American pondering a move to Australia with questions
07-28-2005, 04:18 PM
#1
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American pondering a move to Australia with questions Just to make this car related I plan to buy a Holden if or when I get there. 
I am pondering a move to Australia mainly becuase of some legal (non-criminal) trouble my wife is having.
I am a Structural Designer with expert Autocad Experience. I also have a MCP (Microsoft certified professional) credential.
Basially and am a Senior Structural designer with heavy concrete and oil and gas experience that can also manage a Microsoft network and do PC repair.
This niche has come in handy in my current job since we are a smalll engineering firm.
Now the questions:
Do you know anyone in my field or related field? What is their ballpark salary?
What percentage of taxes are taken out of your check. What types of taxes do you pay? Property? Sales? Income?
Why the hell doe a 2002 Holden Monaro cost 30,000 Australian dollars?
What is your favorite city and why?
How would an American imigrant witha good attitude be recieved in your home land?
How many people ride Harley Davidson's?
So far Brisbane looks like a really nice place. Is it a hard commute to live in the suburbs and work in the city?
Thanks you,
I am pondering a move to Australia mainly becuase of some legal (non-criminal) trouble my wife is having.
I am a Structural Designer with expert Autocad Experience. I also have a MCP (Microsoft certified professional) credential.
Basially and am a Senior Structural designer with heavy concrete and oil and gas experience that can also manage a Microsoft network and do PC repair.
This niche has come in handy in my current job since we are a smalll engineering firm.
Now the questions:
Do you know anyone in my field or related field? What is their ballpark salary?
What percentage of taxes are taken out of your check. What types of taxes do you pay? Property? Sales? Income?
Why the hell doe a 2002 Holden Monaro cost 30,000 Australian dollars?
What is your favorite city and why?
How would an American imigrant witha good attitude be recieved in your home land?
How many people ride Harley Davidson's?
So far Brisbane looks like a really nice place. Is it a hard commute to live in the suburbs and work in the city?
Thanks you,
07-29-2005, 05:01 AM
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Am not too sure where you would start looking for employment but from what i am told there is a shortage of those in the drafting and i would imagine engineering professions .
Mmmm yes tax , I think you have it better in the USA . Basicly the more you earn the higer the tax rate is . Here is the australian tax office web site , it may give you the information you are looking for . http://www.ato.gov.au/
This may help with the exchange rates
http://www.rba.gov.au/Statistics/exchange_rates.html
We get taxed quite a lot here there is a GST (goods and services tax) . There are all sorts of taxes and charges when you buy and sell a house .
The financial year just gone i earned $58,336 and of that $15,026 went in income tax .
In the job i used to do i earned $100,000 in one year and paid around $38,000 of that in tax .
Why would a 2002 Holden Monaro cost 30,000 Australian dollars? , they were around $50,000 new and are now $60,000 BEFORE on road costs . oh and buy the way , production is going to stop on them soon
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=56279
some house prices here
http://www.century21.com.au/
http://www.royweston.com.au/?oid=head
Simple answer is lots , there a popular bike for those that can afford them
Service and spare parts for them isnt a problem .
http://www.frasermotorcycles.com.au/Ver05/
I think people are the same almost every where you go , you get you’re odd fool who will dislike someone because there not from here or look different but on the whole i don’t think it would be a problem . my parents were migrants , father is from Scotland and mother was from Hungary and it doesn’t take long to see people who come from all parts of the world .
Where to move to mmm , i am on the west coast myself (Perth) and haven’t lived any where else . I have travelled a little but have only been to Melbourne and Adelaide . Brisbane would be nice , a little warmer than here (Perth) but a nice climate .This link to the Bureau of Meteorology may help http://www.bom.gov.au/
All depends on where , i have been told by someone i know that the traffic here is nothing compared to where he has moved to in Seattle (he works for Microsoft)
I live 25km from my work and it takes me around 20 min to half an hour to get to work and about 10 min longer to get home with the traffic
If you are able , a holiday in Australia may be able to answer some of you’re questions , i cant imagine what it would be like to move to another country . would be a big decision.
We do have Fords here too
http://www.ford.com.au/
Mmmm yes tax , I think you have it better in the USA . Basicly the more you earn the higer the tax rate is . Here is the australian tax office web site , it may give you the information you are looking for . http://www.ato.gov.au/
This may help with the exchange rates
http://www.rba.gov.au/Statistics/exchange_rates.html
We get taxed quite a lot here there is a GST (goods and services tax) . There are all sorts of taxes and charges when you buy and sell a house .
The financial year just gone i earned $58,336 and of that $15,026 went in income tax .
In the job i used to do i earned $100,000 in one year and paid around $38,000 of that in tax .
Why would a 2002 Holden Monaro cost 30,000 Australian dollars? , they were around $50,000 new and are now $60,000 BEFORE on road costs . oh and buy the way , production is going to stop on them soon
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=56279
some house prices here
http://www.century21.com.au/
http://www.royweston.com.au/?oid=head
How many people ride Harley Davidson's?
