Pregnancy

It has been a while.

It was the 3rd of February 2014 when I announced that my wife was pregnant with our second child, and that I will be posting updates of our journey here. For posterity, I have made a screen capture of the blog that never got updated, until now.

So to cut the story short (my daughter is now walking and starting to talk), after finding out that a baby is coming, the first step is to see a GP (a general practitioner doctor) for initial consultation and referrals. When expecting a baby, there is a choice you need to make: whether to ‘go private’ or to ‘go public’. Going private means going to your own doctor and planning delivery in a private hospital or if in a public hospital, as a ‘private’ patient. Being a private patient in a public hospital means that you get your own room. However, if the hospital is busy, you may have to share your room with other private patients.

In the Philippines, we are used to seeing the OB-GYNE when dealing with pregnancy. We also prefer private hospitals over public ones. In here, you don’t have to see an OB-GYNE, unless you need specialist attention, and the public hospitals are better equipped than private ones, both in terms of affiliated doctors and facilities. That said, we followed our Pinoy instinct and opted to go private. After all, we had insurance coverage with Medibank.

We got a referral from the local GP to a Filipino OB-GYNE in the Castle Hill area. Personally, I thought (and I think I was right) having a doctor that speaks your native language is an advantage because the wifey can explain things better, describe things better, and in general have better information exchange.

We chose to deliver the baby at Westmead Private Hospital. It is small and some distance from our place, but it was strategic because it was right next to Westmead Public Hospital and the Westmead Children’s Hospital. In case there was an issue with my wife, she can be quickly transferred to Westmead Public. In case there was an issue with the baby at birth, she can be immediately transferred to Westmead Children’s Hospital. These are public hospitals and as already mentioned, public hospitals are better equipped.

Our baby was delivered by C section. She was healthy and there was no complication during and after delivery. Readers, I am sure, are not quite keen to know the details about our baby, so I will not give any further. The nagging question for many, however, would be how much did it cost?

I have to emphasise that since we have private insurance, most of the costs are covered by the insurance. There are, however, out-of-pocket expenses, and these are:

Hospital Excess – $500 (My insurance cover has an excess of this amount, as per my choice. It meant that I had to pay the excess of $500 and the insurance will pay the rest. I believe we call this the ‘participation’ of the insured back in the Philippines).

Antenatal Management Fee – $3,000 (This was paid to the OB-GYNE; different doctors will have different rates, but the ballpark figure is around this much, and this was in 2014).

Anaesthetic Services – $200 (This was paid to the anaesthesiologist or anaesthetist as ‘gap fee’ which means that the doctor’s fee is higher than the scheduled fee of the insurance cover. This gap could be higher with other doctors).

Paediatrician – $390 (This was paid to the paediatrician who looked at the baby after delivery to check for anything that should be of concern).

We had other expenses for ultrasound and fetal welfare laboratory services. When I find the records (I think I kept them), I will write another article with details of expenses, but for now, those listed above are the major ones.

Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Choose Australia

Not a long time ago, I was talking to friend and she told me that while she was open for migrating to another country, her husband was not. I replied that I did not plan to migrate either. When I was single, I was contented with what I had: a good job, a house of my own, a car, and work was just a couple of kilometers away. I also had a coveted and most respected four-letter title before my name in a title-conscious society where I came from. Like many other migrants, however, I had my own reasons for leaving the country I have loved so much. It was compelling enough to change my mind and leave behind comfort, a career, family, friends, and the familiar. That, however, is not the point.

My friend asked me why I chose Australia, and perhaps the same reasons would also appeal to her husband. Choosing Australia is easy, but before such choice can be made, a decision to migrate should first be firm. So, why did I choose Australia? Here are 5 reasons I can give off-hand:

#1. THE QUALITY OF LIFE IS AMONG THE BEST IN THE WORLD. It has consistently topped the UN Human Development Index, second only to Norway. What is the human development index (HDI)? It is a composite index measuring average achievement in three basic dimensions of human development—a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of living. Read more about HDI from the UNDP website.

