Do you have one of these jobs? You should move to Australia
Grant Stevens, commissioner of the South Australia Police (Sapol), is on a charm offensive on TikTok to recruit experienced police officers from Britain to fill their hiring shortages. He highlights the 'competitive advantages' such as an attractive salary and coverage of permanent visa costs for applicants and their families.
The Queensland Police Service and the Western Australian Police have also been heavily recruiting in the UK. The latter even has its own TV series about British recruits, West Coast Cops.
And it's working. Oliver Vale, 38, recently moved his family over to Australia to start a new job as a police officer in Adelaide.
Over the years, the Vale family had toyed with moving abroad. 'We nearly moved abroad 10 years ago, but after we had the boys [Logan, 7, and Parker, 5], we began thinking if it's not going to be now, then when?' says Helen, 34, a former school inspector.
'The time felt right for the boys to make the move.'
Oliver, an experienced police officer in Hampshire and Nottingham, has often been targeted by recruiters in Commonwealth nations. The couple decided on Australia because labour agreements with the UK make it easier for skilled workers, such as British police officers, to transfer there.
The Vale family had never visited Australia but were 'good at travelling', she adds, and loved the idea of having that outdoor lifestyle revolving around beaches, barbecues and sport. Helen says her biggest worry about moving to the other side of the world was 'spiders and snakes'.
They had started planning a year before, visiting Down Under Live, a UK based emigration event, says Helen. 'It opened my eyes to the fact that thousands make this move every year.'
'We sold everything and jumped on a plane'
From the post-war 'Ten Pound Poms' assisted-migration scheme to those rite-of-passage working holidays, there's a long history of Britons moving to Australia for employment opportunities.
Britons are the largest migrant population there, with 1.1 million living there in 2023, albeit down 6pc from 10 years before, according to the Department of Home Affairs. In July 2023-24, there were 9,916 permanent migration visas granted, of which 4,500 were employer-sponsored places.
Decent relocation packages for sponsored places is part of the appeal. The starting salary for a police officer with at least three years' experience is AUD $80,190 (£38,550), says Monika Setka of Sapol.
'After permanent appointment [after probation], an experienced officer can earn up to $121,805,' she adds.
In the UK, police constables earn £29,907 to £48,231, with a sergeant bringing in up to £53,943, according to the Police Federation. Setka adds that 72 officers have joined from the UK and the Republic of Ireland in the past year, after 1,000 registrations of interest.
Oliver applied to three forces and opted for Sapol for the best benefits package, which includes a government-sponsored permanent residency visa and healthcare. On January 1, the family moved to Adelaide.
'We sold everything and jumped on a plane,' says Helen. They were on the same flight as another British family making the same move through Sapol, which made the leap less daunting.
'We had met the Wilsons before we left. We got on well as their children are a similar age to ours,' says Helen. 'They were staying in the same hotel at Heathrow the night before, and ever since they have been a great support – they now live 30 minutes away.'
They have also received assistance from the mentor provided by Sapol, who is a former British police officer. 'He's been amazing, helping us to decide where best to live and find a rental property,' says Oliver.
The family live in a three-bedroom house in Modbury, a popular suburb of Adelaide, which is around 30 minutes to the beach. The house, which they have for a year, is £1,100 a month, after which they hope to buy a property – a three-bedroom home costs around $850,000.
Luckily for the family, this is lower than the average price of an Australian home, which in March surpassed $1m for the first time, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
On April 1, a ban on the purchase of second-hand homes by foreigners began that will last until March 2027, to help reduce pressure on housing supply. Temporary residents cannot apply to buy, but permanent residents such as the Vales can do so, and also apply for mortgages.
Foreigners have to apply for approval to buy from the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), an online process with a fee that depends on the value of the property, but starts from around $4,000.
Families moving to Australia cannot apply for a place in a public (state) school until they have an Australian address to prove they live in the catchment zone. Since the academic year starts in January, it's easier enroling then.
Helen says getting the boys into school proved to be fairly easy. 'I contacted three schools, and they were all very approachable and had spaces. The boys soon made friends.'