Service and spare parts for them isnt a problem .
http://www.frasermotorcycles.com.au/Ver05/
How would an American immigrant witha good attitude be received in your home land?
Where to move to mmm , i am on the west coast myself (Perth) and haven’t lived any where else . I have travelled a little but have only been to Melbourne and Adelaide . Brisbane would be nice , a little warmer than here (Perth) but a nice climate .This link to the Bureau of Meteorology may help http://www.bom.gov.au/
Is it a hard commute to live in the suburbs and work in the city?
I live 25km from my work and it takes me around 20 min to half an hour to get to work and about 10 min longer to get home with the traffic
If you are able , a holiday in Australia may be able to answer some of you’re questions , i cant imagine what it would be like to move to another country . would be a big decision.
We do have Fords here too
http://www.ford.com.au/
Last edited by Holden LS1 Tonner; 07-29-2005 at 05:11 AM.
07-29-2005, 08:34 AM
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Wow taxes are pretty high. 38% at 100,000 is a big chunk. I am starting to think that I will not be able to make the money after taxes that I can here.
As far as Holden goes, I guess they are more expensive overall than F-bodies but the fit and finish does look like it is much higher quality.
It looks like real estate is 1.5 times the cost in Houston as well.
Economics wise, moving to Australia will not be an adavantage or even a lateral move. This will take some hard thinking.
I appreciate your input.
As far as Holden goes, I guess they are more expensive overall than F-bodies but the fit and finish does look like it is much higher quality.
It looks like real estate is 1.5 times the cost in Houston as well.
Economics wise, moving to Australia will not be an adavantage or even a lateral move. This will take some hard thinking.
I appreciate your input.
07-31-2005, 05:04 AM
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Originally Posted by Humanoid
Wow taxes are pretty high. 38% at 100,000 is a big chunk. I am starting to think that I will not be able to make the money after taxes that I can here.
As far as Holden goes, I guess they are more expensive overall than F-bodies but the fit and finish does look like it is much higher quality.
It looks like real estate is 1.5 times the cost in Houston as well.
Economics wise, moving to Australia will not be an adavantage or even a lateral move. This will take some hard thinking.
I appreciate your input.
As far as Holden goes, I guess they are more expensive overall than F-bodies but the fit and finish does look like it is much higher quality.
It looks like real estate is 1.5 times the cost in Houston as well.
Economics wise, moving to Australia will not be an adavantage or even a lateral move. This will take some hard thinking.
I appreciate your input.
Mike
Mike
http://www.immi.gov.au/
and https://jobsearch.gov.au/Login/Login...e=0&TextOnly=0
08-02-2005, 07:32 AM
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Would have to agree with you Mike, there is a great shortage for people with skills as yours, and are in great demand and great money goes with it
08-05-2005, 04:20 AM
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Hey humanoid
Great to see you could be moving downunder. I live in brisbane myself actually so i could giv you a few pointers. First and obvious of all, being an american here is fine, settling in you will hav no trouble. Brisbane in a nutshell is a great city. Of course its not up with the likes of Sydney and Melbourne but not too far behind (brisbane has the fastest growing population of any city) I can remember years ago a sailor in the US navy was talking to me and he said out of all the places he had been in australia and america, brisbane was like a small version of chicago. I didnt actually giv much thought to what it ment but if anything, thats probly the best comparison i can give you.
In terms of Cultural aspects, brisbane is growing and growing with people coming from the southern states, not to mention many overseas immigrants. Possibly the biggest nationalities other than anglo-australians are ETHNIC (greek, italian) and ASIAN. As for commuting to and from work, It really depends how far out from the city you are living, but generally commuting isnt all that bad, as the government are now making brisbane a place that can cater for many people too live by improving and making more roads and improving on travel times for innercity-suburb commuters. Many commuters will take the freeway (highway) which runs through all suburbs leading upto the city, which can sumtimes be a crawl. My uncle actually does sumthing along the lines of your occupation and works in the city so im sure brisbane can cater for your work interests.
Hope this all helps and
GOOD LUCK
Great to see you could be moving downunder. I live in brisbane myself actually so i could giv you a few pointers. First and obvious of all, being an american here is fine, settling in you will hav no trouble. Brisbane in a nutshell is a great city. Of course its not up with the likes of Sydney and Melbourne but not too far behind (brisbane has the fastest growing population of any city) I can remember years ago a sailor in the US navy was talking to me and he said out of all the places he had been in australia and america, brisbane was like a small version of chicago. I didnt actually giv much thought to what it ment but if anything, thats probly the best comparison i can give you.