Actually, I would have chosen Norway or one of the Nordic countries. The Netherlands is also a lovely place to live in. My circumstances, however, require that I am able to join the job market immediately, and the language barrier in non-English speaking countries would have been a set back. If you are single and carefree, by all means, go somewhere else and explore the world. If you are married and have decided to raise a child (or children!) then Australia is the best place to be.

#2. AUSTRALIA IS FAMILY FRIENDLY. It has 4 of the 10 best cities to live in the world. The world’s 10 best cities to live in, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit global liveability study, which looks at how tolerable it is to live in a particular place given its crime levels, threat of conflict, quality of medical care, levels of censorship, temperature, schools and transport links. Melbourne, the capital city of the State of Victoria, tops the list. Adelaide, the capital city of the State of South Australia, is 6th; Sydney, the capital city of the State of New South Wales, is 7th; and Perth, the capital city of the State of Western Australia, is 9th. Check out the list from The Telegraph.

Overtime work in Australia is not common (although not nonexistent). Businesses close at 5:00PM sharp, including malls, with the exception of the once-a-week long hours for shopping. In NSW that is usually Thursdays, and in Canberra, Fridays, when shops close at 9:00PM. This means quality time to spend with your loved ones.

Working conditions are great. Work-from-home is allowed, particularly for parents and carers. Maternity leave can be from half-a-year to a full-year! Annual vacation leave is 4 weeks, and sick leave can be up to 48 days. These are things which the regular Australian bloke would take for granted and some would even whine.

#3. IT HAS A STRONG ECONOMY. Australian economic planners are conservative, as many Australians are. Australians support local products and Aussie-made goods. Thus, when the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) hit, there were no bail outs in Australia. There was no spending of taxpayers’ money to prevent the demise of greedy private enterprises. The economy slowed down, but it continued to go forward. While the economies of United States, much of Europe, Japan and New Zealand floundered, the Australian economy soared higher.

Recently, the Australian economy has slowed down again. Business and government in Australia are wary, recession is predicted, and people started to whine. When asked about the slowing Australian economic growth compared to the United States, which is seeing a slight improvement in its growth, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein’s somewhat facetious response was, “No it’s awful, you’ve now sunk to a level that we’re trying to get up to, so my heart goes out to you.” Read it from here.

One draw back perhaps is the high cost of living in Australia. Imported goods are expensive. For instance, Apple products are more expensive, including electronic goods like apps and software. According to PJ Radcliffe, Microsoft products are typically 66% more expensive and Adobe products typically 42% more expensive than in the USA. Even hardware is more expensive, with a typical markup of 46% above American prices. If you are fond of IKEA products as much as my wife is, you will be equally disappointed to know that IKEA products in Australia are priced 26% higher than the most expensive Scandinavian country, says Angus Kidman. Price comparison site Idealo has apparently pointed out that if GDP per capita is factored in order to calculate affordability, IKEA items in Australia are 1.98 times less affordable than in the United States. Real estate prices are also sky high. You get a decent apartment for 300 euros per month in Seville, Spain, while in Sydney anything with a roof starts at 300 dollars PER WEEK. Even booze is expensive, says Ben Groundwater. Despite all these, however, Jessica Irvine has this to say: “Yes, Australia is expensive but there are fringe benefits if you live here.”

#4. IT HAS SOCIAL WELFARE SERVICES THAT WORK. While the United States government had to shutdown for failure to come up with a budget for the new financial year, holding up Obama’s universal health care plan, not having a national health care system is unthinkable in Australia. There is Medicare which provides for the basic health care needs of the public. For instance, I get to see the doctor even just for cough and colds, without paying a cent. (Well, if you are from the Philippines and similarly situated countries, the Australian public health care system will be something so foreign– Imagine the government spending for your consultations with medical practitioners, and in some instances, medicines too!)

Let me illustrate this with two anecdotes. A friend of mine has just arrived in Brisbane, and while alone at his brother’s place (who was working that time on night shift) sometime after midnight, he felt his blood pressure surging. His nose started to bleed. He wasted no time, picked up the phone, and called for an ambulance. He was impressed with the care he was given! The ambulance arrived within 5 minutes, paramedics attended to him and brought him to the hospital. Presumably it was a public hospital, but he was amazed at the facilities, and more importantly, with the care given to him. He did not pay for anything.