Also fairly painless was getting a job as a school support officer, rather like a teaching assistant in the UK, at a special needs school nearby. 'I am earning the same as when I left the UK, but with a third of the responsibility,' says Helen.
Weekends spent indoors or on car trips to soft play, Ikea or Costco are now full of BBQs, outdoor sports and bike rides. 'There are so many more opportunities to be healthier, and public facilities are better organised than in the UK. It feels like taxes are being spent in the right way.'
Both boys have got into Aussie Rules football and basketball. They have met British expats aside from the Wilsons, including other police officers on the same three-month training course as Oliver, alongside Canadian Mounties and Irish Gardai.
How to get a visa
It's now harder to make a move Down Under than it once was.
'Australia is moving towards the New Zealand model of visas for highly-skilled workers who secure a job before first,' says Chris Tunbridge, of immigration consultancy, Tri-Nations Migration.
But there has been an increase in availability of the Skills in Demand (SID) visas that replaced the Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) visa at the end of 2024, which means more people can move over on this visa per year.
It's a fast-changing landscape. Each year, the Australian government has quotas for the different types of skilled migrants, but the quota of three other types of general skills visas has been halved.
It is not just what you may assume – doctors, nurses, teachers, carers and police officers. He says that in-demand occupations in Australia include chefs, mechanical engineers, civil engineers, software engineers and accountants.
You can stay as long as your visa lasts – and remain in the country longer if nominated by an employer for a new visa. 'Once your residence is approved, you may work in any job you like.'
Curiously, police officers aren't on that list despite being in great demand. This is because of security reasons, says Tunbridge, but state governments can recruit foreigners to meet a specific need.
Only police officers from the UK, Ireland, Canada and New Zealand are eligible to apply for a job without being a permanent resident or citizen of Australia.
Tunbridge says that many Britons don't get a job until they arrive on either a working holiday visa, or a six-month visitor visa. 'It's easier to meet prospective employers once they have experience in the country.'
The one-year working holiday visa is now open to under-35s, while other visa options include the National Innovation Visa (NIV), a permanent visa for exceptionally talented individuals.
The government ended its golden visa (Significant Investor Visa) aimed at attracting wealthy foreign investors last year, while New Zealand has since revamped its own version.
Such a move requires a lot of planning. At the recent Down Under Live events, Tunbridge had demand from 200 families, with Perth and Queensland especially favoured.
'Assess your eligibility from the lists. Which state can sponsor you?' he advises. 'There are hundreds of immigration channels so seek advice – you need a strategy. Government fees are very expensive if you get it wrong.'
The high cost of Oz
Once you have found a job, the big problem can be affording the house and lifestyle you had in mind, says Michael Lang, of Savills. Salaries for many jobs can be higher than in the UK, but the cost of living is also high.
'Many of the best work opportunities are in southern Australia where housing prices are high. So a typical trend is arrivals renting until they get their permanent residency and buying a home in Brisbane, up north.' With this status, they will also pay lower stamp duty surcharges than non-residents.
The median house price for Brisbane is around $1m – the same as the Australian average – according to McGrath, an estate agent. Investors are being attracted by the value of the smaller cities for better value. The median in Sydney is nearly 50pc more, or a hefty $4m in Manly, a beachside suburb traditionally favoured by British expats.
'We are seeing people look to the Sunshine Coast [in southern Queensland] for better affordability – especially Noosa and Buderim,' says James Baker, of McGrath. In the latter, a hillside suburb, a three- to four-bedroom house costs between $1m to $1.3m.
But there is an exchange rate advantage for those with British pounds, making prime homes effectively 5pc cheaper than a year ago, according to McGrath, despite their 1.8pc rise.
In Adelaide, Helen reckons the cost of living is pretty similar to the UK, as is the level of personal income tax paid each month. 'Grocery shopping is often a bit more costly, but better quality. Energy prices are lower, fuel is only 76p per litre and there is no council tax.'
The biggest downside of moving Down Under is missing family and friends. 'If you think it's 60pc worth doing, it's worth trying,' says Helen.
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The Guardian
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