baggytrousers

Yes. It’s quite now because it’s winter now (Southern Hemisphere) but in November there will be more people looking as it’s coming into summer. That’s been my experience anyhow

We live near Fremantle (Mosman Park) and there do seem to be a few rentals on the market at the moment. There's probably half a dozen reasonable houses on the market within a couple of hundred yards of us at the mo which is really unusual as it's a sought after area. Not sure how it will be in November though as it is a bit of a weird Perth thing that it all goes quiet in the winter so there might well be a lot more people looking come the summer. I'd echo the comment about Gumtree. Less choice on there and you may have to look at some dodgy properties but there's also some quite decent ones on there through private landlords which might be a lot more flexible than the official sites which is all Estate Agents.

The $4000 fee is for 457 visa holders. That table comes from a document you can download from the following URL : http://det.wa.edu.au/policies/detcms/policy-planning-and-accountability/policies-framework/guidelines/enrolment-of-students-from-overseas.en Have a good read of it but from what I can see the 407 visa doesn't appear in the "you can enrol and it's free" section so you may well fall into the costly category (section 5) that's shown in the table above, which is a bummer as the state schools in the area you're looking at are largely pretty good. If it is the case that you fall into that very costly category then it may well be worth contacting private schools in the area as it looks like that fee only applies to public schools. Obviously you'll have to pay for a private school but Perth has a whole range of different private schools at different price points and it may be that your best option might be to go for a term at a local private school. You'll need to get in contact and confirm exactly what you will be up for paying in total, considering the visa your on (don't think the gov fee applies to private schools but could be wrong). There will be quite a few private schools within striking distance of West Perth. Christchurch and Methodist Ladies College will be at the top pricey end. Usually the catholic schools tend to be at the cheaper end. Here's a site that can give you contact details for local private schools : https://privateschoolsguide.com/perth-private-schools Another alternative is treat the whole 6 months as a real learning adventure and do some home schooling coupled with educational trips around Perth. Get your kid to plan the trip, sort the money out, etc. Works well with younger kids, bit harder as they get older. Good luck with it all. Cheers Baggy

Hi, Welcome to Perth. If you want to be within striking distance of West Perth by public transport then anywhere along the Fremantle train line would be fine. They're all good suburbs and it would depend on how close you want to be to work versus how close to the river and the beach. Personally, I would look between West Leederville and Victoria Street stations as they're all nice suburbs with decent to good primary schools (as far as I'm aware). West Perth is OK but it's a bit of a spillover suburb from the city so has a number of offices and apartments but probably not quite as family friendly as if you go out one more suburb. The train anywhere along that line is nice and reliable and takes 30 - 40 mins to get from Fremantle to West Perth so any of the stops in between are doable. I've done that journey in from Mosman Park for years and it's an easy commute. There seem to be a few rentals on the market at the mo so you should be able to find somewhere decent. An alternative would also be Leederville which is a good suburb with cafes and restaurants at the end of Oxford Street. Hope it all works out for you and you have a fun 6 months in Perth. Cheers Baggy

Shenton College is a good all round school. Achieve good academic results but have great programs in music, cookery, trades, photography, drama, etc. Take pride in producing well rounded kids and trying to cater to each child's individual needs as well as producing good academic results. Always high up in the rankings (both academic and all-round) for state schools and compares well with a lot of the private ones. I've had one just finished there and one in Year 11 and have been happy with the school. As others have said you need to either be in the catchment area or get in through the GATE program (https://www.education.wa.edu.au/gifted-and-talented)

