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moving over ... checklist and lots of other questions!


weasy

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Hi,

 

my name is Louise and i am moving to Perth in a couple of months with my husband and our two children ( one aged three and a 4 month old). We are all sold up and currently selling everything in order to move. I think we are sorted this side with regards to who we have to inform evidence etc. However i still feel very unprepared (despite months of planning!) Did anyone produce a checklist of things they needed to do when they arrived eg: where to hand in medicare forms, tax number etc as i feel like im missing something off my list!? Any advice information would be greatfully received.

 

Also we are looking at a holiday let to move into for a few weeks and have seen Pudbury being a popular choice, would anyone recomend certain areas where it is best to start out?

 

 

we would be very grateful of any hlep anyone can give!!

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Hi Louise! Great to hear you have sold up your home and are close to the move. Have you booked flights yet? I'm moving to Perth in October 2014 with my husband and our two girls (two year old and one year old!) Funny we actually just started to write our checklist for the first few weeks and here is what I have so far :-) We are staying in Kinglsey for one month, staying in a self contained unit attached to the owner's home. We found it through Air BnB and it's two bedrooms with a pool, garden and the second room has two single beds and a cot so perfect for the girls. Its also fully furnished and equipped with everything we could need including internet, whilst we look for a rental and wait for our container (we actually got 8 weeks free storage with our shipping company). If you want me to send the details can message them to you! So here is our checklist so far but we only started making this so not fully complete and I've missed out the addresses as unsure where you'll be staying in relation to local offices etc.

- First few days GET OVER JET LAG and explore the local area and the suburbs we've researched about

- Activate our bank accounts

- Arrange a house rental (visit estate agents, have references in hand and other documentation - evidence of rent payments in UK, passports, drivers licence etc)

- Register with Medicare and Centrelink

- Buy a car, register it and get car insurance

- Transfer driving licenses

- Buy two car seats (we've friends in Australia who are e-mailing us details of the car seats they purchased so I can go off recommendations)

- Get a local mobile phone/sim card

- Health Insurance

- Join local playgroups for the girls and get recommendations on childcare (I'm taking another 6 months off to settle the girls in before looking for part time work) www.buggybuddys.com.au is a great website for meeting other mummy friends.

- Find a doctor

- Find a dentist

 

We have already lived and worked in Australia (Sydney in 2009/2010) so we already have Tax File Numbers

 

This is what I have so far but it's a work in progress :-)

Edited by EmsyEss
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Just a couple of notes from our experience, to activate your bank account you need the dreaded 100 points of ID, that's difficult when you just got off a plane, with nothing & know nobody, it almost caught me out, fortunately I had a friend over here that let me use his address, as I already had some correspondence with my name on and his address which helped, to buy a car through a dealer you need an Aussie drivers licence, or at least the number they give you on the receipt, same again it 100 points of ID, in fact you need your Medicare card to make the 100 points and that takes time, if you have friends over here, ask them if you can use there address, apply for your tax file number online, get it sent to there address, change the address details on your Aussie Bank account and request a statement, it will be sent to there address, when you arrive you will have two letters with your name and an Aussie address ready and waiting to help with the ID requirement, then go to the bank, activate your accounts, get your debit cards, this will give you more ID, then it's off to Medicare, once you get a Medicare card it's happy days, go get your drivers license. To get an Aussie phone or SIM card you need, you've guessed it ID, don't worry about Doctors or dentists, you can walk in and register with any doctor on the day, chop & change as you please, they all private so always looking for new business

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- Buy two car seats (we've friends in Australia who are e-mailing us details of the car seats they purchased so I can go off recommendations)

 

Em...could you not take car seats over? This is what I planned to do (many airlines allow you to take on the plane am I right?) Though I guess taking two over may be more hassle! x

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How do I know if a car seat is approved?

 

 

To be an approved child restraint a car seat or booster must comply with and be labelled with an Australian Standards sticker for the standard AS 1754. All car restraints sold in Australia must comply with the standards that cover materials, design, construction, performance, testing and labelling.

 

 

Look for the sticker with five ticks to ensure that the car seat meets the new standards, not the earlier E46 standard. Car seats bought overseas will not comply with the Australian standard and not approved and it is illegal to use them in Australia.

 

 

http://www.babycenter.com.au/a1033422/car-seat-laws-in-australia#ixzz34hN2wIPA

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we arrived almost 3 weeks ago and activated our bank accounts with NAB first, only had to show visa, passport and uk drivers license and the lady was so helpful, she even gave us a list of things to do along with directions round the corner to the medicare centre. we are in a holiday let so have no proof of address but we weren't asked anyway.

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we arrived almost 3 weeks ago and activated our bank accounts with NAB first, only had to show visa, passport and uk drivers license and the lady was so helpful, she even gave us a list of things to do along with directions round the corner to the medicare centre. we are in a holiday let so have no proof of address but we weren't asked anyway.

