Is it really good to immigrate to Australia?

From the time I immigrated to Sydney in 2006 to now, I have lived in Australia for 11 years. Thinking about the time when I brought my wife and children from Shanghai to Sydney, I feel really emotional all the way. Thousands.

I remember when I came out of the airport for the first time, I was conquered by the blue sky and comfortable environment here.

On April 28, 2006, I landed in Australia with my whole family. With the help of an agency, I settled in. Then based on the guide and the introduction of friends, I selected a store in Hurstville, where there are many Chinese people. After successfully running a small business for two years, I successfully transferred to permanent residence in early 2009 and finally settled down in Australia.

Later on, I lived a more leisurely life and learned to live a slow-paced life like the Australians. The store opens at 10 a.m. every day and closes at 2 p.m. The rest of the time is spent with my wife and children. There are a lot of holidays here. The time for serious work is only eight or nine months a year. The rest of the time is basically either on vacation or on the way to vacation.

The Christmas holidays here are relatively long. Our family’s arrangement is usually to go back to Shanghai to visit our parents during this period. Then during the Chinese New Year, our parents will come to Australia to see their grandchildren and experience local life, China and Australian festivals should not be delayed on either side.

My old father is already old. Every time he comes to Australia, he has to travel long distances. It is actually very hard for him, but every time he comes, he always praises the environment and life here. Absolutely.

After I came to Australia, maybe it was because I was in a happy mood. The old man talked more than at home. I roughly summarized his feelings, and combined with my own experience of living in Australia for so many years, I feel that the following is true. I can share these points with you.

▎Impressions of Australians

With the development of cities and the quality of the population, spitting and smoking in public places can be seen everywhere in the country (especially here The most intolerable thing is), talking loudly, jaywalking, vehicles fighting for lanes, changing lanes at will, dirty streets in some areas and other uncivilized phenomena.

The quality of Australians does not mean that they are better everywhere, but in the field of public ethics, they are indeed much better than those in China. Most Australians are relatively well-behaved in public places. You rarely see anyone spitting on the street. People who walk their dogs in the morning will also bring shovels to take away the dog's excrement themselves. It cannot be said that people littering do not exist, but they are very rare. Everyone is more self-disciplined, so the streets in Australia are generally relatively clean.

Australia has relatively strict tobacco control, cigarettes are very expensive, and there are relatively few people smoking in public places. If you are a non-smoker, or have children around you, and if you are affected, inform the other person, and the other person will cooperate to stop smoking, or go to a farther place to smoke. In this regard, foreigners are still more polite.

Unlike domestic smokers, if you remind them to pay attention, they will not only ignore them, but also be arrogant, and they will also get angry with you and deliberately spray at you, which is very unqualified.

▎Natural Environment

In terms of the environment, of course there is nothing to say, and I don’t need to say more. You must have heard a lot about it from the news or from friends who have traveled to Sydney. News about this.

Sydney’s harbor, blue sky, white clouds, fresh air, and large tracts of woods, parks and lawns are worthy of you and your family.

Especially the parks and grasslands here are really a paradise for children. Every weekend, the children can’t wait to hold my and his mother’s hands and go to the park to play.

When I was in China, my wife and I were busy at work and doing business. Our children spent the rest of their time in various cram schools except at home. Now that I think about it, , I really owe him a lot.

Every time the old man comes to Australia, his favorite place is also the park near his home. Every morning, he gets up and goes to the park to stroll around and take a walk. When he returns home, the topic opens up and all kinds of things are said about foreigners. As soon as I said it, I felt very happy the whole day.

▎Jobs and Income

Sydney is the leader of the Australian economy. After living here for more than ten years, it seems that I rarely hear news about Chinese people being unemployed. Unless you are very lazy and don't want to work, there are still many job opportunities as long as you are willing to work.

The per capita annual salary in Sydney is relatively high in Australia. An ordinary blue-collar worker can earn an average of about 65,000 Australian dollars a year, which is nearly 400,000 yuan. However, prices here are relatively expensive, and daily consumption and expenses are higher than those in Melbourne, Victoria, Brisbane, and the Gold Coast. This is why many of my Chinese friends don’t like Sydney, but prefer to stay in Melbourne. One of the reasons.

At this income level, if both husband and wife are employed, buying a house is almost not a problem. There are many Chinese couples around me who started buying houses after working hard for a few years in Sydney. Many of them bought more than one house.

The down payment for real estate in Australia is relatively low. Generally, you only need to pay a down payment of 10, and the rental return rate is also relatively high. If you have ample funds on hand, you can buy a small apartment with a down payment of 20. You can realize that the rent is equal to the monthly payment, greatly reducing the pressure of housing payment.

Many friends around me especially like to invest in small apartments near schools and rent them to Chinese students studying in Sydney. On the one hand, students are easy to manage and renting out is more secure. On the other hand, the rental income is also high. Relatively stable. An ordinary apartment with two bedrooms can be rented for about 350-600 Australian dollars per week, and a house is generally 500-700 Australian dollars per week.

