Irish Family moving to Brisbane

[Irish Sparks]

Hi all,
I,m new to this forum.
I,m an Irishman moving to Brisbane in the near future.
I could do with some advice from anyone who has the knowledge to help.
Normally when I do stuff outside my comfort zone I tend to just run with it and use the force, but as this time it involves selling everything I own worth a damn and uprooting my wife and children from everything they hold dear (albeit to make a better life for them) I reckon I need to take advice from my betters.
Anyhoo, in defference to my wife, I need sugestions firstly on what suburbs I should be looking at to settle in, with two young gents (Rory & Cathal age 3 & 2). I work in construction so I'll have to travell to work regardless where I live.
My elder son will be starting prep school in the new year but I need to find out about playschool for number two, any info would be good.
Child minders/babysitters. The saviours of our sanity. How much can we expect to pay, how easy are they to access?
Most importantly will somebody tell me we're making the right decision.
I'm sure I'll think of another dozen things I need to know before too long, but for now I'll leave it at that.
Be back soon;
Sparky.

[kaz101]

Hi Sparky,

Welcome to the forum.

I know this is an obvious question but I assume you've got your visa sorted.

I've just added some school information to the "Please read..." post towards the top of the forum so that may be able to help.

There are others on here that live in Brissy so they will be able to help on areas since I don't live in that part of Oz.

Regards,
Karen

[mcqueen95]

Hi Sparky,

I'm living down the road from you Meath. My wife and I (and 3 year son)are also considering a move to Oz in the near furture. Sydney was our first choice but after speaking to family and friends there we have decided to turn our attention to Melbourne and Brisbane. anyway, i'm in the same postion as yourself (spending hours of the internet and getting nowhere).

Are we doing the right thing? a few months ago i would have said yes without hesitation. Now, after a bit of number crunching I'm not so sure. I do hope I'm wrong.

keep in touch and let me know how your getting on. I do have some info but i want to make sure ts all correct before passing it on.

Andy

[kaz101]

Originally Posted by mcqueen95

Are we doing the right thing? a few months ago i would have said yes without hesitation. Now, after a bit of number crunching I'm not so sure. I do hope I'm wrong.

Hi Andy,

Welcome to the forum.

What's happened after you've done the number crunching?
There are some cost of living figures in the "Cost of Living" post towards the top of the forum although they are for South Australia where I live.

If I can help you with some figures from over here let me know...

Regards,
Karen

[Irish Sparks]

Hi Andy, Hi Karen,

Andy, I dont know what area you work, but as far as construction is concerned, the work is coming out of the walls. I have sent C.V,s and resumes to quite a few companies and employement agencies to try and find expressions of interest and to try and gauge what kind of income I can expect. The responses have been really encouraging, from the advice given by different agencies to being asked to move my immigration date forward by a couple of companies in order to facillitate interviews.
If you have'nt already started your paperwork you should downlad it now and have a good read as the hardest part of the whole proces is filling out the forms.
You will find them all at the Australian Government Website.
If you look at the Cost of Living Figures that Karen has put together, they're not so far wide of the mark.
If you need any help or encouragement, give me a shout.
Regards,
Sparky.

Always remember, If you dont stick your neck out, You'll never get it broken.

[Baby75]

Hi we are also an Irish family making the move we have started our visa applied on line so do our meds in two weeks time heading to the sunshine coast hope to be there before the end of the summer well june finger crossed

I thinks its worth a go see anew country spend more time out side with the kids and sure if it doesn't work out Ireland is not so far away although if the new is right Ireland is hitting a major slump in the building industry my hubby a fabricator and two big companies he worked for both went belly up he was made redundant twice in two years so hope fully loads of jobs in Australia although he has one to go to lucky for us.

Good luck with the move have any questions ask away if we can help we will get your TRA sorted and the rest will come along nicely i hope

hello sparksy! Im a bricklayer and im at the very start of my new mission!! and youve said that theres loads of work out there, i was hoping you could point me in the right direction of where to find info on building jobs,please also have you visisted australia before? or are just going for it? thanks

[Irish Sparks]

Hey Pirate Willy..
One more of us, one left of them...
I've been checkng out the employement websites like careerone and mycareer.
As far as the bricklaying goes, I kicked onto a couple of sites just now and the jobs are out there.
Start with the agencies, send off a few c.v.s, they're all pretty good at getting back to you.
Where abouts do you reckon you'll head for.
Most of my searching has been around Brisbane but I've benn talking to some tradesmen mates in Perth and they're raving about the place
If you need a dig out with the TRA forms or anything else give me a shout.

Sparky
If you dont stick your neck out...........

alrite sparksy,thanks for replying, im at the really early stages of all this at the moment,right at the start!!!do you email your cv off to these agencies? and the they then tell you what work they have,is that how it works? im swaying towards brisbane,the beaches look quality!! so much surf so little time!! do you know what sort of reception you are gonna get off the ozzies? do they mind us all going over there and taking there jobs? whats your reasons for leaving?

[Irish Sparks]

Hey pirate willie man,
Yeah, I e-mailed my c.v. to diferent agencies.
Its a bit of a roundabout way of doing it, but what I did was log onto the jobs website and find the name of the agencies advertising various jobs, then I googled the company name to find thier actual website to find the direct contact details.
After that it's a case of a cover letter an a c.v. attachent.
I havent sent off a single c.v. that hasnt had a quick reply.
Some agencies even attach application forms so as to have your details on file.
If you need a dig out withanything, give me a shout.
Sparks.

If you dont stick your neck out.....You'll never get it broken.