Whats the cost of living like in Australia?

Question

Im thinking of emigrating to Australia. I can go through on the special/skilled visa as i am a engineer. What i would like to know is what is a engineers wage in australia and what would be the average house price and such? Your money must go alot further than it does in the UK!

Answer 1

The best place to check out salaries is Seek - it's the largest Job ad site in Australia:

http://www.seek.com.au/jobsearch/index.a...

I'd say you'd be looking at a salary anywhere from $55,000/year, to $80-$90K if you're experienced/competent/specialised, and even well into the $120k-$150K range for highly experienced/specialised or managerial positions.

As others have mentioned, the cost of living has risen sharply here in recent years, due to a strong economy and rising demand.  I'd suggest $50k-$60k/year is the level at which you start to be able to live reasonably and rent a decent home. The average wage is about $55,000 these days, which is enough to get by quite well but  not enough to own a nice home or spoil yourself very often.

Generally people are considered to be doing well once they get over $70-80,000/year - that's when home ownership and comfortable living become more achievable.

Answer 2

Sounds like you need to go there for a long holiday and go round a few companies etc to research it all, to see if you like it there first.

Answer 3

I moved here 6 and half years ago from London and then it was much cheaper than the UK. Now the cost of living is very very high and is similar to the UK although the supermarkets in the UK are actually alot cheaper than here. Meat and fuel are cheaper, although give it time!! The basics like bread, milk, fruit and veg are more expensive here. I live on the Sunshine Coast in Qld so house prices are very high, though still cheaper than back in London, and you certainly  couldn't live on the kind of money  that Ryan suggested- Australia is now a very expensive place to live and it is very hard to earn a living because of the tiny population here. The best places to live are rural where there is mining going on - Thats where the money is in Oz!

Answer 4

I'm moving Aus in august and going on a skilled visa.

I'm moving to Sydney and I have just come back from Sydney after spending three weeks there, I had job interviews, opened bank account and looked at property.

Sydney was not that cheap, for a two bedroom flat in Sydney your looking at £200,000 £250,000 and to rent which I will be doing at first in a 1 bedroom will cost about £200 £250 a week. I was also told by allot of people don't live to far out of Sydney because lifestyle is better and from what I saw it seems to be the place to be. I did drive out of Sydney and you could rent a big house for allot less money and it was only a 40 min drive but for me and my fiancee being in are twenties we would much prefer Sydney. Also intrest rates are allot higher than the UK. Sydney is probably the most expensive place to live but its a fantastic place and cant wait til I go.

I don't know what your wages would be, Im a panel beater and have been offerd just over $50,000 a year to stat with.

Its taken me the best part of a year and a half to get my visa and cost me and my Fiancee the best part of  three grand getting my TRA (Trades Recognition Australia), my medical and going through a visa company which is a must.

If you really want to go defo go over first to have a look, but Australia is a great country with really nice people great weather and there seems to be so much going for the place. Also Sydney is the best city I have been to you have to go.

Good luck

Answer 5

We have just come back from a 2 month trip and found that the cost of living is fairly similar to here - the rate is not great at the moment though. Food was about the same (my weekly shop) things like toiletries , cleaning, washing powder etc i found more expenses, they dont have the cheaper brands, but fruit and veg is so much cheaper!

House prices, vary hugely depending on where you buy, the plots are not that big compared to the uk, and as we found most people build bungalows it means that you dont always end up with a big garden  - just enough for loungers and a pool! (ideal!)

we found that each city had differnt rates of living, less touristy was def cheaper , sydney, cairns and perth we found the most expensive , having said that if we had to move out we would either live in Brisbane (surfers /coolangata) or cairns as both were lovely !

good luck xxxxx

Answer 6

Why would our money go further than yours in the UK?

Start getting realistic and away from what you have seen on the TV.

Do some real research if you are concerned.

By and large the standard of living in Australia is very similar to that of the UK. We probably have a more outdoors lifestyle though, due to our climate.

Engineers are a fairly well paid profession, depending on exactly what kind of engineer you are.

Mining engineers in particular are in high demand at the moment and can command very high salaries.

The cost of housing varies so dramatically that it cannot be generalised. It depends on whereabouts you might live - e.g. Sydney, Perth or Cairns etc, and then down to the suburb. In WA, you can pay from $250,000 to $5,000,000 in the Perth metro area alone.

Other than that, food, beer, etc are about the same, although our cars cost more but petrol is cheaper ($1.50 per litre).

Electric, gas etc are probably cheaper in Australia and our council rates are a lot less

Answer 7

i live in australia, my partner is british.

he came over as a skilled migrant - as an engineer i believe.  it's not hard - australia is in huge demand for workers.

he moved here about five years ago, and could have bought a house outright when he got here, with the funds from the sale of his home in newcastle.  the exchange rate then was better than it is now - about 2.8 dollars to a pound.

in the last four years, our economy has gone berserk and when he eventually bought a house about two years ago, his mortgage in australia works out to MORE than his mortgage in britain for a bungalow type property of similar size to his detached.

for houses, go to realestate.com.au and take a look.

his views are that in general, cars are cheaper and insurance is cheaper.  bread however, is FAR more expensive, about three times the price in the uk.  

the fuel is cheaper at about $1.50L, but you generally have to drive further to get anywhere - diesel cars are only just picking up in popularity.

due to the comparatively low population density, pubs aren't on every other street corner and cabs home aren't cheap.

the cost of living over here used to be far cheaper than what it is now.  the weather is nicer (usually) though.

as far as his employment is concerned, he spent 17 years in one job in the uk (he's an electrical engineer), came to australia and has been given many job advancements since he's been here.  his career opportunities have outshined any negatives since he's been here.

to check out the wage situation, go to seek.com.au and take a look.  i think it's one of the biggest websites for jobs in aust.

hope this info is useful.

ps.  ryan's comments about $12K a year being enough to get by is way off.  but engineers can command fairly decent salaries, so don't let that bother you.

Answer 8

cost of living is extensive- houses run from $220,000 to $1.5 million or more (depending on the area and how big), petrol is running about $1.60 a litre so you better not live to far from work for communte, you will spend on an average of $250 a week in groceries, electricity runs on average $400 every 3 months, rego and 3rd party insurance runs $700 to $2000 a year, cars on average $23,000 to $75,000 for a decent to good one.....

Exchange rate with English is about $2.50AUS to $1.

Engineers are needed here, and you would get a good wage to which the price of living would probably be a breeze to you. South Australia is desperate seeking Engineers and so is Sydney that I know of.

and the bloke that said the cost of living at $12,000 a year would be easy...bullshit!!... Average cost of living just to pay the bills and scrap by is $40,000.

Answer 9

It's cheap living in Australia. It only costs about $12,000 australian dollars (just over £6,500) a year to maintain a normal living.

Answer 10

Much better place to live, I would go if I had the points. House prices are much cheaper.