However, many Chinese in Sydney now like to buy detached houses. Although the price is higher and the pressure of housing is greater than buying an apartment, if there are children at home, it is spacious. The House and independent garden can give children more space for activities, and the atmosphere of family life is much better.

In terms of prices, fruits, vegetables, fresh food and other foods in Sydney are still relatively expensive. The price of vegetables is 7.99 Australian dollars per kilogram, which is considered normal. However, under normal circumstances, it will not exceed 10 Australian dollars per kilogram. Some low-priced vegetables can also be purchased for 0.99-2.99 per kilogram.

Although immigrants like me have a high income in China, when I first landed in Australia, my business had not started and there was no new source of income. Seeing the prices, I still made progress for a while. A spirit of hard work, thrift, and a little moderation.

Later, my business got on track, my life became more stable, and I had a source of income. I quickly got used to the prices and no longer felt they were expensive.

▎Children’s Reading

When I first arrived in Australia in 2006, my child was only 5 years old. From kindergarten to the current high school student, he has grown into an adult along the way. , looking at this little adult, I feel happy and worried at the same time.

Happily, the Australian education method in the past ten years has made him have a relatively rational understanding of himself, and he now has his own plans for his future career development route.

Compared with many of his peers in China, this is still relatively advanced. This is also where I agree with Australian education.

The schools here emphasize taking children to experience social life and the natural environment starting from kindergarten, and cultivate children's hands-on ability and practical skills. Children begin to realize where they are from a very young age. The field has comparative advantages, and what kind of career is suitable for him in the future. This will undoubtedly be very helpful for him to enter the society in the future, and can reduce a lot of social practice and exploration time.

The friends he played with when he was a child in China now spend most of their time studying and practicing in training classes. Most of them are very ignorant about society and life.

In terms of mentality, I think he is now a little influenced by the Australian concept. He feels that it is not necessary to go to university. In the future, he can learn the skills he likes and take a professional route, and he can still live a good life.

This is also what worries me. Maybe Chinese immigrants of our generation still can’t get rid of the old educational philosophy. Although I have lived in Australia for more than ten years, I still feel that my children should follow the elite route. In the future, I can go to a better university and achieve academic success.

Because of this, when I was choosing between public and private schools, I decided to send him to a private school, hoping that he could get a better education.

Having said this, I have to mention Australia’s private education. In fact, judging from my children’s learning experience, the intensity of competition among students in Australia’s private high schools is no worse than that in China. It is not as easy as imagined. Many students will be eliminated in the second year of high school. The academic pressure is still quite high.

In fact, no matter where they are, if a child wants to live a good life in the future, he must work harder than ordinary people. As a father, I still hope that he can persevere.

▎Transportation

Sydney’s public transportation is very developed, and most areas are connected to the subway. It is more convenient and more punctual to travel by subway for commuting to work and shopping on weekends. , which is no different from Shanghai and other first-tier cities in China.

If you do business here or have children at home, it is best to buy a car, otherwise it will still be inconvenient to go out to talk or go shopping in the supermarket. Although this is a developed country, it is still vast and sparsely populated. It is normal to drive for more than ten minutes to go out to buy groceries.

Fortunately, Sydney has a relatively high level of traffic management and dense roads. It does not take 10 minutes to drive and 9 minutes to be stuck on the road like in Shanghai. Therefore, there are no traffic restrictions in Sydney. Large trucks can drive to the city center without driving. Number limit, no purchase limit.

Sydney’s car culture is also very good. Drivers and pedestrians are generally very courteous and abide by traffic regulations. For example, when entering a roundabout and yielding to the right, as long as there is a car on the right, you must stop and give way, without looking to the left - because the car on the left will definitely let you go. So Sydney has thousands of roundabouts, not traffic lights, but very orderly.

When two teams of cars merge into one line, they must automatically merge alternately, one car on each side taking turns, which is fair and reasonable. If you encounter a car that wants to stop you, you will usually give way, and the car that stops you will usually raise your hand to express your gratitude. When a vehicle encounters a pedestrian crossing the road, it must stop and give way.

In short, I like the traffic management there very much. When I went back to Shanghai to visit relatives, I felt a little uncomfortable. I also hope that the domestic traffic management department can learn some advanced experience in this area.

▎Medical care, social security, taxation

It is no exaggeration to say that everyone in Australia has a tax number. The phrase "consciously pay taxes" is not as simple as just saying it in Australia. Whether you pay taxes truthfully will actually be related to all aspects of your life in the future, such as applying for loans, receiving benefits, and paying wages to employees. , receiving wages, etc., will all involve tax issues.

So, the first two important things for new immigrants to do when they land in Australia are to open a bank account and then go to the official website of the Australian Taxation Office to apply for a tax number.

▎Let’s briefly talk about welfare

Australia has a sparse population, so the government will encourage women of childbearing age to have more children and will provide considerable childbirth subsidies.

After the child is born, there will be a milk subsidy, which is paid every two weeks. Each child is about 50-300 Australian dollars. The specific amount depends on the income of the parents. The lower the income, the higher the subsidy.

