Moving to Australia - 101 questions

[alexisp]

Hi there!

Me and my fiancee are moving to australia in March and are very much looking forward to it. We both have a holiday visa which allows for incidental work. We're hoping to spend 6 months in sydney and 6 months on the west coast somewhere (tba). we're not really looking for backpacking tips, more living tips. so here are my Qs:

Housing
Are we ok to rent under the visa?
What areas should we avoid in Sydney (if any)?
should we speak to some estate agents before we go?
can you rent for just 6 months?
Are we likely to get ripped off as we're clueless tourists?

Work
What is "incidental work"?
Where's best to look for this sort of work?
Is it true for bar work, you have to do a 2-day course first?

General
I want to keep my money in England as the £ is strong, but dont want to use my current bank as i'll get ripped off on charges and bad exchange rates - what should we do?
I had a splenectomy, which means i need a monthly prescription of penicillin, how do i go about getting a prescription in Australia? will a note from my GP in England suffice?

Thanks, for reading, really hope you guys can help!!

[kaz101]

Welcome alexisp,

Housing
Definitely check out some websites online (domain.com.au and realestate.com.au are pretty good) and contact some letting agents.
They'll be able to tell you more about what is required for the rental and if 6 months is okay. I've let out our place in Melbourne before for 6 months so this may just depend on the landlord. The letting agent will also let you know what they require for credit checks etc.

You're not completely clueless since you are asking questions

I know that there is a course for bar work but I don't know if it's required to do any sort of bar work. Again you may need to contact a few places to make sure.

Check with your current bank in the UK and see if they have a linked bank out here and maybe you can set up a bank account out here. That would probably be easier than setting one up from scratch.

Will you need the prescription for the full 12 months? I know that there is a reciprocal agreement between Medicare (our health system) and the UK.
Here is the link to Medicare About Medicare - Medicare Australia
so you may have to pay and then claim it back but the website should be able to tell you more.

Regards,
Karen

[Sunnywa]

Lots of Questions....I'll try answer the best I can

With regarding to Estate Agents, they real will only talk to you once you are here. Its pretty easy to sort out a rental once you are here and have some references from your home country would help.
Incetental work is, casual work ie waiters/barrista's /sandwhich hands /cleaners etc. And yes if you are not a qualified bar person/barrista etc you would need to do a course.
Most place adverstise in their window/check the local newspapers and shopping centers.

Regarding the doctors persciptions, you probably would need an Australian Doctor to give you a perscription.

Good Luck

[jarjar]

Hi there,

The bar course is simple & you need to do one for each state i.e QLD diff from VIC. You will find it difficult to rent for 6 months, however if you rent on a 1 yr contract a give it up after 6 months you only have to pay the rent until the re-let (no time at all) & you may lose your deposit / bond.

Prescription - is it tablets? If so tell your doctor you are going on a holiday & they will give you prob 6 months to take with you.