I have been approached about a possible job in Sydney, Australia.

Very early days but was wondering about the cost of living in Sydney.

I wouldn’t want to be in the City so would probably be looking at the “suburbs”.

Anyone have any idea of what the cost of living is like? In particular what are the property prices like?

Eating & drinking out is very expensive, maybe 2x the cost of the UK. That’s ok if your salary in Aus $ reflects that…

Bloody expensive, in a word (or two).

Think of it as a bit like London, but with more sun, fewer tall buildings, and a bloody big harbour in the middle, and you’ll be close.

Property is not cheap. Renting here in Adelaide gets me a nice detached 2-bed for $400/w 10 mins from the city. Friend’s partner just moved to Western Sydney suburbs for work, and barely gets a room for that price.

The ‘burbs are also huge, sprawling things. Transport around Sydney’s not the finest, IMHO.

Go to Melbourne instead! 🙂

Go to Melbourne instead!

Doesn’t really solve the sprawling suburbs and crap transport issues though. And it rains more there too.

High. Use the search function and then come back with more specific questions. Where is the job and what kind of suburb are you coming from that you’d like to replicate? Do you have kids and do you want to be near the beach or not? Do you want to cycle commute or happy to take public transport or drive?

some more info
tax is different – you can claim a lot even as an individual
http://www.taxcalc.com.au/
imported stuff is cheaper due to the $
realestate.com.au
for property info

living in Melbourne not Sydney but guess similar as both are “big” cities and you’ll find them listed in the top 10 of most expensive cities along with London and Geneva etc

as mikewsmith said realestate.com.au is good to look at – rents are $ per week but include local taxes – if you are looking at buying then there are rules about what you can/can’t depending on your visa

find an income tax calculator – they are lower and no NI but there is a mandatory payment to a pension fund – superannuation which has just increased to 12%
you need private medical insurance and then still pay for some stuff
car insurance isn’t cheap – petrol is but will be impacted by the US $ soon. As said public transport in suburbs can be non existent
Elec and gas similar to UK but insulation isn’t and aircon costs to run in the summer
I pay something like 4x what paid in the UK for gym membership and cost to enter an event would be double what would pay in UK as a minimum
Like any city small boutique retailer prices (including LBS) make your mouth drop as do restaurant prices in fancy areas but good value stuff around relative to incomes which are genuinely higher than the UK so I’d do some background research on what is Aus going rate for your field of work

some other things that have popped into my head…

The visa rules are important to check, if it’s employer sponsored what happens at the end? can you get residency (if you want to and your enjoying it) – it may also (probably) cover NZ
If they are offering to relocate check the leaving clauses, could be the longest notice period you have ever seen if you need to pay back shipping etc.
What are the chances of moving with the company? Start in Sydney but have most other State Capitals on offer?
With the current state of the £ you would probably be better off shipping more of your stuff over rather than trying to buy here with any £. Don’t go shopping till you have some $ in the bank. It is creeping back but it will be a while before it’s back up at 2.5 again.
In general
Fuel tax is low but driving in sydney is a bit ambitious. Also finding economical cars can be harder but due to the crap £/euro EU cars are getting cheaper!
Alcohol tax is higher
Property is demand driven but as above not well insulated etc.

For the important stuff there is a lot of bike stuff going on in NSW, it’s 6hrs to NZ (I’m off next week for under $1000 rtn) you can get to Cairns (currently winter & 26c), Tassie – winter mountains or the NSW snow fields fairly easily & cheaply for a weekend.

I’ve not come across Australian visas that give the holder any rights in New Zealand but I’m not saying they don’t exist…

I have one, I have PR so can work over there (off next week)

you need private medical insurance

Not if you have PR. Medicare works pretty much as the NHS.

mikewsmith – Member
konabunny » I’ve not come across Australian visas that give the holder any rights in New Zealand but I’m not saying they don’t exist…

I have one, I have PR so can work over there (off next week)

So do I. Ironically, I was visiting a friend over there who would have had to return to the UK the next week when I found out. Thankfully for him, his own NZ PR cane through the day I left.

You can do it on less, but for the lifestyle I would want, I would need to make at least 100k to live in Sydney.

I live in the country on less and would like to move to or close to Melbourne in the future.

You can do it on less, but for the lifestyle I would want, I would need to make at least 100k to live in Sydney.

And have a partner earning a reasonable amount too.

To have the Aussie dream of big house, garden, short commute and easy access to the beach, you’ll need to be earning a damn sight more that $100k in Sydney or Melbourne unless you’re very lucky finding somewhere. We’re in that wage bracket here in Adelaide, which is significantly cheaper than Melbourne or Sydney, and only manage the short commute and reasonable house side of that equation.

I have PR so can work over there

Well, bugger me, I didn’t realise that (although to be slightly pedantic, having an Australian PR visa doesn’t entitle them to live and work in NZ, it’s just a circumstance in which NZ usually chooses to issue a further NZ visa with live and work rights: http://www.dol.govt.nz/immigration/knowledgebase/item/1068 ).

BRB, moving to NZ.

That was the page that evaded me before my first trip over there, it’s very useful as we keep getting customers over there.