Australia has some of the least expensive cities in the world. The economy is somewhat influenced by Western culture but the per capita gross domestic product (GDP) when it comes to the purchasing power of the country is higher compared to the United Kingdom.
In the United Nations Human Development Index in 2006, Australia made third place while also making sixth place in The Economist 2005 quality-of-life index. In the meantime, economists are foreseeing an upcoming crisis due to the poor performance of GDP. It has increased by 7% and has the fourth biggest deficit in terms of current accounts.
However, due to other areas that Australia has been excelling very much in recent years, foreign debt is still significantly low and the economic state is generally as stable as it can get. Thus the cost of living in the country is still dependent on the individual’s circumstances and lifestyle. As reported last June 7 2009 in the Australia Expat Forum:
Food prices are running at 2.5 x UK cost of goods ( logistical costs / population density cited as reason why ?? )
Wine / Beer & Spirit prices ( retail ) currently running at up to 300 % !
Some of the notable cities that boast quality living and expenses are Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne. All of Australia’s major cities made it in the top 30 best places for expatriates. In Western Australia, the cost of living is even lower. Migrants can expect nothing less when it comes to rent space, transportation, education, commodities and leisure.
Compared to any other place in the United Kingdom, all of the cities and provinces in Australia significantly offer much cheaper living conditions not to mention the added financial and educational benefits provided to every citizen. In 2004, the World Competitiveness Yearbook remarked that Australia is the third best worldwide country when it comes to low cost of living.
Food and Drinks Cost in Australia
An average family of four would expect to spend around 500 euro every month for food and drinks. Usual meats in Australia are either lamb or beef which is acquired and processed locally. Fish is generally cheap but cities located near the sea and ocean will charge more for their catch.
Fruits and vegetables are very easy to come by. Milk and beef are probably the cheapest commodities in the country since there are virtually several hundreds of cow ranches located throughout the country. Australian wine is also very affordable and water is fresh, clean and free. One of the biggest industries in Australia is their alcoholic beverage industry, owing to the penchant for wine and merriment at any time of the day.
What would cost more are imported products like cereals, biscuits, beer and imported fish. Australia is widely popular for exporting milk, beef for world-famous steaks and some exotic products like kangaroo meat and King Island cheeses. New South Wales offers rock oysters and Illabo milk-fed lamb, Victoria offers Meredith lamb and Gippsland beef, South Australia is known for its scallops and tuna while Queensland has great fruits like Bowen mangoes and papaya that are commonly exported. Other exotic food products are crocodile, shark, ostrich and emu meat. Everything that is acquired locally is very affordable.
Clothing and Accessories Cost in Australia
Locally made Australian clothes and items are cheap while imported ones are expensive. Citizens equally wear traditional and modern fashion wear. People can find several products available, especially clothes made from local Chinese material. A lot of the preferred cut and color of Australian clothes today stemmed from Chinese culture brought by early migrants during the 1800s. Silk, chiffon and velvet are some examples that are still used to make shawls and coats. In terms of local accessories, there are several cheap items in flea shops and bazaars like bead necklaces and bracelets as well as wooden earrings and anklets that all have aboriginal roots.
Australia also doesn’t lag behind when it comes to modern fashion. Although the locals typically prefer a more casual appearance, several designers can be found in most of the major cities. Victoria is still considered as the most fashionable place in Australia. The clothes and accessories designed by local designers are expensive since most are created for exportation purposes. The products are still made available to locals if they want to and can be purchased after fashion festivals and publicized catwalk shows. The Australian fashion industry is doing very well which is why the country is known worldwide for textile and ingenious creation of design. As posted on Australia Expat Forum last January 24, 2009, the average costs for casual clothes are as follows:
Clothes
– Mens business suit – $600
- Mens business shirt – $80
- Mens business shoes – $120
- Surfy brand TShirt = $50
- Surfy brand boardshorts = $90
- Pair of “surfy thongs” (flip/flops) = $20
- Pair of “Bonds” underwear = $14
- Pair of running/gym shoes – Asics/****/Reebok etc = $100-300
Housing Costs in Australia
Australia is in need of more immigrants, and this is the reason why there are several housing options available for everyone’s comfort and preferences. People can choose from single room apartments to small houses with yard space to huge areas or condominiums downtown. Most Australians prefer having a house and lot in suburban neighborhoods.
