyles: Can't really tell ya that, it's really up to anyone.

I guess the housing depends, some of it is really expensive. I think the cost of living has risen dramatically. Petrol, is just outta the freaking world right now. It's expensive.

You would find a job easily, but it depends on what you wanted to do.

It really depends on what sort of lifestyle you want, or else I could suggest some places. (:

Answer 12

Melboure is a fantastic city, i would recommend it. it's a really beutiful city by the bay.

Austraila is cheaper than the US and much cheaper than the UK.

The meal portions are surprisingly a bit bigger than the Amercian ones.

Australians are very down to earth and always mindful of not giving the impression that they think they are better than anyone else.

the climate in Austraila is generally arid to semiarid; temperate in south and east; tropical in north.

Remember the Queen of England is still head of state in Austraila.

I hope that helps