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Since launching Getting Down Under in January 2006, our site has evolved from my own personal Blog, tracking the move of my own family down under to more of an online Australian Immigration Magazine providing the latest Australian immigration news, reviews and of course, the odd joke!

Since these early days the internet has continued to develop so today I thought I’d officially launch a couple more channels to keep in touch with our site and with other folk around the world looking to make the move Down under.

Facebook

If you haven’t heard of Facebook then where have you been! Facebook is a free-access social networking website. Users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and hobby to connect and interact with other people. We’ve created our own user group on facebook for folks looking to make the move down under. We have 51 members in our little Facebook club so far so lease consider joing us by Clicking Here.

Twitter

The second group we’ve launched is with Twitter. Like Facebook, Twitter is a free social networking and ‘micro-blogging’ service that enables its users to send and read other users’ updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters, displayed on the user’s profile page and delivered to other users who have subscribed to them (known as followers).

As well as my own random dribbles, any news updates posted via Getting Down Under will also be tweeted to Twitter. If your already a user of the twitter service and would like to receive details of any related Aussie news then become one of our followers on Twitter. You can access our Twitter account by Clicking Here.

Email Newsletter

As well as our new services available on Facebook and Twitter, I’d also like to use this as an opportunity to remind folks that all of the latest posts and news appearing on Getting Down Under can also be sent to you on email via the Getting Down Under newsletter.   To join the other (at time of typing) 1158 people who already subscribe to our newsletter then please Click Here.

Privavcy stuff : For info, we use the services of a company called Feedburner to provide our newsletters. Feedburner is a company owned by the search engine dudes at Google so be rest assured your details will be held in a secure environment. We also promise to keep your email safe and will use it for only this purpose.

Getting Down Under Forum

Last but not least, our Australian Immigration advice forums have already been providing help and support to a great community of like minded people for some time.   We currently have over 5000 members in our community (who have asked over 28,000 questions) so if Facebook or Twitter accounts are not something that takes your fancy consider joing our community forum. The key word here is community and you’ll be joining a great bunch of people online within our forums.

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What with all the gloom and doom associated with the current economic crisis. The further cuts in the Australian Skilled Migration intake and all that other cheery news recently coming out of Australia, I thought I’d end this week with a little joke.

Some of you may or may not have heard it but as it has an Aussie reference I think it’s still a good fit for our site. No offence intended to anyone… honest  :)

The British are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats in Afghanistan and have raised their security level from “Miffed” to “Peeved.” Continue Reading

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There is less than one month to go before the changes to the Australian skilled migration will come into effect, as outlined in last month’s release of the 2009-10 Budget.

As of the 1 July, the Australian skilled migration program will be downsized again, so that only 108,100 skilled visas are available for people emigrating to Australia. Further, as of this date, the Government will raise the English language requirements for trades occupations in the independent skilled migration pathway so that overseas workers in trade positions are better prepared for working in the Australian workforce.

The Government has made it harder for people emigrating to Australia through the Australian skilled migration program during the recession so that those skilled workers emigrating to Australia support economic growth rather than unnecessarily add to employment competition. Not only has the Government been gradually downsizing the skilled migration program, but it has also implemented a priority processing order for all Australian skilled visas so that the program can target the skills it needs. Continue Reading

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Its been a little whilst since I posted some up-to-data information on the kind of Salary you can expect to earn in Australia so I thought I’d provide a little data following the completion of another Australian salary survey.

Like our previous salary survey, this years survey was completed by one of the leading recruitment companies in Australia;   Hays Recruitment.

Hays are a global recruitment company so if your from the UK, Ireland, South East Asia, continental Europe or Canada there’s a good chance that you may have heard of them.

The annual Hays Salary Survey remains the definitive snapshot of salaries and employment market trends across Australia and New Zealand. Data is provided for the current salaries in well over 1,000 job titles across 16 sectors in 12 locations, with over 1,700 leading Australian and New Zealand employers consulted.

Hopefully salary data specific to your current role will be available in here. Continue Reading

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A world-wide survey has found that Australia has been voted the best place for business during the economic downturn, meaning that all those emigrating to Australia will benefit from greater investment security and a stronger economy during the recessionary and recovery period.

As we reported earlier this year, the government restricted the Australian skilled migration program so that fewer people are emigrating to Australia during the recession. Despite this, the program remains at significantly high levels, with 108,100 places for skilled migration to Australia, and the government has sufficient reasons for doing so.

While other countries such as the UK are deeply entrenched in the recession, Australia seems to be fairing well and are even tipped to come out stronger than before. Continue Reading

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Can you hear that……? Yup that’s the silence associated with the Australian Immigration Authority doing…..stuff!

It seems very quiet at the moment. My checks of all the usual sources of immigration news seems to be bringing with it very little in the way of updates.

Personally, there’s nothing fascinating to update you guys with either other than the fact that we are now into late Autumn and we had to put the heating on for the first time this morning.

Actually.. that is kind of interesting in a sad kind of way

Living in Australia there is no need for good old ‘central heating’. In the UK our central heating system had a handy ‘boost’ feature you could use when you needed to take the chill off!

You’d get home from work to a cold house, press the boost button and then wait 30 minutes for the water to heat up and circulate around the radiators scattered around your house, most of which only heated at 50% capacity because of the air which needed to be bled from the system in order for them to work properly. Continue Reading

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Following last week’s changes to the Australian skilled migration program, occupations have been removed from the temporary business Australian visa (subclass 457) program in line with the current needs of the Australian economy.

