Moving to Australia with your family

Myself and my family moved to Australia in 2008. We moved to Canberra as my wife worked for for a federal government agency.

Canberra's a lovely place to live and bring up children. The weather is good and although it's inland and therefore lacks a beach! it enjoys warm summers and is close to the snow fields in winter.

The consideration to take into account in Canberra though is that many of the roles here are in the federal government. Almost all departments insist on roles going to Australian Citizens. I had residency when I moved here, but it took me a further four years before I became a citizen.

Call it protectionism if you like (which it probably is) but it did hinder my job prospects quite considerably. There is a low unemployment rate in Canberra though, so you can pick up other work, but just be aware there isn't any industry to speak of and large corporate organisations tend to have HQs in Sydney or Melbourne.

Canberra nevertheless is a great place to bring up kids!

A good assessment of Canberra. Well presented, Trevor.

Depends on how big family is and ages of kids. I would say one parent arrive before others. Secure housing and job in about 2-3 months then call others. We arrived the 5 of us one day, challenging though we got into government housing in SA, then moved in 2 months to Vic
Difficult to get a house without a job but a good bank balance helps.
Target suburbs nears Catholics or other christians related schools so kids can get into those. Google suburbs and schools. Depends on states so cannot recommend specifically. Be as frugal as you can especially in buying expensive items like cars. More importantly be very patient with one another as u adjust to new environment

Hello everyone,

Nice forum, thank you all for the valuable information you are sharing. I am moving to Sydney soon with my family from Jordan, anybody can give us some hints about moving to Sydney.