Hi SB11, Sorry to read that you're feeling down. I think the key phrase in your post is "I've struggled to make friends" which is something a lot of us can relate to over here and it can make the difference between enjoying the place where your living and making it seem soulless and totally wrong for you. I've been here 13 years and still don't have the close friends I had in Blighty and there have certainly been times when making banal smalltalk with locals about things that I really couldn't give a stuff about has really got me down so I can certainly relate to where you're coming from even if your situation seems a lot more extreme than mine. However, I do disagree with your statement that Perth is uncultured. There are a lot of interesting people, places and events out there and that side of the city seems to be improving all the time. The key is having people that you can really enjoy the "culture" with. Here's what I'd suggest for you. In your post there's no indication of which part of Perth you're living in and what sort of things you like doing. Put that stuff out there and see if anybody's interested in meeting up. There will be a lot of people out there who have experienced alienation in Perth to some degree and would be interested in having a new chum. Quite a few of them may not be people you click with but just finding one who lives close by, likes similar things to you and, most importantly, gets you can make all the difference between enjoying the place where you live and hating it. Put yourself out there and persist with it until you find those elusive arch-chums. It might take a while but when you do you'll end up seeing Perth with new eyes. Good luck and hope things get better for you soon. Baggy

Hi Midds, Welcome to Freo. Great spot. Hope you're enjoying your time here so far. We're very much into the same things as you (music, markets, bars, film, etc) but have 15-20 years on you. I like to think of it as experience. Whilst Perth probably has less on offer overall than the bigger UK cities what it does have is really accessible, particularly if you live around Freo. South Freo is a good place to be if you're into indie, drinks and restaurants. Comedy, not so much. There's a bunch of musos live and hang out in and around South Freo including Tame Impala, John Butler, Methyl Ethel, Eskimo Joe, Pond, Felicity Groom so there are good gigs to be had but it can be a bit hit and miss. It's more lots of small gigs in pubs and bars and the quality and atmosphere can vary a lot.I've been to some great ones and some really dead ones. There are bands from the UK that come across on a semi-regular basis. I believe Primal Scream are playing the Metro in Freo soon and we're off to see Stiff little Fingers at The Rosemount in North Perth in Feb. My son's been at Falls Festival this weekend and apparently that's been pretty good - Fleet Foxes, Liam Gallagher, Glass Animals, The Kooks plus lots of young Aussie bands who my offspring assures me are apparently pretty good. There are also a few UK acts playing the Chevron Gardens as part of the Perth Festival (Mogwai, Avalanches, The Staves, Dizee Rascal) in Jan/Feb as well. Venues to check out around Freo for decent small gigs would include the Newport, Fly By Night Club, Clancys, Mojos (North Freo) and Rodneys (Mosman Park). The Perth Fringe is coming up in a couple of weeks and there's comedy to be seen there but it's up and coming stuff rather than big names. We're off to see Jeff Green who's probably the biggest UK name playing the Fringe this year (see what I mean) but I think Jimmy Carr is doing a gig outside of the Fringe sometime soon. As for bars and restaurants lots of good bars in Freo and some pretty good restaurants down South Freo way (check out Copper Chimney and Saroors if you like Indian). Also some good ones in North Freo close to where we live which is worth a go if you fancy an alternative. The best market in town is probably Perth Upmarket at UWA whenever that happens next. It typically happens once every 3 months and the last one was just before Xmas so it's probably a while before the next one. That one's a good day out though and has some pretty good stuff. If you want an example of the sort of stall they have there pop into Mokoh (shameless plug) on South Terrace as Trudy and Andy who run the place are old friends of ours and they used to do Perth Upmarket whenever it was on. Another good thing to do in Perth if you're a culture vulture is outdoor cinema. There's a really good one in Mosman Park called Camelot (http://camelot.lunapalace.com.au) and it's got a bar so it's a good evening out meeting up early, having a couple of beers and watching a quality film (hopefully) under the stars. Alternatively, I've got a mate who sings (and I use the word advisedly) in a band that plays in an open-mike evening every Thursday at Moondyne Joe's in South Freo so I often pop in and laugh at him. I wouldn't advise this as an evening out in its own right as it's all a bit Twin Peaks and we'd probably double the size of the audience if we went. However, if you wanted to meet up for a beer and a chat, in between the dancing dwarf acts, then it serves well enough. We're down in Margaret River for most of next week but will be back the week after if you fancy meeting up. Send us a message if you're up for it. Cheers Baggy

Hi SarahL, Thought I'd chip in with a bit more info re the current state of the economy in Perth and your likelihood of getting work as Maths and Science teachers. Whilst it's true that Perth's economy has dropped off from its previous significant highs overall it's still not a bad place to be. There's still lots of cranes on the skyline and there are new bars and restaurants opening all the time so things aren't nearly as bad as some people would make out. Perth is going through a readjustment and if your skills are now no longer in demand then it is undoubtedly tough but on the whole there's still a lot of work out there. Over the past 10-15 years the mining and oil and gas sectors were going gangbusters and that came to an abrupt halt last year causing a fair amount of pain to those whose livelihoods were tied to those sectors. Other sectors of the economy however pretty much continued on their merry little way. I work in IT, servicing all sorts of businesses, and, whilst the market was undoubtedly tight last year, the company I work for has enjoyed it's busiest period ever in the first 6 months of this year, so much say that we've had to rent another office to accomodate all the extra staff. So generally I would say that the Perth economy is still pretty healthy but that, as is so often the case, that's not much consolation if your jobs in a sector that is struggling. As far as teaching goes I'd be pretty confident that maths and science teachers would be able to pick up work but you may have to jump through a couple of bureaucratic hoops to get your first job. Once you get your foot in the door somewhere you'll be fine. Just make sure you allow for the possibility of that not happening instantly as the first job is always the trickiest one to get. There's a large cohort of kids going through primary school right now (a result of the baby bonus which was an Australian government incentive to encourage people to have kids a few years back) which will hit high schools very soon so pure demographics will dictate that more high school teachers will be needed soon. My wife is a primary school teacher and hasn't been out of work since she did her Australian teaching orientation (bureaucratic hoop) ten years ago. I have heard tales of other primary teachers struggling and surviving on relief work though but generally the works there. As far as high school goes we have a friend from Blighty who taught geology and environmental science in high school (which is a bit niche) and she seemed to get work really easily. On the whole I would say your chances of getting work are pretty good but of course that's no guarantee. Hope that helps and look forward to possibly meeting up somewhere in Mosman Park (possibly a boozer) when you get over. Cheers Baggy

Hi SarahL, We've been over here 12 years, live in Mosman Park and my wife is a teacher, albeit a Primary School one, so can give you some insight into the Australian education system. We also have two teenage boys at the local public high school, Shenton College (http://www.shenton.wa.edu.au), and our oldest went through a different high school before we moved to Mosman Park so we can give a parents' view on high schools if that's any use. I know Shenton are very accomodating to prospective parents who want to have a look round the school so I'd imagine they'd be open to prospective teachers if you contact them in advance. From memory I think you can even book torus on the website but they are more parent-oriented. Happy to meet up for a chat/beer when you're over. We're right in the middle of Mosman Park so you probably won't be more than 10 minutes walk away from us. Get in touch if you want to meet up and get our views on living and teaching in Perth. Cheers Baggy

Hi Asho, Just seen your post (don't log on to Poms in Perth much) but, as other people have indicated, Fremantle is definitely the place to be if you're creative. Famous Freo residents include Tame Impala, Tim Winton and Ben Elton but there's a whole community of creative talent beyond that. Other Freo musicians you may have heard of include Empire of the Sun, John Butler, Eskimo Joe, Pond, Methyl Ethel, Lucky Oceans (saw him duet with Billy Bragg last night), Koi Child... the list goes on. Plenty of artists and writers around Freo as well. South Fremantle is chocca with them but the creative area probably spreads all the way from Mosman Park in the north to Hamilton Hill in the south and out to Hilton heading east. Know lots of artists in and around those suburbs. Places to check out for creative stuff going on around Freo include the Fremantle Arts Centre, The Moores Building, The Packenham Street Arts Space, MosArts, the Newport, Rodneys, the Fly by Night Club, the J Sheds, FSpace, the Artisan Store, the Old Customs House (WA Circus School), Pulse Arts Studio, Kidogo Arthouse, Ootong & Lincoln, South Fremantle Sunday Markets, the Luna on SX, Bathers Beach. Probably loads more that I've forgotten. Seem to be new ones popping up quite often around Freo. Anyhow, there won't be anywhere near as much going on in Perth generally as there is in London but in and around Freo there's a surprising amount of interesting arts , crafts and creative enterprises going on and what you do have is a genuine artistic community flourishing in a relative small, relaxed and charming area with a really good vibe. Enjoy.

Hi Col, Doesn't surprise me that Balmain is a bit more staid these days. Would be big prices to be in that area these days I expect. Over here, Mosman Park and North Freo are in the big mortgages with kids category whilst South Freo is younger and hipper with Fremantle itself being in the middle and is the area where the majority of pubs are. The Freo area in general has most things that Balmain has but it's all a bit more spread out so doesn't have quite the same nice villagey feel of Balmain but it's still pretty good. As far as playing football goes there's East Fremantle FC and Fremantle United who are next season merging into a new club called Fremantle City which should be fairly big although the majority of members are for the kids teams. East Fremantle definitely had adult teams ( I used to play for one of them) in both the Amateur and Social leagues. Pretty sure Fremantle United had some adult teams as well so I'd imagine there would be a few options in the new merged club. Other options are Western Knights in Mosman Park which is mostly adult teams, some of which play State League or Melville City which is a couple of miles East of Freo. Subiaco is a big club and seems pretty good if you end up closer to the city. There's also plenty of social kickarounds going on so plenty of options. Best of luck with the ongoing job search and reccies and if there's any specific info you need just let us know. Cheers Brian

Hi Col, I too have lived in Balmain and Glebe, although it was 20 years ago, so I know where you're coming from. If you're looking for something similar in Perth i would say the closest in terms of character and vibe would be South Fremantle. There's quite a few workers cottages in narrow streets populated by lots of arty, muso types (Tame Impala, John Butler, Eskimo Joe all live there) and quite a few trendy cafes and small bars although not on Balmain's level for that. Alternatives a bit closer in would be North Fremantle and Mosman Park which both still have a number of gentrified workers cottages but are interspersed with more upmarket newer properties so it's starting to get a bit more Neutral Bay-like in Sydney terms. The advantage of these two suburbs is that they're on the main Freo to Perth train line so it's half an hour into the city but they still have good access to Freo and still have a bit of the Freo vibe about them with some cheeky little bars and cafes (Mojos and Rodney's are two good examples). It's still a bit arty and Ben Elton lives around here as well as some other more up market artists so it's still got some of that Balmainyness about it and has a mixture of housing before you get to the real upmarket suburbs from Cottesloe inwards. These ones (Cottesloe to West Perth) are very much like the North Shore suburbs in Sydney. Very pleasant but quite quiet and without the character of Freo. Subiaco is OK but is quite upmarket these days. Other options for interesting little districts are Northbridge and Highgate, Leederville and Mount Lawley all of which have pockets of good shops, cafes, cinema, etc but nowhere near on the scale of inner Sydney. As far as the job market goes it has undoubtedly tightened but there is still work out there. I work in IT and our company is really busy at the mo. Do know a few people who have had spells out this year but virtually all of them have found another gig pretty quickly. I have one friend who has been out of work for 6 months though but he does seem to have been extraordinarily unlucky. Can't speak for financial services but I would imagine it would probably be similar to the IT market, tight but still options out there so you may get something straight away but it would be wise to prepare for the possibility of having to wait a while before something comes up. Good luck Brian

Hi Mairi, We live in Palmyra too and, to cut a long story short, our current house guest, who used to be our next door neighbour, is desperately looking for people to do an urgent job that's just come in. It's only a couple of weeks work but it might help you if you haven't got anything yet. Also aware of a job going in Freo at the mo and could get more details on that one if you're interested. Email us if you need the work or if you want to meet some fellow Brits in Palmyra. Cheers Carol and Brian