Land is very much in excess in comparison with the actual number of residents in any given state. Housing in major cities will generally cost more compared to living out in the province and farmlands. On average, a family of four will spend around 400 euro every month for rental or mortgage. If you are in the hunt for a house and lot, here are the latest price figures from the major cities are indicated below:
- Sydney $528,500 (£215,400)
- Melbourne $398,200 (£162,300)
- Brisbane $388,200 (£158,200)
- Adelaide $355,800 (£144,800)
- Canberra $488,800 (£199,000)
- Perth $503,300 (£205,200)
- Darwin $421,000 (£171,700)
- Hobart $258,000 (£105,200)
Utilities are very affordable and some states provide free clean water to residents. A typical family will have a bill of around 100 euro every month for electricity and water consumption. Generally, middle class citizens get to buy their own house and lot after eight years. Giving an initial deposit and applying for a bank loan is common practice. Renting apartments and condominiums are not common practice compared to the United Kingdom. Public housing is also offered for lower class citizens. Part of their income automatically goes to rent.
Services Costs in Australia
The Australian government gives national health policies to all citizens and immigrants. Health services are subsidized and all medical services, pharmaceuticals and health institutions are provided financial assistance. Almost 10% of the country’s per capita GDP goes to the health sector. Technology and professional training is generally up to date.
Australia also gives importance to education and every individual up to 17 years of age is ordered to stay in school. Public schools are free with additional allowances provided to students. The costs are partly or wholly subsidized by the government. Students can also opt to study in private institutions and universities provided that they pay back their tuition once they start working.
Employment Costs in Australia
At present, Australia is in great need of health care professionals especially nurses. Other jobs available for expatriates are positions in the fields of information technology, pharmaceuticals, accounting, education, domestic travel and transportation as well as marketing. Tourism and export are the two main things that comprise the bulk of the nation’s finances. The taxing scheme in Australia makes high-income earners pay over 45% of their income as tax. Over ten million people in Australia are employed with the unemployment rate at 5.8% as of 2009.
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I live in Australia now, and I had lived in USA before I moved here. I am an Australian but had lived in the US for over 10 years.
I never understand why Australians think they are the best country in the world, and never understand why Americans complain so much about their lifestyle.
You can get everything in Australia in the US for half or even less price, both have similar cultures, both are multicultural societies.
Healthcare is the only difference – but Americans pay far less tax – and you can deduct your principal home residence interest against your tax which means you end paying very little tax, sometimes even none if you own a property there.
Sure, every country is different. But for me, and many other Australians who have lived or live in North America – living in North America is essentially very similar to Australia but:
1) Much cheaper cost of living
2) More things to do (more cities, more cultures, more museums..etc)
3) More business opportunities
But – if you are a min. wage earner, yes, Australis does pay higher min. wages. If you are mid-senior level professional, US pays much higher because of more bonuses, insurance and other benefits, if you are a business owner, then, go to US as it is a bigger market.
I am heading back to US next year as I run a tutoring franchises, and it costed me 1/3 of cost to run a franchise in the US and make same amount of money as in Australia, so business margin is much higher, and I can have more savings.
There is no right or wrong place to be, US works out to be very well for me financially, so I am going to live there pretty much in future.
Not worth it, that's all I can say. NZ is even worse.
I grew up in NYC, Washington D.C., and trust me, cost in Sydney is much higher.
People are nice in Australia, but many families are very stressed because of the financial stress and lack of competition in just about everything. Getting a place in child care, get a tradesman to fix your roof, everything add up, and suddenly, your annual expense goes beyond $80,000 for a family of 4.
The reality is that many Aussies families are struggling even with good income, you can say live beyond their means, but to be honest, Aussies live at much more "modest" life than Americans – most of them don't have cable TVs, they hardly travel, most just have 1 car, and houses are actually much smaller than US houses.
We are lucky that we have so many choices in the US with much lower tax rate. The net living cost in the US is much lower even including the healthcare cost…so we should appreciate what we have and how we live in the US, and not waste.