Another friend did not want to come to Australia. Like myself, she had the four-letter title before her name back home. She had a good career, and a wealthy family. Her husband came to work here on working visa at first, and when they decided to stay as migrants, they had to undergo mandatory medical tests. The tests found out she had a hole in her heart which needed fixing! To cut the story short, imagine how much she would have paid for the operation in Makati Med. For similar services with similar facilities, she had the operation in Sydney, paid for by the government.

As with other developed countries, Australian population is not growing that much, even if you count the influx of migrants and the arrival of refugees in tens and hundreds. To encourage families to raise children, the baby bonus was instituted, which gives families $5000 just for giving birth to a new baby! (Well, that has since changed, from staggered releases to conversion to tax benefits, but the net result is the same: you get more spending money for your new born). Remember, in any society, couples should have at least 3 offspring to ensure sustainability. The theory is, one of daddy, one for mommy, and one for the country. One child to replace daddy, one to replace mommy, and one to ensure growth.

Centrelink services are also awesome (at least from the point of view of an outsider who never had similar services. I know, many Aussies would whine and say Centrelink is not enough). Subject to qualifications, people get financial support for everything, from renting a house to studying and looking for work. To ease the burden of raising children, most families within a certain income threshold receive subsidies. For instance, I get $145 every fortnight for my 6-year-old daughter. That amount buys her milk, cereals, and even toys. (You may find this scheme unfair. Couples, since they are considered one unit, have to combine their income. Couples therefore receive less. On the other hand, separated couples and single parents receive more. Well, the theory is that separated couples and single parents need more help in raising children. While the objective is good, this may have contributed to the increasing number of single parents here. In fact, there was a time when youngsters were happy to get pregnant. They get money from the government without having to work for it).

#5. WORLD CLASS EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES. Private education is still expensive, but the public education system is quite good. Statewide exams in New South Wales, for instance, are usually topped by public schools. Here’s a list of the best primary schools in NSW for 2011 and 2012 (Sorry, I did not have time to sort out that data for high schools in 2012). With the FEE-HELP system, parents will not be worried if their children can go to school because the kids themselves will pay for their own fees! Well, not until they reach that income level called the threshold, which at that level, means that your kid must already be in a high-paying job anyway. The FEE-HELP is a loan scheme payable through the taxation system. And for those who love studying, research-based degrees (particularly post-graduate degrees at the Masteral and Doctorate levels) are for free, thanks to the Research Training Scheme!

Australian universities are among the best in the world. Here’s a sampling world ranking in 2012 and 2013, respectively:

1. University of Melbourne (28, 34)
2. Australian National University (37, 48)
3. University of Queensland (65, 63)
4. University of Sydney (62, 72)
5. Monash University (99, 91)

There are other reasons why Australia is a good choice. If I were to expand the list to 12, I will add the following:

#6. THE WEATHER IN AUSTRALIA IS PERFECT. Winters are not as cruel as the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries where it snows. Summers can be very warm, but Australia has the best beaches in the world to cool you off. Besides, the dry climate makes warm Summers bearable.

#7. THERE IS DIVERSITY OF WILDLIFE. Even in metropolitan areas, you will see different types of birds. While in Canberra in 2007, a Polish man once remarked to me, “Where in the world can you find a capital city where kangaroos roam about?” This diversity, of course, includes dangers too. Different types of spiders can be found even in the urban areas, and they could be deadly.

#8. A FEEL OF EUROPE IN ASIA. Australia is just 8 hours by plane away from Manila, Philippines. Visiting will not be very tiring, no jet lag to speak of. The time different between Australia and the Philippines is just 2 hours (3 hours during the Summer due to DST), keeping in touch is easier. You do not need to wake up in the middle of the night to call folks back home. It is not a far away land, but it has all the beautiful architectures of Europe. Stroll along the CBD in Sydney, Melbourne, or Brisbane and you will see wonderful architecture.

