You’re living overseas and enjoying life in a new country but then something happens in that country that changes everything. Not talking about war, but maybe a public debate, a new politician on the scene, a recession, or an election. Something that flipped how you see your new home. For better or worse.
For me, living in Malaysia all was going smoothly. An amazing country. But when COVID hit, non-Malaysians really became a target. You had vaccines prioritised for Malaysians and the government using the pandemic as an excuse to round up illegal migrants to deport them. Instilling more fear at a time of fear.
Australia but for a completely different reason, social support. A few friends got very ill, one seriously injured and another had a serious mental breakdown and all were not eligible for any help. They had to drain their supers, savings and lean on friends and family and most ended up going back home because as non citizens they get nothing.
Medical care was decent to excellent but insanely expensive due to non citizen status. We’re not talking 50$ here were talking up to 1000$ per appointment as health insurers are pretty adept at playing games.
Think I’ll yeet myself outta here in a few years as I see this beginning to happen around me to citizens as well and I’d rather get going before anything bad happens with my family and I.
Oz is great for a try for a couple of years but I wouldn’t recommend long term though. Especially with kids and the education systems. Early education seems to be ok but secondary and higher is a nightmare.
This is an extremely I’ll informed statement.
Citizens and PR receive Medicare. Everyone else has to maintain their own private health insurance (as it should be imo). Additionally PR is fairly reasonable to get as a skilled worker in Australia. You can apply effectively right away if you meet their points requirements for high skilled workers.
Not all PRs do and are still required to carry private health insurance. Most take out minimum coverage which only covers hospital admittance and not general medical care like GPs. My local cheapest GP just hit 120$ per appointment and all bulk billing is 100km away.
Depending on your visa you can be forced to stay in very regional areas for 4 years or more. This limits access so services, jobs, schools and healthcare. I do not agree with how Australia treats various visa holders as some of the restrictions are bonkers.
Citizens and permanent residents are struggling to get in with mental health providers even when you can afford them. I’m in Adelaide and the public health system is a coin toss on quality. The ambulance wait times here are shocking. If it weren’t for my daughter I probably wouldn’t stick around Australia. The housing situation is only going to get worse and it’s beyond dreadful now seeing dual income families going to food banks and homeless shelters.
I was going to say, it’s not a whole lot better for citizens. If you get really sick you will fight for years to get the disability pension which is still only $530/week. Most people on JobSeeker payment in Australia are sick, or, carers, or a combination and the payment is $375/week which is far below the poverty line.
Well aware. Im dual EU/AUS citizen so I’m eligible for full help and the comparison between me and my friends was noticable. Now its seems to be very little difference and I’m also astonished how badly New Zealanders were treated until recently and even now its not great.
I’ve got family in nearly every country around the world. In discussions, its those little things you never think of that concern us. I fully believe if you pay taxes you should be eligible for the same assistances and coverage as citizens but nope, not here.
The foundations are crumbling to the point a person (not a household) needs to be on 120k plus per year and rising to afford to be middle class. That is an insane bar and something is going to give.