The cost is simply brutal no matter how you compare to: It is expensive in global standard whether comparing to Europe or North America.
To be fair, given the size and population – the best benchmark will be comparing to Canada, population 32 million, similar city concentration.
It is unfair to compare any country to the USA as USA will always be the most affordable place in the world because of the population and economy power.
China is also very expensive compared to Australia – because it has huge population and lack of space, which is why you are seeing influx of Asians moving to Australia.
But certainly – compare to Canada, USA – Australia is way much more expensive in every aspect (I know, some will start talking about insurance..blah blah)…we are looking at the "net cost", that's tax, grocery, living cost, education, cars..etc.
In my own experience living in all 3 places: Australia is around 30% to 80% more expensive than Canada across different categories, and it is around 50% to 200% more expensive than USA depending where you live. The cost differential is amazing.
Having relocated from Sydney to Toronto, our monthly cost had dropped 40% within the first month – if I had moved to Atlanta or Dallas, which are booming cities in the US, I could drop my cost by up to 70%, that's a really big difference.
Oh Dear!!!!,
we was seriously considering moving to Oz from the UK. My husband has a job offer $60,000 annual, and we have 3 kids….Im english and now im assuming that within a year we will be on the breadline???….I thought OZ was supposed to be the perfect place to raise a family…now im worried and greatly disappointed that it all seems to be bullshit!
K Carter, Australia is a wonderful place to raise a family. The weather is good, people are nice and the crime is lower than other places. however the cost of living is expensive. It is getting qutie ridiculous now that we pay such a high price for things like public transport when it is not a good system in the first place. do not move here because it is "cheaper", move here because of the weather, atmosphere and if you want your children growing up in Australia. Good luck with your decision
How much?? $60,000 a year? That's barely enough for 2 of you, and you have 3 kids. Did you know that in many places in Australia, child care is more than $60 per day per child? You will struggle, and very likely you will need find a job asap, otherwise, it is impossible to support a family with that kind of money. $60,000 means after tax is probably just around $40,000, less the housing cost (allow at least $2,000 month), less transportation, less food, you have nothing left.
Please, do your research first before you move to Australia. We Aussies have no idea why foreigners keep thinking we are a cheap place to live. Americans were so shocked when they take cruise here…many though they can retire here…what a laugh, they all went back to the US feeling much more appreciated.
50% to 60% of British immigrants had returned to UK after 3 years. Only consider moving here if you can ensure you have $100,000 household income with 3 children. We are a family of 4, and we are on $80,000 a year and it is very hard to live by.
With $60,000 p.a. – you can live very comfortably in many cities in the US or some cities in Canada.
$60,000 is not enough for anywhere in Australia, not even for Tasmania or South Australia, you will compromise a lot and I can tell you that you will not survive with that kind of salary.
Here are my suggestions
1) Find better paid job and ask for relocation compensation – as a new immigrant, make sure you have at least $100K to get through first year just to survive – you will need a new car, new rental bond, new furniture..etc, and all that are super-expensive in Australia. A 2nd hand car in Australia is approx. 2 times to 3 times more expensive than in the UK.
2) You will also get hit with a lot of hidden costs like first connection fee for Internet, Utilities, which can add into thousands easily.
3) You need to check if you can qualify for full healthcare, some get denied and you will be forced to pay very high healthcare insurance
4) Look for opportunities in Canada and the United States. US is way much cheaper than Australia and offer good job prospects as it has much more industries. Canada is not bad, but more expensive than US, and actually harder to find jobs compared to the US despite of what people say about the US economy – white collar jobs are still in demand in the US.
I had already left Australia after spending a few year living there, it's getting too hard to live there with a family. I am based in Canada now, we are saving 50% to 60% a month compared to what we used to pay in OZ, and actually better quality lifestyle.
Don't come, and don't be fooled by some optimistic comments that you can do well.
Cost is absolutely ridiculous, with $60,000, you will be lucky to have $45,000 after tax. Rent alone is probably at least $2500 a month in a crappy house, so that leaves you with $2,000 a month to survive. Grocery can easily add to $1,200 a month, so that leaves $800 a month..utilities is very expensive, and at least a few hundred dollars.