#9. A FLAT SOCIAL STRUCTURE. The Australian society is almost flat. There are super rich people, but they are the few lucky ones. There are poor and homeless, but they are the few unlucky ones. Most people are in the middle class. Even cleaners and other occupations considered lowly in most Asian societies drive their own cars, have iPhones in their pockets, and live in comfortable houses. Aside from the social welfare services available, the government also provides housing for the homeless (or those who cannot afford to own a home of their own). There is a slight drawback with living in Housing Commission houses, units or apartments, but that is a matter I will discuss in a different article.

#10. THE AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY IS NOT COMMERCIALLY DRIVEN. The American society is commercially-driven. There is so much appetite for consumption, everybody is in a hurry. Life is fast paced. That is the exact opposite in Australia, where life is laid back. It has acquired the British love of tea, and has developed its culture of barbie (a barbecue or picnic). People have time for family and friends, to read a book, watch kids do sports.

#11. THE TAX SYSTEM IS WORKING. Tax refunds here are real. Have you heard of tax refunds in the Philippines? The government needs taxes to sustain its operation, but when you overpaid your taxes, you should get something back. In the Philippines, the most you can get is a tax credit, which you can use for the next tax year. Getting a tax credit, however, is very difficult for a regular salaried taxpayer. I started working in Australia a few months after the start of the fiscal year, which meant that the taxes withheld from me would have resulted to overpayment of tax. True enough, a couple of weeks after I filed my income tax return, the government sent me $2000 as tax refund! Not only that, politicians here do not steal the taxpayer’s money in the scale that Sexy, Oldie, and the rest of the crocs in the Philippine Congress have done, are doing, and will continue to do.

#12. A GOOD TRANSPORT SYSTEM. I know, Aussies whine about their transport system, but before you believe them, know first that Aussies are whiners. “If it were not for the dark night, I would not have seen the light,” a little mouse once said. If you have been to the crazy transport system in Manila and elsewhere, then the public transport system in Sydney and other Australian cities would be what you’d call efficient. For the last couple of years, I have been to work by train, as most people do. Why would you drive for an hour when you can relax in a comfortable train or bus, read a book, or even take a nap? The drawback is, sometimes you have to walk a block or two for the bus stop, but hey, if you do not welcome such exercise, you will grow fat here easily! You will certainly miss the door-to-door convenience of the neighborhood tricycle (engine or man powered), but when a short stroll is the norm, you’ll get to adjust easily.

I am tempted to add more to this list. There is more to say. Do you have others to add? Feel free to leave a message.

Top Primary Schools 2012

Tags

australia schools, australian education index, nsw school ranking, primary schools, sending your child to school, smh school ranking

The NAPLAN test scores have been published, and the Sydney Morning Herald has listed down the top primary schools, albeit not in a single downloadable file anymore. Using the SMH database, I searched for the Top 20 primary schools within the postal code range 2000 to 2999 for NSW, looking only at the Overall Rank column, which SMH calculated by averaging the NAPLAN scores in all five areas in both years 3 and 5. Schools that did not have all results in the five categories for both years 3 and 5 have not been given an overall ranking, and SMH warns that the results for very small schools should be treated with caution, as the results for just one or two students can skew results up or down.

1. Sydney Grammar School, St Ives Preparatory School (1224)
2. Sydney Grammar School, Edgecliff Preparatory School (1222)
3. Abbotsleigh (1196)
4. Masada College (1256)
5. St Aloysius’ College (1197)
7. SCEGGS Darlinghurst (1207)
8. Artarmon Public School (1197)
9. Neutral Bay Public School (1194)
10. Burren Junction Public School (1020)
12. Woollahra Public School (1201)
13. Queenwood School for Girls Ltd (1189)
14. Beecroft Public School (1198)
15. Pymble Ladies’ College (1202)
16. Matthew Pearce Public School (1165)
17. St Mary’s School (1208)
18. John Colet School (1203)
19. Ascham School Ltd (1211)
20. Gordon West Public School (1175)
21. St Ives North Public School (1199)
22. Mosman Church of England Preparatory School (1200)

The number in parenthesis after the school name is the ICSEA, of Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage. The variables that make up ICSEA include socio-economic characteristics of the areas where students live, as well as whether a school is in a regional or remote area, and the proportion of Aboriginal students enrolled at the school. Read more about the ICSEA here.

