Emigrating to Australia

Approximately half of all international travellers to Australia fly in through the Kingsford-Smith International Airport in Sydney, even though flights can be booked to a number of international airports throughout Australia. These include Melbourne (Tullamarine Airport), Brisbane, Perth, Cairns, Adelaide, Darwin, the Gold Coast (Coolangatta), Norfolk Island, Newcastle and Broome.

You can expect flight times of 3 hours from New Zealand, a 7-11 hour flight from countries in Asia, a 15 hour flight from the west of the United States of America, an 18 hour flight from Johannesburg, South Africa, a 13-16 hours flight from South America, and up to a 24 hour flight from western Europe.

Customs
Australia has a very strict customs requirement when it comes to animal and vegetable imports including wood, and other prohibited goods. This is because Australia is a large and isolated island, and thus far free of many diseases and insect pests found in other countries. All incoming visitors must pass a customs check for these items. No fruits, vegetables, meat or other food products are allowed in unless they are factory-made and on the approved list of imports (for example, chocolate is acceptable).

There is no penalty for declaring most goods that are prohibited from import - they'll just be confiscated and destroyed or held in quarantine - but if you attempt to bring them in without declaring them, there are extremely heavy penalties including fines (in the order of thousands of dollars) and a possible jail term. It is far safer to declare any items that only might be prohibited, if they are not then you will suffer no consequence.

• The kangaroo is unique to Australia , and there are more of them now than when Australia was first settled – about 40 million in total. There are also 140 million sheep in the country, mostly merinos, and they produce almost three-quarters of the world’s wool.
• Australia is one of the most resource-rich countries on earth, producing diamonds, emeralds, gold, silver and industrial minerals.
• With 24 million cattle, Australia is the world’s largest exporter of beef.
• There are 25,00 species of plants in Australia , compared to 17,500 in Europe .
• In 1954, Bob Hawke was immortalised by the Guinness Book of Records for sculling 2.5 pints of beer in 11 seconds. Bob later became the Prime Minister of Australia.
• Tasmania has the cleanest air in the world.
• The 148 kilometres of railway track which crossed the Nullarbor Plain is the longest stretch of straight railway track in the world. Australia also boasts the world’s longest continuous fence. The dingo fence which runs through Central Queensland, designed to keep sheep safe from Australia’s native dog, is a whopping 5,531 kilometres.
• Prime Minister Harold Holt went for a swim at Cheviot Beach, near Portsea on 17th December 1967, and was never seen again. The event has been referred to as 'the swim that needed no towel'. As a mark of 'respect', construction soon began on the Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Pool.
• From 1945 through 1996, nearly 5.5 million immigrants settled in Australia.
• Australia has three time zones. Eastern Standard Time (EST includes New South Wales , Victoria , Queensland , Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory . Central Standard Time (CST) covers South Australia and the Northern Territory while Western Australia has Western Standard Time (WST). CST is half an hour behind EST, while WST is two hours behind EST.
• Australia was the second country to give women the vote.
• It has been reported that the first European settlers in Australia drank more alcohol per head of population than any other community in the history of mankind.

The education system broadly mirrors that of the UK. Australians take education seriously and Australian universities receive more taxpayer funding than many of their international counterparts. School education is compulsory from ages 5 - 15.

Australian education is divided into public (state schools) and private (independent) schools. Education in public schools is free in most states, although most schools do have a small annual voluntary fee to cover extra-curricular activities. Most public schools are co-educational. Around two thirds of secondary school students attend government secondary schools and one third attend private schools . Australian independent schools fall into two categories; schools administered by the Catholic Education Office, and other independent schools administered by their own boards. One of the poshest is the 150-year-old Geelong Grammar School in Victoria , where Prince Charles spent a term as a boarder.

The school year begins in February and is divided into four terms. Over Easter there is a ten-day break and the June/July holiday usually amounts to two or three weeks. In term three, there is a two-week holiday in September. The Christmas or summer holidays run from the beginning of December to the end of January when many families head to the beach or bush. Students attend school from Monday to Friday each week. School hours vary slightly across Australia but are generally from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm each school day.

The Australian lifestyle is good value too. Here's a snapshot of what your dollar will buy across the country, based on average property prices from Australian real estate agents' information in each states capital city:

• Sydney $528,500 (£215,400)
• Melbourne $398,200 (£162,300)
• Brisbane $388,200 (£158,200)
• Adelaide $355,800 (£144,800)
• Canberra $488,800 (£199,000)
• Perth $503,300 (£205,200)
• Darwin $421,000 (£171,700)
• Hobart $258,000 (£105,200)

Source: www.homepriceguide.com.au Based on Residential Property Prices as at June 2007

Just imagine what you would get in the UK for the same money!