We are just at the TRA stage and may have to choose a state to migrate to. This is a problem as we were going to do a trip out in Nov to decided on this but now may have to make the choice sooner. Can anybody give me any pros and cons for both areas.

Cost of living
Weather especially rain
Is the Brisbane early sun sets a problem
Beaches
Houses and suburbs - want to live close to the town but not that close
Jobs - OT electrical installer for large electricity company but want to continue working within the entertainment industry (Foxtel, broadband, boys toys (large TV's, sorround sound, multi room viewing etc)
Out and about
Schools isnt really an issue for us

I know everybody has their own ideas but any general information and what you consider the good and bad points of an area would be most helpful.

Has anybody been to both and could give me some tips.

Thanks

Andi

 

Hiya ive never been to adeliade so cant comment on their,but Brisbane is great to us,yes it gets hot but we havnt had anything unbearable,it has rained alot this last month but we need it and i guess it is rainy season,lol! Work seems readily availble for most trades,property although its risen in price is still reasonable in most areas,The beaches are some of the best ive seen and always seem to be clean.I do prefer south to north Brisbane but thats more of a personal prefernce,hope this helps
Cal x

 

hi andi

well i cant comment on queensland, as ive never been, but hopefully be moving up there very soon, but i can comment on adelaide as we have been living here for the past 14 months, so to answer a few of your questions, the cost of living is not cheap, grocery shopping imo is not cheap at all and things seem to go up every time you go shopping, theres only 3 main supermarkets (coles, woolworths and foodland) so theres no competition really and they seem to charge whatever they want. theres no such thing as cheap housing anymore, i think you would have to come with alot of money to be mortgage free, (something that was possible a few years ago), theres also ambulance cover, which is about $80, stamp duty for buying a house is more expensive in adelaide. ive also heard car rego is more expensive in adelaide too, (probably have to check that out to be certain). the reasons we are leaving are that its really behind the times, (they say about 20 yrs behind england.......i'd say more!) its very old fashioned, we think adelaide needs a massive revamp (just looks very old and tired), we personally dont find the aussies here very friendly either (and their terrible drivers), theres not much to do, especially if youve got young kids, theres nowhere really you could go to early in the morning and stay all day and come home late, (we find it hard to fill a few hours in the afternoon), its very laid back, far too laid back, it doesnt feel like its got an atmosphere/vibe (if you know what i mean), very 'small town' feel, also i have heard it being called 'gods waiting room' (and that was from an aussie!) the winters are still quite long, and do get cold, last year was particulally long, cold and very, very wet.
i'm finding it very hard to think of something good about adelaide, (sorry), well to be honest the beaches are nice, some really nice, but not as beautiful as the ones on the east coast, (so ive been told by rellies' who live there). oh and the only other good thing in adelaide at the moment (for us) are some really good friends weve made whilst being here, but their moving upto queensland in 2 weeks also. (lucky dogs, i hope we arent too far behind them).

so i'm sorry if ive not showed adelaide in a very good light, but it is my 'honest' opinion, and like i said weve been here 14 months but to be honest we knew it wasnt for us in the first few weeks, but we feel we gave it a chance, but now its time to move on.......to the 'real' australia.

(btw, we would have chosen queensland if we'd had a choice, but because of our visa restrictions we had to come to adelaide first)

joanna.

 

adelaide or brisbane

Hi to all we have lived in adelaide for 11 months ago and jo has to me been really kind to adelaide because she could have said a lot more.
Rego is $180 dollars a year cheaper as I looked it up on the web and petrol is on average 8c a lt cheaper and yes the beaches are great in queensland and down most of the east coast and I think the ones in adelaide are average to say the least.
well hope to see you in queensland in the near future alan and laura T.

 

Hi I'm new to this site.
We are still awaiting our PR visa.
Can you still get an affordable property in Brisbane. I have been on realestate.com.au but not sure of areas.
I know in Adelaide the prices seem to be quite affordable.
We will be arriving with little money (abour £25000 -£30000) and we really feel Brisbane is were we would like to be but we are worried we will never be able to afford anything.
Ideally we would like to be close to beach. We are a family with 2 boys aged 11 and 6. OH is a spray painter/french polisher.

 

hi,

well, i would say it depends on the area you choose to live, yes there are more affordable properties in adelaide, but these are in the (to put it politely, and i'm not being snobish' when i say) less desirable areas, which i'm sure you wouldnt want to live anyway, the prices have risen quite considerably in any of the decent areas, and from the research we have done, seem to now be on par with brisbane.