I have not even included insurance, petrol, tuition fees…etc.
Don't kid yourself, you will not survive, not even in some bad areas.
We were shocked to update our househould budget today – two self employed parents with 4 kids – two in private school – depending on where you are living your children will need to go private. We moved from Sydney 7 years ago to the Sunshine Coast – our living expenses for a year are $200,000.00 and that is just the basics with no luxuries including eating out and overseas holidays. Moving from Sydney we found that our normal grocery bill is so much more expensive in QLD – we are considering moving back to Europe to give our children opportunities in the future – if Australia keeps on going this way no one will be able to afford a decent standard of living.
I gave up my pursuit for Australian Dream since 2007 after I made a visit to the United States.
I had achieved my American Dream within 2 yeas, living comfortably in the US in my own house which I paid $300,000 in Georgia, nice 4 bedroom, 2 storey house – I run my own business and have been expanding since I moved here.
I had not even considered visiting Australia for holiday since I moved here, my family in OZ has been complaining how much grocery, utilities have gone up, and all the stupid new taxes and less and less jobs because of monopolies everywhere.
If you have some savings and can't have a comfortable life in Australia, come to the USA…I don't care about what Americans think themselves (because many of them haven't travelled around), but this is really a good life compared to Australia or Asia or Europe.
I am so glad I have made this decision, now I can start thinking buying my 2nd home already.
Cost of living in Australia is high, and the worst part is – you are not getting much value out of it.
I will strongly recommend visiting Australia, stay at least 2 to 3 weeks, live like the locals, shop like the locals.
As a general rule of thumb, you should bring at least $100,000 o $120,000 to cover the first year "set-up" cost.
Don't believe that you can find a job straight-away, it's pretty hard to find jobs in Australia as a lot of industries are non-existent.
Successful immigrants usually the ones that decide to run their own business, but that takes training, more capital and taking more risk.
Just about anything and everything in Australia is very expensive these days compared to most parts of the world, so be warned.
Life style is no different from what you expect as in Canada or United States, however, Canada & US both are far more affordable, and to be honest, more things to there as well..
Don't expect you will live in a luxurious life in OZ..you have to work super-hard, and life is quite tough.
"You can't eat Sydney Harbour Bridge"..it's pretty, but that's about it.
Moved from UK to Australia, what a terrible mistake…so hard to live in Australia, rising cost..it feels almost like price has been hiked every few weeks instead of every year. Merchants here increase their price as often as they want to. I started tracking my cup of coffee cost…shocked to see that a cup of cap at same store was $2.80 a few months ago had increased to $4.00 a cup.
I started going around, and everyone had hiked their price, so I stopped drinking coffee. Things like parking fees, utilities just go up and up. The worst are for the kids, they don't eat healthy here because grocery is way too expensive, forcing parents to switch to less healthy food.
I feel really sorry for my kids, I am taking them back to Europe. Yes, weather is nice for a few months (winter months), summer is terrible in Australia…not worth it, do your research before you move.
I'm 26 ys , married and i currently leave in Greece.I am unemployed and my wife is working part-time with no insurance , typical nowdays in Greece and we both have university degrees.We have a total income of 760 Euros per month while paying 120-140 Euros on fuel for the car with the average price for gasoline at 1.800 Euros/L, 45 euros for telephone/internet ,50 euros for electricity and food costs around 180 euros.The house we currently leave is owned by my parents , meaning no rent.
Numbers are easy..Reality is different.Utility bills are paid by my parents , i try to keep my eye on fuel consumption EVERY SINGLE TIME i take my car which is just a 1,2ltr (not a truck) and there is no way to go to the cinema and pay less than 15euro each.9euro is the ticket.I could keep on with the numbers but there is no point.I guess most people are aware of what is happening in Greece.
Me and my wife are planning to move to Australia permanenlty.We have relatives and we will be supported if needed.I'm not aware of the situation in Australia , except of what i read from the internet and told by our family members currently present there but i bet there is no way i won't find a better environment and quality of life than the one i currently live in.After all , if i can manage to survive with 50 euros for half a month which i often do , i guess i can survive in a country like Australia.
