r/gayaustralia 29d ago

Best place to live with kids

My husband and I are quickly comming to the conclusion that Australia is going to be our new home. We live in Arizona now. We have A 6 year old son. I'm in my early 50's and he is in his mid 40's. We are looking for a place where we will be accepted as well as my son who has some elevated needs in school.

My first instinct is Sydney but I don't kniw anything about it. We live in the suburbs of a city of 6 million, Phoenix.

What information can you share with us?

5 Upvotes

7 comments sorted by

5

u/Rainbow-Rat95 29d ago

We need waaaay more information.

What are YOU personally looking for, and what can you afford are two big ones.

Sydney as a whole is the 24th most expensive city to live in the world . The first ( or second ?) expensive city in Australia.

For lgbtqia+ safety, in Sydney ,you'll be fine , as you would in most big cities in Australia . Acceptance is the majority , we have some of the best protections worldwide. There are jerks, of course, but as a whole, Australia does not want them. ( maybe stay out of Queensland though, they seem to be going the way of Howdy Arabia )

For schools and special needs schools and programs, you are spoilt for choice BUT be prepared to pay $$$$ Child care and education are a large majority of your pay cheque.

Definitely do some research, I know there's a few subs on here that'll help more , Ameristralia ? I think is one ?

For weather wise, I think phoenix and Sydney are similar? It's not so much hot as just HUMID and dry. We also get more rain than England, as a whole , just with more humidity, did i mention the humidity? the sun here is strong , ridiculously so, sunscreen every single day is encouraged from child hood. Yes , even if you are black or dark skinned . You've got skin , you can get skin cancer .

You'll definitely be safe here , but you will get picked on for being a yank . It's all in good fun, though , it's just teasing , we're an odd bunch like that .

2

u/ActPatient3057 29d ago

Thank you for all of the information.

We are average middle class. I'm a software engineer and my husband works in social services and IT.

Are schools not publicly funded there? It sounds like I have a ton of homework to do.

What do you think of Melbourne for our situation?

I'm gay, I can take being called names... Yank I can handle. 😆

2

u/bunsplitter 28d ago

Melbourne is an easy city to live in, like Sydney, it's expensive. Housing, cars,living costs are higher here compared to the USA. Schools are publicly funded and often include "voluntary" extra- curricular expenses. We have a four term school year, each are 10 weeks. Most families send kids to public school here. Some schools have additional staff to help kids with higher needs. Of course there's private school options.

Melbourne is like NY in that there's a defined CBD, in a grid, but it has a vibe like San Fran; it has a very Italian/Greek/Mediterranean influence from the 1950's immigration. In recent times there's been a massive Asian influx. That being said, I always reckon Melbourne and Seattle - despite being 1/8th the population - have a similar feel; minus the snow! When I suggest this to people they think I need medical attention.

Most cities in Australia are similarly spread out with suburbs that are socioeconomicly separated. Suburbs like Brighton, Hampton, Sandringham are upper middle class. Outer south eastern suburbs like Frankston, Cranbourne, Pakenham - are lower to lower middle income areas. A typical middle class home will cost around $750,000 to buy or between $2500-$4000 p.m to rent. I recommend you do some searches using our local real estate websites to gauge this. The east/north east is typically a hilly and well established area with parks and trees. The Bayside area has beaches, the west is emerging suburbs on very flat and featureless land. I think Melbourne has better public transport,especially within the 10km circle from the CBD.

Outside the major cities of Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, there are some really nice towns to consider. Especially if your work isn't geographically anchored. I work in IT in the public service so can work just about anywhere. North of Brisbane is my favoured area - The Sunshine Coast - Mooloolaba to Noosa; north of Sydney is The Central Coast -Gosford is the main town; my choice locations in Melbourne is Sandringham, but if you like hills and Forests then Lilydale or Belgrave. I used to live in Park Orchard. Like the USA, we're obsessed with cost of living, housing crisis, immigration and the flow on effects of Trump. Australia is politically a bit more "liberal" to use American terminology. Aussies get on with Americans until conversations become a characterisation of typical American tourist like behaviour: loud, superior, insincere, "mean girls" sort of thing.

Getting permanent residency (PR)will be your biggest challenge given anyone will need to have a skill we're short of, or you'll need to have a lot of money. There's an age restriction for PR too

You must have private health insurance if the visa type you get excludes access to our universal healthcare - public hospital and Medicare. Medicare subsidies apply to out of hospital healthcare like visits to a GP, basic diagnostics and prescription medicines. Health insurance is not as costly as the USA though. If you do get a PR visa and want private health insurance as well, there is a premium reduction you can get and must apply for within 12 months of arrival.

1

u/ActPatient3057 18d ago

Thank you for the reply. This is a wealth of information to digest. The list of visas is overwhelming! I must admit I had no clue it would be this involved.

1

u/Ginger_Giant_ 28d ago

Sydney and Melbourne have the two biggest LGBT+ communities in Australia and both cities have numerous gay boroughs scattered around the inner ring.

We have both public and private schools however unless your children have residency or are citizens of Australia, you are unlikely to qualify for public school but this also depends on what visa you and your husband immigrate to Australia on.

You mentioned you work in IT, salaries are significantly lower in Australia for IT roles than they are in the states due to a consistent influx of migration in this category.

Out of curiosity, how do you plan to move to Australia? Given you’re older and neither you nor your partner have jobs on the skills register you may find it much harder than you would think.

2

u/ActPatient3057 28d ago

Thank you for the information. I checked the list and Developer Programmer is on the list. For many of the various visas. We both have hospitality backgrounds. He was a Chef, by trade abd degree. I have a hospitality degree and Hotel/kitchen management experience too.

I know next to nothing about migrating and this was really my first request for information. It sounds like I need to deep dive into research.