The temporary business Australian visa (subclass 457) program allows employers to sponsor overseas workers to work in Australia on a temporary Australian working visa. While employers must first prove that there are no local workers available to take that position before they sponsor an overseas worker, the Australian immigration department has taken further measures to cut back the program so that Australians have a better chance of employment during the global recession. Continue Reading

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As we mentioned yesterday, the Federal Government released their budget last night so instead of going through the reams of data coming out of the budget line by line and boring you to death, I thought I’d provide a very (sky) high summary of some of the key points which may be of interest to folks looking to one day call Australia their new home

The Federal Government has estimated Australia’s deficit will increase to $58 billion in 2009-10 and reach a total of $219 billion in the five years to 2012-13, due to a combination of reduced economic growth, decreased tax revenues, and initiatives to stimulate the economy.

The Government has predicted the Australian economy will contract by 0.5% in the 2009-10 financial year, but will be growing again by 2010-11. Continue Reading

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The Australian Immigration Authority has recently published the latest edition of their booklet titled “Beginning a life in Australia”.

The booklets welcome newly-arrived migrants to Australia and provide useful national, state/territory and local settlement information.

This information is available to download in PDF format and is provided in English and 37 community languages for each state and territory.

The document is broken down into 14 sections and covers approx 60 Pages Continue Reading

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The Rudd Government is going to announce its latest budget tonight with an expected deficit of about $60 billion most likely making the biggest headline.

For those looking at making the move down under however, the slashing of a further 7000 places from the general skilled migration intake will be the news that hurts the most!

The cut will take the general skilled migration intake for the next financial year to 108,000.

Added to the decision in March to axe 18,500 places, the total reduction of 25,500 will constitute a 20 per cent cut to the program. Continue Reading

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Changes to the Skilled Occupations List (SOL) have been made by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) in consultation with the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR).

The Skilled Occupations List (SOL) lists all occupations that the Government considers to be a skilled profession for purposes of migration to Australia. Applicants for a General Skilled Migration visa must nominate a skilled occupation listed on the SOL in order to gain points towards their Australian visa application.

They must also have their nominated skills assessed by an approved assessing body before their application will be accepted by DIAC. Continue Reading

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Here at Getting Down Under HQ we frequently get emailed by various folks and organisations that are looking for our help in promoting their products and services to the many visitors and subscribers who visit our site.

As many of these services aren’t particularly appropriate (or simply smell like a bit of a scam) then in most cases we don’t bother.

Recently however we were contacted by an agency asking us to help promote a competition being run by ‘Tourism Australia’. As the competition tied nicely into the concept of ‘Getting Down Under’ and was being run by the Aussie tourist industry then we thought it seemed worthy of a mention. Continue Reading

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Australian visa holders who own or who are looking to buy property in Australia are now subject to updated policies.

As of the 31st March 2009, Australian visa holders must adhere to new regulations implemented by the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB).

These include the re-definition of ‘temporary residents’ for investment purposes. An Australian temporary resident includes all holders of a temporary Australian visa that has a validity period greater than 12 months, or all non-Australian citizens who have submitted an Australian visa application for permanent residency (PR) and are holders of a bridging visa that allows them to stay in Australia until DIAC approves their PR application. Continue Reading

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Yet more restrictions  on the number of options for wannabe Aussies with the Australian business visa program (under the Skills Stream) being capped until the start of the next financial year, 01 July 2009.

The Australian business visa program allows investors and senior executives to settle in Australia so that they may develop opportunities in Australian business.

The Australian Government provides two options for emigrating to Australia through the business skills stream.

These include the Provisional Business visa, which can result in a permanent Australian visa, and the Permanent Residence Business visa, for those sponsored by a State/Territory.

Four types of people can apply for an Australian business visa in the Skills Stream, including owners/part-owners of a business, senior executives of major businesses, investors, and senior managers who have sponsorship from a State/Territory government.

In response to the current economic conditions, the Government assessed the number of people emigrating to Australia through the Australian business visa program and how that matched with the planning levels for Australian General Skilled Migration, and has decided to cap this financial year’s business skills visas.

This means that until 01 July 2009, no more than 6,650 offshore Australian business skills visas (class EA and UR) can be approved by the Government and an overall limit of 7,500 places for both onshore and offshore business skills visas.

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Hi Guys. Following my last post I thought I’d better write a very brief update to let you know that I’ve still got a job.

We offer a subscription service here at getting down under (see the link at the bottom of this post) which enables visitors to our site to receive the latest news and updates via email. I had quite a few of our subscribers email me in response to our last email wishing me all the best. To those people I thank you for all of your good wishes and crossed fingers; it obviously worked!

In slightly sadder news, Out of a department of about 30 people, all but two of us were either made redundant (including a third of my own team) or had their roles relocated to Sydney (a transition that will take between 3 and 12 months). To say I feel very much like one of the lucky ones is somewhat of an understatement although it was never going to be good news. Continue Reading

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So I’m sat on the train on my way to work this morning and it’s not going to be a typical day.

Sure, the suns still shining, the sky is still blue but today I’ll find out whether or not my job has been made redundant.

Like many large organisations, the company I work for is finding times a little tough. Despite posting some healthy profits our cost income ratios (the number of dollars we have to spend to make more dollars) are deemed a little on the unhealthy side.

This means that over the last two weeks the sinking ship I work for has been busily bailing hundreds of members of staff equating to approx 10% of it’s total work force.

I feel a little numb about the whole situation if I’m being honest. Continue Reading

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