THE ADVANTAGE AND DISADVANTAGE OF AUSTRALIAN

GOVERNMENT

GIJOE N. NOGUERA CONTEMPORARY WORLD SSC C102 (101S)

Advantage of living in Australia
1. Aussies are a welcoming bunch - Australians are known around the world for
being friendly and outgoing, and they extend that hand of friendship to the expats
in their midst. Newcomers will find welcoming, friendly faces in the Land Down
Under.

2. Education is top tier - Public school up to grade 12 is free for all Australian
residents, and textbooks are generally provided. US News and World
Report ranks Australia’s public school system fourth in the world, above the
United States, France and even Switzerland. Private schools in Australia can be
pricey (think anywhere from A$23,000 - A$37,000 for a year of school), but you
can know your child is getting one of the highest quality educations in the world.

3. The Economy is booming - Australia has a strong service sector and the fifth-
ranked per capita GDP in the world. The economy in the Land Down Under is
healthy, so jobs are plentiful. Which means getting an Australian work visa may
be more possible than you’d think.

4. Australian healthcare is universal and high quality - 100% of Australian

citizens are covered by Medicare, the tax-funded public healthcare plan. High
earners are encouraged to also purchase private health insurance, but the
Medicare system ensures that no one is stuck paying out-of-pocket for necessary
medical care. While those who earn above a certain threshold must either
purchase private health insurance or pay an extra tax, private insurance is
extremely affordable — around A$2000 a year for a single person. Australia has
many public and private hospitals.

5. Getting citizenship isn’t too complicated if you qualify - Once you’re a

permanent resident, getting Australian Citizenship is more straightforward than
in many other countries. If you have an Australian parent or are already a
permanent resident, you may be in luck. You’ll have to prove you’ve lived in
Australia for the previous 4 years and that you’re fluent in English. Then you will
need to pay the fees (A$40-A$285) and pass a citizenship test.
Disadvantage of living in Australia
1. The cost of living is high - Australia has the 12th highest cost of living in the
world , with the US and the UK well behind it at 21st and 23rd, respectively.
Housing and groceries, in particular, tend to be more expensive in Australia than
in many other places around the world. And Australia has one of the most
overheated housing markets in the world right now, with steeply rising housing
prices, especially in major cities like Sydney and Melbourne.

2. Getting a work visa is difficult and time consuming - Australia is known for its
tough immigration laws, and there are many variants to its work visa program ,
making it a complicated and sometimes daunting process to obtain the right to
work in Australia. The exact process you’ll need to follow to get a visa varies
depending on the kind of work you do, how long you plan to be in Australia and
other factors that help determine which visa type you need to apply for. Luckily,
the Australian government’s website spells out the the different types of visas
and their requirments.

3. Mortgages are hard to get, especially for foreigners - It’s not easy for anyone
to get a mortgage in Australia , and foreigners can expect even tougher
standards. First, you’ll have to seek approval from the Foreign Investment
Review Board. Then, you’ll have to find a bank that even offers mortgages to
foreign investors many of Australia’s large banks don’t. Non-residents of
Australia can expect interest rates of up to 8%, and a maximum loan to value
ratio of around 70%. A hefty downpayment for most people. As an expat, owning
property in Australia will probably be an uphill battle.

4. The country can feel isolated - Australia is huge, and its major cities aren’t
close to one another. Then there’s the fact that Australia is so far from other parts
of the world — the distance and time differences can leave expats especially
from the US and UK feeling extremely disconnected from the family and friends
they left behind.

5. Public Transport - Australian regulators back in the day were a bit shortsighted
when railway systems were developed decades ago. They didn’t see the
potential grow of population in Australia’s major cities therefore didn’t have a plan
to build under ground railway systems like what everyone else in the other
developed countries was doing. In the recent 20 year as population was growing
in a much faster pace, Australian residents in big cities are suffering from these
retarded railway systems: capacity of trains is low, trains are old and not running
 on time, track works are to be expected quite frequently, platforms are not
sheltered, and tickets are costly. These is another problem caused by these
railway systems: traffics are heavily impacted by these about-the-ground railway
systems as tracks are slicing off the cities, causing serious traffic congestion.