In terms of Cultural aspects, brisbane is growing and growing with people coming from the southern states, not to mention many overseas immigrants. Possibly the biggest nationalities other than anglo-australians are ETHNIC (greek, italian) and ASIAN. As for commuting to and from work, It really depends how far out from the city you are living, but generally commuting isnt all that bad, as the government are now making brisbane a place that can cater for many people too live by improving and making more roads and improving on travel times for innercity-suburb commuters. Many commuters will take the freeway (highway) which runs through all suburbs leading upto the city, which can sumtimes be a crawl. My uncle actually does sumthing along the lines of your occupation and works in the city so im sure brisbane can cater for your work interests.
Hope this all helps and
GOOD LUCK
08-05-2005, 11:38 PM
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I don't think you will have trouble finding work, as far as I know, our unemployment rate is quite low. Try this site to get some idea.........
http://www.seek.com.au/
In regards to income taxes go, we have a scale system, the 2004 -2005 was
Taxable income.................Tax on this income
$0 – $6,000.....................Nil
$6,001 – $21,600.............17c for each $1 over $6,000
$21,601 - $58,000...........$2,652 plus 30c for each $1 over $21,600
$58,001 – $70,000...........$13,572 plus 42c for each $1 over $58,000
Over $70,000..................$18,612 plus 47c for each $1 over $70,000
If you set yourself up as a private company, the tax is a flat rate of 30%
Other than that, we pay a GST (Goods & Services Tax - currently 10%) on pretty much everything we buy - goods, cars, property, etc. If it is for a business purpose, you get to claim the money back. E.g. You buy an office for $500.000 plus GST, so $550.000 total. As it is for your business, you claim the GST back, so you get $50,000 back.
As far as cities go, property prices and climate are probably 2 things you may want to consider. You might want to check out some property sites like
http://www.realestateview.com.au/buy_res_map.html
http://www.realestate.com.au/
You can find heaps of climate info here
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/
If you like to get to the snow regularly, Melbourne or Sydney are your only choices. I'm in Melbourne. On average winters are mild, at night it may get as low as 1 or 2° Cel. but during the day it is usually like 14 to 18°. In summer, nights are in the 20's on avarage and during the day it is in the 30's. It is not unusual to get a few days of high 30's in a row in summer. You may need this celcius to fahrenheit converter
http://www.stabb.com/tools/convert.html
As for car prices, you guys probably think they are a rip off. We do too, but we are just used to it. Some cars can retain their value much better than others though.
Have a look here to get a bit more of an idea
http://carpoint.ninemsn.com.au/porta...opDefault.aspx
I guess things are more expensive here, but it all depends on how much you earn if it bothers you or not. We pay around $1.20 a liter for regular fuel, thats about $4.50 a gallon. Try that!!
All in all, they do say Australia is the lucky country. Or was that something they used to say before our fuel went up 100% and our property prices went up 300% ?
Best advice is to come here for a holiday and spend a bit of time travelling. It won't cost you all that much and there is nothing like seeing it for yourself.
http://www.seek.com.au/
In regards to income taxes go, we have a scale system, the 2004 -2005 was
Taxable income.................Tax on this income
$0 – $6,000.....................Nil
$6,001 – $21,600.............17c for each $1 over $6,000
$21,601 - $58,000...........$2,652 plus 30c for each $1 over $21,600
$58,001 – $70,000...........$13,572 plus 42c for each $1 over $58,000
Over $70,000..................$18,612 plus 47c for each $1 over $70,000
If you set yourself up as a private company, the tax is a flat rate of 30%
Other than that, we pay a GST (Goods & Services Tax - currently 10%) on pretty much everything we buy - goods, cars, property, etc. If it is for a business purpose, you get to claim the money back. E.g. You buy an office for $500.000 plus GST, so $550.000 total. As it is for your business, you claim the GST back, so you get $50,000 back.
As far as cities go, property prices and climate are probably 2 things you may want to consider. You might want to check out some property sites like
http://www.realestateview.com.au/buy_res_map.html
http://www.realestate.com.au/
You can find heaps of climate info here
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/
If you like to get to the snow regularly, Melbourne or Sydney are your only choices. I'm in Melbourne. On average winters are mild, at night it may get as low as 1 or 2° Cel. but during the day it is usually like 14 to 18°. In summer, nights are in the 20's on avarage and during the day it is in the 30's. It is not unusual to get a few days of high 30's in a row in summer. You may need this celcius to fahrenheit converter
http://www.stabb.com/tools/convert.html
As for car prices, you guys probably think they are a rip off. We do too, but we are just used to it. Some cars can retain their value much better than others though.
Have a look here to get a bit more of an idea
http://carpoint.ninemsn.com.au/porta...opDefault.aspx
I guess things are more expensive here, but it all depends on how much you earn if it bothers you or not. We pay around $1.20 a liter for regular fuel, thats about $4.50 a gallon. Try that!!
All in all, they do say Australia is the lucky country. Or was that something they used to say before our fuel went up 100% and our property prices went up 300% ?
Best advice is to come here for a holiday and spend a bit of time travelling. It won't cost you all that much and there is nothing like seeing it for yourself.