Please note that in the list above, ranks 6th and 11th are missing. This is because despite due diligence browsing through the list provided by SMH using postal codes from 2000 to 2999, no school ranked 6th and 11th respectively have been recorded.

It will be noted that the Sydney Grammar Schools are consistently on top. St. Ives and Edgecliff simply changed positions from 1st to 2nd and vice versa. Top gainer is Abbotsleigh having jumped 6 places to 3rd from 9th last year. SCEGGS moved up 3 rungs to 7th from 10th last year. Artarmon Public however slid down to 8th from 5th last year, Woollahra Public slid down to 12th from 7th, St Mary’s Prep down to 17th from 4th, and John Colet down as well to 18th from 6th. Mosman and St Francis did not even make the Top 20 anymore.

The Safest Suburbs 2012

Tags

Best Suburb, Crime Statistics, Crime Statistics Australia, Crime Statistics NSW, Crime Statistics Sydney, Safe Suburb, Safest Suburb, Safest Suburb in Australia, Safest Suburb in NSW, Suburb

I have to revise the list of safest suburbs for 2012, now that the 2011 statistics have been released by BOCSAR. Using a 5-year data set, this list now is based on data from 2007 to 2011, while the previous list covers 2006 to 2010. Moreover, instead of using averages which skews the data for extreme values, I have used mean, thus this list is statistically more reliable. Now the Top 20 Safest Suburbs in NSW 2012 are:

1. Lane Cove
2. Ku-ring-gai
3. Canada Bay
4. Willoughby
5. Hornsby
6. Hunters Hill
7. The Hills Shire
8. Ryde
9. Kogarah
10. Wakool
11. Upper Lachlan Shire
12. Mosman
13. Warringah
14. Palerang
15. Kiama
16. Wollondilly
17. Gwydir
18. Dungog
19. Blayney
20. Cabonne

This list considered only the following crimes: assault, sexual offences, robbery, breaking and entering, all forms of theft and stealing, fraud, malicious damage to property, threats and harassment, arson, fencing, possession of cannabis, trespass, prohibited weapons, offensive conduct and offensive language. I did not include anymore liquor offences, AVO breaches, resisting arrest, and transport regulatory offences. My reason for their non-inclusion is that these offences do not pose any immediate danger to life, limb and property.

Comparing the 2011 results with these results, Hornsby is most stable at 5th safest suburb. Top gainers are Willoughby climbing up 15 rungs at 4th and Ryde climbing up 10 rungs at 8th. Canada Bay moved up 4 places at 3rd, while Lane Cove moved up 2 places to the top of the list. Warringah and Wollondilly both gained a step up to 13th and 16th respectively. The biggest losers are Cabonne sliding down 9 steps to 20th, Kogarah slid down 5 steps at 9th, while Hunters Hill and Mosman both slid down 4 steps at 6th and 12th respectively. Palerang, Kiama, and Dungog all slid down 2 steps at 14th, 15th, and 18th respectively, while Ku-ring-gai at 2nd, The Hills Shire at 7th, and the Upper Lachlan Shire at 11th all slid down one step. Newcomers to the list are Wakool at 10th, Gwydir at 17th and Blayney at 19th, while Greater Hume Shire, Pittwater, and Yass Valley disappeared.

Again, crime is everywhere. There is crime even in Australia. When looking for a place to call home, perhaps one of your primary consideration is the relative safety of the area you’d live in. The best way to know a suburb, they say, is to ask the locals. But just as a local in one of our remote municipalities in the Philippines would opine that 10 kilometers is just a short walk, an Australian local would probably think his or her suburb is safe when from an outsider’s point of view, it is not. Thus, to be scientific about it, you can rely on available crime statistics. The caveat though is that crime statistics is based on recorded incidence of crime, and there could be many unreported, and hence unrecorded incidents, isolated or otherwise.