Moving to Australia will be the worst decision of your life. Unless you earn around $100,000 dollars a year,you wont be able to buy a decent house,decent groceries or even a decent second hand car. Australia is one big culturless rip off. I am an Aussie myself and i now live in the U.K,with great culture,cheap groceries (good quality too) and great people. Go to any other english speaking country but dont go to Australia,its horrid!!!!
Hey there, the comments, while negative reflect the truth about living in OZ. I don't understand why people think OZ is cheaper than UK, recent survey shows that all Australian major cities are on the most expensive city list in the world, none of American or Canadian cities are listed.
As a British national, why not considering other English speaking worlds? Anywhere in Australia is very expensive compared to North America.
I will strongly suggest you take a trip to OZ first before making the decision, I have seen so many disappointed families from UK over the past few years, in fact, more than 50% of them have went back, that says a lot already.
Let's put things into perspective here. Australia is a great country if you come from 3rd world countries or developing ones, you are low skilled, and have low expectations or your country of residence is going though tough times e.g. Greece – there plenty of opportunities available here – if you are prepared to work hard (mostly doing crap things no body wants to do e.g. cleaning, plumbing, driving/courier work) and put up with it all the negativity (e.g. discrimination and racism – though racism is everywhere really, so Australia has it's fair share too – show me a country that doesn't have racists). Overall, it's politically, economically and socially stable. However, if you are a skilled professional, you could be disillusioned and disappointed with Australia. It really is not what it appears to be and scope to earn a lot money is just not there, unless you are well connected. Australia very confidently advertises itself very well to the world, but don't believe what you see – if it's too good to be true -it probably is. Australia has been perpetuating this myth of how awesome Australia is ever since it wanted to lure Europeans to settle and populate the country – worked well esp after WWII. If you want to expand professionally, operate a small business or want bang for your buck, you're better off looking elsewhere, for e.g. US or Asia or Europe. But than again, a lot of people love Australia. It's a simple lifestyle, people don't care too much about politics and everything just works as it should, even if somethings are so backwards here e.g. no fast trains like in Asia or Europe and traveling domestically is often more expensive than going overseas. Plus its so far away from everywhere else. A lot of people in Australia don't know how much better it could be so they just accept the conditions here and the 1st class prices for sub standard transport system, schools, universities, retail, groceries etc. Of course you can find the best of things in Australia too – it's just that it's out of reach for the average consumer with average salaries. The picture painted by the comments here is not far from the truth but it's not all doom and gloom either. Advice is spend a few months here before making the big move and don't have too high expectations.
I think this is the best sum-up I have read in this forum.
Yes – it all come down to comparisons and perspectives. If you are from 3rd World Countries or politically unstable countries – which, unfortunately now includes some European countries. Then of course it is better – my friend moved from Middle East to Australia and loves it because he is not scared being bombed on the way to school.
However – if you are from UK, Canada or United States – you could be disappointed. While culturally and language maybe similar – like he has said – business opportunities are limited. Big country with small population also mean very expensive infrastructure cost which are passed onto customers.
Imagine this – the cost to maintain an electricity grid for Australia is probably more expensive or at least the same as in the USA (size wise), but you have 1/15th of population to support it. Things like insurance cost is very high compared to North America, and as everything have to be shipped in, that all add up the cost.
Roughly speaking, the cost in living in Australia is at least 40% higher than North America – depending on where you are – I find ability to save in Australia is actually much less. A family could afford to achieve some savings in most cities in the US if they have a household income of $100,000 – that is pretty much a bare minimum you need just to survive in Australia if you have a family and do not want to live in bad areas.
with 100,000 usd in united states you have a great amount of money to live, and is an amount that a family can perfectly earn, of course no all the families but many families can do do it.
Moved from Indian to Australia about 3 years ago, I was lured because of the strong economy it reported…the reality is different.
Yes, if you are in the mining industry, you may have better luck.
The truth, Australia has much smaller economy when comes to other industries such as IT, biotechnology, cleantech or telecommunications. Jobs are dominated by large corporations, and more and more jobs are being outsourced.
Most IT companies recruit sales and customer services jobs, very little R&D facilities. I am in Social Media Marketing, it is a far smaller market compared to the US.
Cost of living, on the other hand is way more expensive than other English speaking nations – my friend moved from Australia to San Jose, which is supposed to be the most expensive city in the US, the living cost there is much cheaper than Sydney, and his salary is twice of what he was paid in Sydney, because there are many headquarter jobs.
I am moving very soon myself, the weather is nice for 6 months (winter times), summer is intolerable, with temperature hovering above 35c very often…I am sorry, as much as I want to try to love here and stay here, reality is more important.
Australia,the country that the rest of the world wants to live in,but the country where all its residents want to leave!!!!
I am an American, living in Melbourne these last two years due to my husband's job. From everything we had been told ahead of time by his employer, we had hoped to enjoy living here for 2-4 years before heading back to the US and retirement. Forget it! We had previously lived in the UK for many years and so had good ideas as to the cost of living there (high compared to the US) and Europe, but the costs in Australia have blown us away and caused real difficulties for us. Our children are all grown so we are here on our own; I don't know how families could possibly make it work. But then there are the news reports on how many families w/ 2 parents, each working, are now standing on line at soup kitchens and the like. The floods of the last two years have caused the already high cost of food to skyrocket (eg, AUS$15/ kg bananas, AUS$14 / 2 pork chops last year! ), and the quality in the supermarkets is not great. Local markets may offer better, but for a country that raises most of its own food (and ships way too much overseas to China, Singapore, Japan and the like) and has more sheep than people, the prices are astounding. The price of Australian lamb in a US foodstore might be less than in the Aus. one! All costs are extremely high; the national health care system is not available to newcomers; the transportation system in Melbourne is overloaded; people are often crude and rude. You can come here and have a lovely vacation, but don't bother thinking this is a great place to live. We live on the outskirts of the city center so as to be able to use the tram system (again very overloaded) because we could not afford to buy even a used car here. A decent used car here often costs more than a new one in the US. Our rent on our apartment is twice what our mortgage on our house is back in the USA. And as for the person(s) who asked about the general attitude toward blacks and foreigners, let's just say you won't be very welcome in many places. There is a lot of racism and intolerance — towards foreigners, other races, the elderly, the disabled. Don't get me wrong. We've met some lovely people, but a lot of folks are "in your face" in an instant. Attitudes at work can be problematic; they don't like "outsiders" telling/suggesting what to do. (After all, "you don't understand, this is Australia!") If any member of your family has a health issue, you will find it difficult, if not outright impossible to be given permission to live in Australia. Getting to see a doctor here is also v. problematic. There is a serious shortage of good medical care, and it can take a very long time to get to see one. Taxes are going up, and the gov't is about to do away with the "living-away-from-home" allowance which eases the financial pain a bit for the first few years a newcomer is there. Needless to say, we'll be going home soon, and I cannot wait!
I know how you feel, I spent several years in the US and really don't want to come back to Australia. If US allows immigrants, I can bet lots of Aussies will jump onto the plane and head there. Did you see results from US Diversity Lottery (GreenCard Lottery), every year, there were between 700 to 1000 Aussies got approved, this means, around 30,000 to 40,000 applied for it every year.
The no. of Aussies leaving is increasing every year, it went from 50,000 to over 100,000 in a matter of 5 years. The living cost is a real factor.
I now live in Canada, which is kind of half-way between Australia & US (cost of living wise)..still much higher than US, but at least I can spend several months in the US and enjoy it over there. As I heard from 1 couple from Ohio complaining in Australia "Everything we use here since moving here is 2nd hand' and we paid for for 2nd hand than brand new in USA"
Aussies tend to do very well in the US, because they are used to hard living, and able to make good savings once living in the US, I know most couple bought 1 or 2 houses in the US within first 5 years.
I can't understand that, in this age of Information Overload, people are still making big mistakes – that is – not doing enough research before they move. Immigration is not a small step, and people still treat it as a family trip.
Do your research first – Australia can work out for some, but not for all just like everywhere else. Personally, I find it quite a difficult place to raise family – lack of day cares, very expensive grocery cost and terrible long summer which is a real health concern. But Aussies are very resilient people, I am now based in the US, which is much easier to raise family because of the cost, I have met from Australia here – either Aussies or Australian migrants themselves. They have much more positive attitude, very few feel there is a recession in the US – because, even in recession – they still have much more opp. than in Australia.