There are many single mothers in Sydney who can support their families just by having more children and do not need to rely on income from work.

▎In terms of medical treatment

Australia is a country with universal medical insurance, and medical treatment in public hospitals is limited and free. If you want to see a doctor for free, you must first apply for a Medicare card. After you get the Medicare card, you can be reimbursed for the outpatient fees for treatment at a GP (which can be understood as a family doctor, a community doctor, or a general practitioner), as well as for medical treatment at a specialist. The doctor's fee is 85.

If your specialist bills Medicare directly, you don't have to pay for treatment (also known as BULK BILLING).

If you want to go to a private hospital with better medical conditions, you can buy private medical insurance, which will provide a wider range of reimbursement.

Australia’s medical treatment system adopts the family/general practitioner first consultation system, that is, if you have any outpatient needs, you should first go to the family doctor/general practitioner. Every community medical center has a GP, and patients can You can choose to make an appointment at any GP and present your Medicare card during the consultation. Some GPs are bulk billing, and some GPs will charge consultation fees and then give you an invoice, and you can go to the Medicare branch to reimburse the expenses. The difference you pay out of pocket is referred to as gap. Therefore, GPs may also charge fees. Remember, not all GPs are bulk billing.

Before seeing a doctor, be sure to ask clearly about the fees that need to be paid and the fees that can be waived. Otherwise, the condition will worsen when you receive the bill after seeing the doctor.

▎Daily Consumption

The prices in Sydney are relatively expensive in Australia, but the income is also high, so overall the quality of life is pretty good.

My wife usually buys clothes. This is not my strong point and I am not sensitive to price, so I don’t have much say. However, from my wife’s description, it seems that the price is much cheaper than in China.

In terms of food, Chinese people cannot get rid of their inherent eating habits wherever they go. Unfortunately, there are not many good Chinese restaurants in Sydney. It may be because there are so many people in Hong Kong. The restaurants here serve Cantonese cuisine. There are more, and the price is also more expensive. It is normal to spend a few hundred Australian dollars for an ordinary table when eating as a family or entertaining friends or customers.

Don’t have too high expectations for the food and taste, they are incomparable to those at home, so we usually eat at home.

It is worth mentioning that the seafood here is not only rich in variety, but also cheap. Especially lobster, you can eat about 1 kilogram of large lobster in the restaurant for 30 Australian dollars. If you see abalone, oysters, salmon and other seafood in Australian homes, don’t be surprised. They are simply too ordinary!

Sydney Fish Market, as well as the fish market in Chinatown, have all kinds of chilled products. For marine fish, a fish of about 2 kilograms is basically 20 Australian dollars per kilogram, and some stores only sell a whole fish for more than 20 Australian dollars. Fresh fish such as salmon, cod and other large pieces of fish generally cost 10 to 20 Australian dollars per kilogram. The price of fresh shrimps and shellfish is also mostly 16 to 22 Australian dollars per kilogram.

In some fish markets, you can buy it now and then process it directly on site, and then pair it with beer. Only those who have been there know how cool it is.

Once I took the old man out to eat, and when he got emotional after drinking, he actually decided to take off his shirt and go shirtless. He wanted to eat seafood like he would at a food stall in China, but I rushed him away. The slow one was stopped and reminded repeatedly that this is not China and you can't do this. Although you are happy to eat and drink, you can't be too rude.

I don’t have much exposure to other aspects of consumption, such as entertainment and amateur culture expenses, so it depends on the individual situation. Many local Australians like to go to bars, surf, and work out when they have nothing to do. Chinese people don’t like this much. Chinese friends around me usually gather for BBQ, eat hot pot, and fish.

Our national quintessence mahjong and poker, because the rules are different in different places, there are few Chinese friends around, and everyone is very busy, it is difficult to get together at a table to play, so they cannot be included in the daily routine expenses.

▎Renting and buying a house

Finally, let’s talk about the issue of houses.

Whether it is in Sydney or other cities in Australia, new immigrants or international students who have just arrived must sign a contract when renting or buying a house to protect their rights and interests.

Before signing a contract, be sure to confirm the ownership of the house and find out whether the person placing the offer is the owner of the house or the second landlord. When signing the contract, pay attention to the terms of the contract. Don’t do it until you understand each item. Sign blindly.

Every state in Australia has an official tenant contract, which covers the interests of both landlords and tenants and is relatively detailed. Taking Sydney, where I am located, as an example, the tenant contract can be downloaded from the official website of the New South Wales Government. After the contract is concluded and the de facto lease relationship is established, the lease relationship between the two parties can be constrained and protected by the formal lease contract of the New South Wales Government.

In Sydney, the process of buying or selling a house is very simple. I generally don’t need to go there, but you must remember to find a lawyer to handle related matters.

Buyers and sellers usually finalize the details of the contract by email, then sign the contract and scan it and send it to the other party by email. The lawyer will help handle the rest, including the relevant taxes. The house purchase payment is also paid through a lawyer. There is no need to go to the tax bureau and handle the transfer by yourself like buying a house in China. It is safe and worry-free.