Best Schools in NSW

Tags

australia schools, australian education index, nsw school ranking, pisa australia, primary schools, secondary schools, sending your child to school, smh school ranking, timss australia

If you are single, this may not interest you yet. Statistically though, and partially due to the fact that family migration is usually favored than individual migration, Filipino migrants in Australia are generally couples, or couples with at least one child. It is thus important to know the basics of sending your child to school.

As with the Philippines, there are two types of schools in Australia: public schools and private schools. Public schools are, as you may guess, run by the government while private schools are run by private entities, such as churches, religious congregations and the like. Public school education in Australia, however, is generally a lot better than both public and private school education in the Philippines.

Of the OECD countries, Australia ranked 6th in PISA 2009 (Programme for International Student Assessment). In the UNDP 2011 Human Development Report, the Education Index for Australia is 0.981, which is among the highest in the world, even higher than that of the United States’ 0.939. This can be compared with the Philippines’ Education Index of 0.684. In the TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) 2007, Australia is ranked 13th. Unfortunately, the Philippines did not participate in TIMSS 2007. But in TIMSS 1999, the Philippines ranked 3rd– from the bottom, worldwide!   Lest we stray from our topic, let’s go back to Australian schools.

In Australia, all children aged 6 or above must be sent to school. Since children do not turn 6 all at the same time, specific rules vary in each of the 8 Australian states and territories. There is a good summary in Wikipedia, which you can read from this link.

To quote from the information published by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs, “Schooling in Australia typically lasts 13 years. The preparatory preschool year is commonly taken, but is not compulsory, and most children begin their schooling around five years of age. Primary schooling lasts six or seven years and secondary schooling entails a further five or six years of study. School education is mandatory until age 15 or 16, depending on the state or territory.”

If you have children of school age, the next step would be to find the suitable school for them. School location, or accessibility of public transportation to and from school, would probably be foremost in your checklist, and if they were, you should have considered the same when choosing your new address.  Aside from these, however, you may want to find a good school in terms of the quality of instruction, and the profile of students attending the school, for these will be the environment where your child will learn and grow up.

In 2010, the Sydney Morning Herald published a ranking of primary schools in NSW. Click here to view the report, or check out the Top 10 listed below (based on Year 5 assessment):

1. Sydney Grammar School – Edgecliff Preparatory School, Paddington (47)
2. Sydney Grammar School – St Ives Preparatory School, St Ives (24)
3. St Francis’ School, Paddington (68)
4. St Mary’s Preparatory School, North Sydney (28)
5. Artarmon Public School, Artarmon (13)
6. John Colet School, Belrose (63)
7. Woollahra Public School, Woollahra (80)
8. Mosman Church of England Preparatory School, Mosman (6)
9. Abbotsleigh, Wahroonga (16)
10. SCEGGS, Darlinghurst (38)

The number in parenthesis after the school name is the school ICSEA, or the Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage, a “scale that enables meaningful comparisons to be made across schools. The variables used in calculating a value on the ICSEA scale include student-level data on the occupation and education level of parents/carers, and/or socio-economic characteristics of the areas where students live, whether a school is in a metropolitan, regional or remote area, proportion of students from a language background other than English, as well as the proportion of Indigenous students enrolled at the school.” (See the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority for details). In other words, putting it bluntly without regard to political correctness, the higher the ICSEA ranking, the better the community socio-educational advantage: students in the high ICSEA ranking schools come from families with better education, better work, and better homes, hence theirs is an environment more conducive for learning.

When sending your kids to school, the foremost consideration then, should be the quality of education, measured by the performance of students in the national exams, and the quality of the crowd, the very people with whom your children will interact for most of the next 12 years, measured by the ICSEA rank. Before you think that public schools dominate the list above, consider looking at the Top 100. Public schools are just as good as private schools. Case in point is the HSC results for secondary schools, consistently topped by a public school. Note, however, that there are ‘selective’ public schools in Australia, NSW particularly. These ‘selective’ public schools are similar to the public science high schools in the Philippines.