if you feel brisbane is where you really wanna be, then i would say head for there, cos i do know there is a big difference between adelaide and brisbane, (from reasearch and what ive been told from friends now living there), it could be 2 different countries, the wages are higher and there seems to be more jobs, shopping seems cheaper, and theres more choice, for a start, also, moving interstate is also quite expensive, if you did chose to move later on, i would say if brisbane is where you really wanna be, then adelaide doesnt even come close, we had no choice, we had to come to adelaide, as we are sponsored by south australia, and i am thankfull for that as we wouldnt be here at all, and we feel we have given it a chance, but to us this isnt the 'real australia', not even the one you see on the tv, just a little, daft, example...... before we came, whilst still reasearching adelaide, i looked all over for pictures and photographs of adelaide, to show people where we were going, you know the kind of lovely photos you see of gorgeous beaches, fantastic things to see and do, beautiful areas, and i actually couldnt find any, (all i found, for example was, the train station at noarlunga, or a view of the city from the south, or east, or west, etc, etc, or the tram at glenelg!) and now i know why i couldnt find any, cos there arnt any! i think the 'alles' will back me up with this one.
i know it maybe a bit of a contradiction, cos i dont wanna pull adelaide down too much, cos some do love it, but i also know alot of people here who are, lets say just, 'getting on with it', cos they dont wanna disrupt the family again.
and also, no matter where you choose, i dont think it matters what amount of money you come with, cos its not easy, especially in the first few months but if you want it enough,
you'll get it, you'll make it work. (and its also a great adventure)

good luck with wherever you choose, and i'm sure your visa wont be too much longer

all the best, joanna.

 

We love BRissie - we are out in the western side. About 15k from the CBD. We love it here and settled immediatly! Anything particular that you are thinking about taht you wanna know about QLD?

 

as a guide you can get a nice 4 bed house on a decent sized plot ,in Brisbane ,in a decent suburb for about $350,000,,anything much lower ,look carefully into the area.can anyone give us a rough guide to Adelaide prices?
Cal x

 

Hi there

we moved to brisbane 2 weeks ago today after spending 2 1/2 years in adelaide. We lived 25 mins outside the city, 7 mins to the nearest beach, in a good area and I would say that you were looking at $400k to $450K for a 4 bed 2 bathroom usually on a large plot.

I am about 25 mins outside the city here and have looked at the houses nearby and they are asking between $550K to $700k for similar size house on a smaller block.

By the way, I did love the experience of living in adelaide. Yes it was 20 years behind and was old fashioned but i really did enjoy it. its not built for the tourist so there arent the wow factors of the theme parks etc. The beaches are stunning, I agree not on the same level as queensland but they are much safer for the kids.

So far I have found food shopping in adelaide to be cheaper. the only downside of living in adelaide I would say would be the winter months, which arent cold by uk standards but the houses are not built with central heating so it feels cold. Also the poor pay that is offered by most employers.

We are now in brisbane and I like what I see here so far and am sure that I will also enjoy the experience of living here.

All the australians we encountered while working and living in adelaide were friendly and would readily help you if you needed it. Even the checkout girls would have a chat with you. Which came as a bit of a surprise when the ones I have encountered in brisbane are rather stoney faced (bit like the uk) maybe its the big city thing, i dont know.

anyway, i am sure that both adelaide and brisbane have good and bad points.

Nicola

 

we live about 35-40 mins out of the city, in woodcroft, woodcroft and the surrounding areas like, happy valley, aberfoyle park, flagstaff hill, for example, for a 4 bed 2 bath on a decent size plot would easily be around $400.000, but you could also easily pay that for a 3 bed, in the same area, obviously depends of the state of the house.

 

Hi Joanna, i have read what you have said above that YOU HAD to go to Adelaide because they sponsored you, we have been told that we DON'T HAVE to go to Adelaide, even if they sponsor us. Will you give us an insight of your experience on this and how do they know where you live and work, we intend to validate our visa, i suppose it will have to be validated in Adelaide and then we intend to emigrate, maybe a year or so later. Our migration agent says we can then go and work anywhere, are they having us on, thanks for your help and advice, jim & helen

 

Hi well I'll give you an Aussie point of view for both places since I've lived in both.

Adelaide....it's a nice place, very laid back has some pretty areas but truth be told it's boringggg. My brother and mum live there and I lived there for a year and just recently went and visited with my 8yr old. I was ready to go home after 4 days. The other thing is the weather is more extreme, colder in winter and hotter in summer than Brissy. I do find somethings are cheaper down there but not enough to make a difference like say Sydney which is a very expensive place to live and you can notice the difference in the cost of living. The bus system is very good down there and it's easy to drive around. I can't comment on schools or anything. The beaches are nice but the water is freezing even in summer.

Brisbane.....I'm a Gold Coast girl grew up there and went to school etc but been living at Brissy for the last 6 years. You are close to either Sunshine Coast or Gold Coast which makes nice little weekend trips away and the beaches are beautiful, water a lot warmer than down South. There seems to be a lot more to do this way, there is more congestion with traffic which is a bother but in certain areas they are trying to fix that (ex Ipswich highway which has been a nightmare for years but starting to change). You get more concerts etc up here if you are into that and I think the petrol is cheaper? You don't really need to live right close to the city to enjoy the city if you know what I mean. I live in the Springfield/Bellbird Park area which is going great guns with new shops/university etc. As mentioned about Adelaide it doesn't get as hot or cold here, I know Adelaide can get in the 40's especially around Christmas day mum always says she has to lock everything down to keep the heat out.


I hope this gives you some help?