 

I don't think we had any problems with the bank & Medicare either, driving licences were a different story, they wanted to see Medicare cards, and they took an age to come, they also wanted to see a visa label, which we didn't have or need, but this has now been cleared up, now they don't need a visa label, just take in your visa grant letter.

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yes we are still waiting for the medicare cards to come through before we can do the driving licenses, hope they come soon

 

Ours came within a couple of weeks of applying. The driving licence was a joke! Money for old rope :wideeyed: they charged $37 to transfer our Jersey licences and $125 for a 5 year Aussie licence. When I asked what they do when they transfer our Jersey ones I was told it means they won't be valid in Australia any more which is interesting because the licence is still valid and no "transfer" actually takes place :skeptical: so...money for old rope!

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Em...could you not take car seats over? This is what I planned to do (many airlines allow you to take on the plane am I right?) Though I guess taking two over may be more hassle! x

 

Hey!

 

Unfortunately like others have said your car seats will most likely not be compliant in Australia. We have already arranged to sell ours on to friends prior to our move and we've arranged to hire car seats with our rental car for the first week. We're banking with Commonwealth Bank and we've just e-mailed our contact to check what we need. We banked with NAB last time we lived in Sydney and there didn't seem to be that much of an issue with ID. The owner of our rental is very friendly and I'm sure she'd be happy to have us send mail there if needed.

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Hey!

 

Unfortunately like others have said your car seats will most likely not be compliant in Australia. We have already arranged to sell ours on to friends prior to our move and we've arranged to hire car seats with our rental car for the first week. We're banking with Commonwealth Bank and we've just e-mailed our contact to check what we need. We banked with NAB last time we lived in Sydney and there didn't seem to be that much of an issue with ID. The owner of our rental is very friendly and I'm sure she'd be happy to have us send mail there if needed.

 

Great Em! I'm so pleased I asked! Will definitely be selling ours then and purchasing a new one over there! Another thing to remember :) Where have you got a rental?

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Great Em! I'm so pleased I asked! Will definitely be selling ours then and purchasing a new one over there! Another thing to remember :) Where have you got a rental?

 

Hey again :-) we have a 4 week rental booked in Kingsley, can give you the details if you'd like? We are wanting to buy a new build eventually and so may end up south of the river when it comes to buying as feel like we may get more for our money. My list of desirable suburbs is getting longer by the day so I'm getting as much info as I can get and then we will drive around and get a feel for places. Kingsley looks great as a first base though as quite easy commute to CBD for interviews and not far from Hillarys on the coast. We are moving out of our house in august and staying with my parents for 6 weeks before we fly. Not long now! :-)

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Thank you for all your help so far. We are currently looking at short term holiday lets, we have left it slightly late as were going to stay with family. Where are the best places to stay as there seem to be so many but the prices differ massively.

 

We have now booked our shipment so it's all getting very real!

 

Are you having your children immunised against hep B before you go or waiting until you get there? Our eldest is three and i know he will need them all before he startys school but don;t know if to wait until he is 4 to get what he needs.

 

Thanks

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Hey again :-) we have a 4 week rental booked in Kingsley, can give you the details if you'd like? We are wanting to buy a new build eventually and so may end up south of the river when it comes to buying as feel like we may get more for our money. :-)

 

Yup PM me the details please....I'm intrigued to see the sort of place you can get :)

 

We went to activate our visas in Dec 12 and preferred SOR so I think we will end up there too. Like you say, bit more for money but also just thought it 'felt' right, more established.

 

Gosh once you move in with your parents, it really will fly!!

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Cool will forward on to you as it took me ages to find somewhere that looked good value for money and central. Ruth the owner has been a great help too :-) yep can't quite believe we will be out there in October. Weve moved around a lot in the past 8 years since I graduated uni... Washington DC, Dublin, Sydney so it's exciting to Think of Perth as our last stop and we may actually finally buy a house and settle finally!

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Thank you for all your help so far. We are currently looking at short term holiday lets, we have left it slightly late as were going to stay with family. Where are the best places to stay as there seem to be so many but the prices differ massively.

 

We have now booked our shipment so it's all getting very real!

 

Are you having your children immunised against hep B before you go or waiting until you get there? Our eldest is three and i know he will need them all before he startys school but don;t know if to wait until he is 4 to get what he needs.

 

Thanks

 

my youngest daughter didn't take too well to her 4 month IMMS so I'm dreading her 12 month ones which are due a week before we fly. Might ask the HV about hep b as something I hadn't thought about. I'd say we will wait if we can though. Glad your shipment is booked, I've just finished our insurance paperwork for our container. Exciting times ahead! When are you flying out?

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