Cost wise – OZ is becoming a very expensive place to live, so we made the right choice to move out.
The biggest issue is the housing cost – hard to buy a house here because of the price, and mortgage rate is also the highest in developed worlds. But rental is not easy – in fact, it probably works out better to own a house than to pay the rent, but a house is $700,000, 20% down payment is $140,000, with the cost of living rising, many families can not even afford to make any savings.
Australia is particularly a hard place for families because of the education cost. Many families from US and Canada do not know there is no school bus available in Australia. In the US, my kids were enjoying the school meal program – which is between $2.00 to $4.00 a day, it was very good program – full meals, fruits, milk, juice.
Of course – you can argue that property tax is higher in the US as they are the major contributors to the school fees.
No country is perfect – but for newcomers to OZ, I would strongly recommend you bring at least $100,000 just for the 1st year just to meet the essentials – job finding is also very difficult in Australia as many industries simply do not exist – be prepared for a big change in your life – some have made it well, many were disappointed and returned to home country, or others are like me, moved to OZ, spend 20 years in OZ and moved onto another country for a new start.
Lonely planet books talk a lot about scams to watch out for in other countries and how to bargain down something from $2 to 50 cents, often from destitute people. How about Australia? It's one big scam. Example: 500g of organic blueberries in the heart of Manhattan, NY – $3. 100g of blueberries sold in Australian supermarkets- $9. Baguette in central Paris is $1 in Australia it's $5. BTW I had never seen super white square (often tasteless) bread till I came to Australia from Europe – even then its upwards of $3. Who can afford to feed their families here on good quality food?
Australian salaries are simply not high enough to justify such price differences and unbeknownst to many people living here, Australia did not miss a recession – it has been in a serious recession for the past 10+ years. That is why everything is a rip off and people are mortgaged (trapped) up to their necks and live like paupers all the while being a slave and being taken advantage of in the workplace. Yeah, the great Aussie lifestyle – the elusive carrot at the end of the stick.
Having lived in Australia, Canada and the USA, my observations are:
1. Food Cost: Lowest: USA, Highest: Australia
2. Housing Cost: Lowest: USA, Highest: Australia
3. Education Quality: Best: USA
4. Taxation: Lowest: USA, Highest: Australia
5. Insurance Cost: Lowest: USA, Highest: Some areas in Australia & Canada
6. Utilities Cost: Lowest: USA, Highest: Australia
7. Healthcare Cost: Lowest: Canada, Highest: USA
8. Petrol/Gas: Lowest: USA, Highest: Australia
9. Mortgage Rate: Lowest: Canada, Highest: Australia
10. Hidden Taxes: Lowest: USA, Highest: Australia
11. Elementary School Services: Best: USA (School Bus, Meals, Field Trips), Worst: Canada (I actually it is very limited)
12. Business Opportunities: Best: USA, Worst: Australia
13. Travel Cost: Lowest: USA, Highest: Australia
I am simply comparing based on my 20+ years across 3 countries. Australia is one of the most expensive places to live in the world and it is getting worse each year. There are some salary increase in certain sectors, but generally speaking, it is a very hard place to save. US and Canada may offer lower salary in some industries, but US also offers the highest salary for white-collar professionals. Lower living cost and tax also mean you can save much more.
Well, you have 3 systems:
1. Commonwealth System (Australia, Canada): You get healthcare, though not a great service or quality – and you get hit with high tax – then the Govt gives you some rebates, tax credits.
2. US System: Small healthcare benefits. However, you have low tax rate to start with, you can offset your tax against your home mortgage (that's right, your home, not investment); as well as on investments you put forward for college funds for kids. So it works well for middle-high income families, but a struggle for lower income families.
3. Asian Systems: Most Asian countries have no benefits at all, such as China. No pension, no healthcare. You are on your own, but tax is lower in Asia. People have mentality to prepare retirement for themselves, hence Asian Govts tend to do better because they don't need to look after their citizens when they are old.
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