 

Hi Helen & Jim

We have recently moved from Adelaide to Brisbane (only about 5 weeks ago). We were on a state sponsored visa, and we had no choice but to live in Adelaide for 2 yrs. They are very strict on this - or were when we came out just over 3 yrs ago.
We had to remain in SA for a full two yrs and OH had to work in his trade for at least 12 months.
We did know someone a few yrs back who went to SA immigration to ask if they could move interstate as he had been offered a much better job - he was told if he moved beofre the end of his 2 yrs, he would be deported !!!!!!!!!! Don't know if they would have done, but that is what the immigration told him.
As far as I know, they will check with the ATO to see where your earnings are from and where you pay your taxes. When you get your sponsorship through, you also have to sign a declaration that you will remain in SA and that they can basically check up on you !!! They will from time to time send questionaires out and ask you to attend interviews... so they can check up.
I'd check with SA immigration (www.immigration.sa.gov.au) rather than just the agent.
I also agree with Houndsy on everything she has sais about the 2 places....
We had a great time living in Adelaide for 3 yrs - but having said that I'm glad we made the move to Brissy !!!!!

 

And the people here are fantastic aren't they Nutter :tongue:

 

LMFAO...... :laugh: Defo !!!!!!

 

we are on a SIR 495 visa, which is a temporary, state sponsored visa, so we were sponsored by south australia, the rules are that you have to live in regional australia for 2 years and work for 1 year, but because SA are sponsoring you, you are kind of 'obliged' to live in SA, whereas in actual fact, when you read the conditions of the visa, (also on your visa, stamped in your passport), it does clearly say 'live and work in regional AUSTRALIA' not SA, and really there is no law saying that you have to stay in SA, (when we rang, SA immigration did kindly remind us though that they did sponsor us, and that we had signed a declaration) but they cant actually force you to stay. but you dont (or we didnt) know this until you look into it a bit further, they dont really tell you, so we did think we had to stay in SA, but i'm not sure if you can miss SA out altogether, if they are sponsoring you, (would be good if you could!) but i'm no proffessional, so dont know whether thats right or wrong but i would look into that a bit more, contact dimmia, (dont just go with what your migration agent says, as they have been known to give bad or wrong information).

saying that.........when we were finding out about moving interstate, we spoke alot to SA immigration, Queensland immigration and also dimia, to make sure we could have the go ahead, they did ask us what visa we were on (and they also checked this out), and said that if we were on an SIR 495 visa, with the words INDEPENDENT also written on the visa, then we would NOT be able to move anywhere and would have to stay in SA for the full amount of time. (so maybe this is what has happened, or been told to others who have this visa, but have the 'independant' part).
so, we didnt have the 'independant' written on our visa, so we were told that we could move interstate, but we had to inform them, (dimia), when we left SA, when we arrived in Queensland, where we are living and working, cos as it says in the conditions, we still had to live and work in 'regional australia', so, we then had to find out where the regional areas were, (and there was a very long list, but theyve taken loads of areas off the list now, and eventually, probably, take them all off, apart from the areas which are about 2-3 hours or more inland), so anyway we found and area we liked, informed immigration, who said that was fine, and here we are basically.

but, for anyone whos considering where to go and what visa to go on, (and i dont know an awful lot about all the different types of visa's) and these are just my opinions. but on the areas part, if you like stepping back in time 30 odd years, having nothing to do and paying a fortune for everything, then go to adelaide, (personally i wouldnt touch the place with a barge pole), ive even said, i dont even EVER want to pass through the place, cos it would just be my luck that the car/train/plane, whatever it is i went on would break down and we could never leave!!!
and the visa's, i would say if youve got the choice, come on a permanent visa, we had the choice, but was told the temporary visa was a lot quicker (and we were impatient), so we went with that, which was also a load of rubbish cos it still took 2 years to get. but if can only get a temporary visa, then take it, it is a bit harder once your here, but its not impossible, and it gets you in the country.

hope the info helps,
joanna.

 

we also live in adelaide and are on the sir visa, we have done the 2yrs and have worked in my job for the 12 months as my visa stated. we are now appling for pr then hopefully moving to brissie !! but i would say if we didn't stay the 2 yrs etc then why would sa change my visa to pr if i lived in another state, what would they gain ? so would check and check again before i moved !

 

south australia are'nt changing the visa to pr, queensland are, as you transfer over to queensland for the remainder of your time.

joanna

 

Hi Nutter, thanks for your excellent reply it looks like we were given duff info by our migration agent. We have just found out that we can actually go on the 175 permanent residency visa, because my wife has just passed the IELTS test and gained extra points. This is a huge relief because being stuck to just one area isn't what we wanted. We are leaning towards Brisbane, with Perth second and then Adelaide, but we have only visited Perth, so to have to say that we would have gone to Adelaide on a 176 state sponsored visa would have been difficult to agree to, especially over a year before we would go. We want it warm and plenty of things to do and Adelaide just doesn't seem to get there, where as Brisbane ticks all the right boxes. Again thanks for your reply, jim & helen.

 

We just love Adelaide...warm friendly people...fab job....live in a lovely house and area...beaches and hills on door step and loads to do for kids.....haven't found anything backward but laid back.....Theyve welcomed us with open arms and wouldnt go anywhere else......Go Adelaide:biggrin: