Since 2007 · 40,000+ of us
A better life, and the people who already made the move
Straight answers about every unglamorous bit of moving to Perth, from people who have already done it.
free, and always has been
Campaigns we have run with
- RAC Arena
- Joondalup Resort Hotel
- The Guildford Hotel
- Palace British Film Festival
- British & Irish Lions
- Woodvale Tavern
- Zealous Productions
From the group
What people actually ask
The same questions come round every month, because there is always somebody new. Here are the answers, from people who have already been through it.
- Which suburb should we live in?
- Nobody can answer this for you, and the people who try usually just name where they live. Work out your three deal breakers first: how long you will tolerate commuting, whether you need to be near a particular school, and whether you want the beach or the hills. Then come and ask about two or three specific suburbs rather than the whole city, because that question gets real answers. Rent somewhere for six months before you buy. Almost everyone who bought in their first month has an opinion about that now.The group
- Is it worth shipping our car over?
- Almost always no, and this comes up every week. Between the shipping, the compliance work to make a foreign vehicle road legal here and the time it sits on a dock, most people end up wishing they had sold it at home and bought something here. The exceptions are cars with genuine sentimental value and a few classics. What is much more worth shipping is the contents of your kitchen and anything your kids sleep with.The group
- What do we actually need to sort out in the first fortnight?
- A tax file number, a bank account, a phone number and Medicare if you are eligible. Those four unlock almost everything else, and several of them want an address, which is the bit people get stuck on. A short term rental address is usually enough to get started. Do not try to do all of it on day one with jet lagged children in the car.The group
- How do people find work before they arrive?
- Most of the jobs people land from the UK come through a recruiter who already places into their industry here, or through somebody in the group who works at the company. Cold applications from overseas are hard going, and the honest reason is that employers here want to know you can actually start. Having your visa situation clear and stated at the top of your CV changes how many replies you get more than anything else on it.The group
- Is it really as good as everyone says?
- Mostly, and not always. The beaches, the space and the weather are exactly as advertised and they do not get old. What people underestimate is the distance: from family, from old friends, and from anywhere else, because Perth is the most isolated capital city in the world. Most people find the first winter harder than the first summer. Almost everyone who gets through the first two years stays, and the ones who go home usually go for family reasons rather than because they stopped liking it here.The group
Got one that is not here? Ask it in the group.
The community
Five rooms, and you are welcome in all of them
All free, all run by people who made the move themselves. Start wherever suits you.
Facebook group
Poms in Perth
The big one, running since 2007. Ask anything and somebody who has already done it will answer, usually within the hour.
Join inFacebook group
Singles & Socials
For anyone doing this on their own. Meet ups, nights out and a smaller room than the main group, whether you are newly landed, newly single, or both.
Join inFacebook page
Poms in Perth
The noticeboard rather than the conversation. What is on, who we are working with, and the occasional bit of news.
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@pomsinperthwa
Perth as it actually looks, from the people living in it. Beaches, nights out, and the odd thing nobody warned you about.
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@pomsinperthwa
Short, daft and useful in roughly that order. The fastest way to see what moving here is really like before you commit.
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no cost, no catch, never has been
Why Perth
The part nobody needs convincing about
Perth is the sunniest capital city in Australia and the most isolated in the world. Both of those turn out to matter, and only one of them is a problem.
- The beaches face west
- Nineteen kilometres of coastline inside the city, and the sun goes down over the water rather than behind you. Cottesloe on a Friday evening is not a holiday here. It is a Friday.
- Outside is the default
- The Fremantle Doctor arrives most summer afternoons like somebody opened a door. Sport, barbecues and swimming are what people do on ordinary weekdays, not what they save up for.
- Space you cannot buy at home
- Back gardens, driveways, and a commute measured in minutes rather than misery. The same money buys a different shape of life, and that is the honest reason most people stay.
- Rottnest and the south west
- A ferry to one, a weekend drive to the other. Forests, surf and some of the best wine country in Australia, close enough to go on a whim.
The community
Wherever you are on it
This only works because it runs in both directions. The people who have been here fifteen years are the reason the ones landing next month get a straight answer instead of a search engine.
- Still deciding
- Can we do this, can we afford it, and would we actually like it. Questions best answered by someone who asked them five years ago.
- Just landed
- The first six months, when everything is admin and nothing works the way it did at home. This is where the group earns its keep.
- Been here years
- You are the reason this works. You know which builder to avoid and which beach is worth the drive, and half of you run the businesses the rest of us need.
The guide
And then the unglamorous half
Nobody moves countries on a beach photograph. Seventeen pages on everything between deciding and belonging, written by people who got it wrong first.
- The first two weeks: tax file number, Medicare, a bank account and a phone number
- How Perth suburbs actually work, and what the train line does to the commute
- Renting before you buy, and what agents expect from an arrival with no local history
- Schools, catchments, and the state, Catholic and independent systems
- What things really cost, set against what you are earning now
- The bits nobody warns you about, from quarantine on your shipping to the price of a decent teabag
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Vetted partners
The services you will actually need
Moving countries means a short list of expensive decisions, most of them made in a hurry. These are the ones that come up again and again across the group, week after week, since 2007.
- Money Transfer
- Getting sterling into Australian dollars, on arrival and on the regular transfers that follow.
- International Removals
- Shipping a household from the UK to Perth, including the quarantine paperwork nobody warns you about.
- Relocation Services
- Finding a rental and getting set up, usually before you land. Practical help rather than advice, and nothing here is regulated work.
- Migration Agents
- Registered agents who handle visa applications. Only a registered migration agent may give you migration advice.
- Health Cover
- Health cover that satisfies the condition on most temporary visas, and cover for families once they are permanent.
- Mortgage and Buyers Agents
- Brokers and buyers agents who work with new arrivals, including those with a short Australian credit history.