For the Top 10 secondary schools, results from the 2011 HSC (Higher School Certificate) published by SMH lists the following:

1. James Ruse Agricultural High School
2. North Sydney Boys High School
3. Baulkham Hills High School
4. Sydney Boys High School
5. North Sydney Girls High School
6. Sydney Girls High School
7. Hornsby Girls High School
8. Fort Street High School
9. Moriah College
10. Northern Beaches Secondary College

Please click here for the complete list.

These are merely guides, and in the end, the choice is yours. You do not need to seek out the Top 10 schools, but maybe there is wisdom in putting your child in a school with decent results. Otherwise, why did you come to Australia at all if you have no plans of providing something better for your children?

The Unsafest Suburbs

It cannot be overemphasized that crime can happen anywhere. Even in the most expensive areas, crime statistics are available. Having said that though, it is still prudent to choose the suburb where you have relative peace of mind and sense of security. Most people would advise not to settle in a suburb where there are housing commission projects, but you must know that all suburbs at least in New South Wales, have housing commission projects. The government policy of social integration calls for putting up a housing commission project even in the known wealthy areas of the state. More on the housing commission in another post.

The best way to know which suburb you should avoid would be, once more, to look at available crime statistics. Data on individual suburb is not readily available, but BOCSAR reports show local government area data and geomapping to the address of incidence. Looking only on recorded crimes involving 27 offenses, suburbs in the following areas should be avoided, no matter how cheap the cost of living may be:

1. Bourke
2. Moree Plains
3. Walgett
4. Coonamble
5. Dubbo
6. Albury
7. Kempsey
8. Narrandera
9. Orange
10. Campbelltown

For the Sydney area only, the following is the avoid-these-areas list, topped by (obviously) Campbelltown, being the only Sydney region LGA in the list above. Indicated in parenthesis is the LGA relative ranking in the unsafest areas in NSW list, consisting of 140 LGAs.

1. Campbelltown (10th)
2. Blacktown (43rd)
3. Penrith (50th)
4. Parramatta (55th)
5. Botany Bay (60th)
6. Waverley (61st)
7. Manly (62nd)
8. Auburn (63rd)
9. Burwood (64th)
10. Liverpool (66th)

If you are interested to look at the data yourself, download the Excel ranking data sheet from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.

Note that in the Greater Sydney area, Campbelltown made it to the Top 10 and not for the wrong reasons. I have lived in this area, and while locals might disagree, this video speaks for itself:

This is a parody of the Man vs Wild series, yet there is real truth behind the message it conveys. If you are new to Sydney, it would help to know that if you can avoid settling in suburbs along the Granville train line, from the notorious Redfern to Mac Arthur and Campbelltown, you will probably be safer. However, keep in mind that crime can happen anywhere, so always be aware of your surroundings and the people around you.

Your First Job

Your are given your permanent residency visa in Australia for a variety of reasons. You could have entered the country by way of marriage, through a petition from a family member, through company sponsorship, or through your own efforts as a courageous independent skilled migrant.

If you were a professional in the Philippines, i.e. someone who has taken a board exam administered by the PRC or, not so rarely, a member of the IBP, you will note that your license to practice your profession per se would not entitle you membership to the relevant Australian professional body. You can be assessed as someone having the qualifications equivalent to an Australian professional occupation, but if you want to be admitted as a member of a professional body, i.e. be a chartered accountant, engineer or a solicitor, you still have to undertake some ‘bridging courses’ so to speak. If this is the path you wish to take, by all means, go and study. Meanwhile, I suggest you find a job, even a part time job, as it will soon be clear to you that such undertaking is important.

Filipino professional or not, please do not expect to land a job fast and without hassles. From the feedback yours truly have received from various migrants, through conversations and readings, it is usually difficult to land your first job. Discrimination is outlawed in Australia, but a subtle discrimination in the job market exists: most Australian employers require local experience. It’s like going back to your fresh-out-of-college days in the Philippines where employers seek to fill job vacancies with people who have experience. How do you gain experience when you are fresh out of college? How do you gain local experience when you just arrived in the country?

There are ways to obtain local experience. If you are taking a course to allow you to practice your profession in Australia, you can work part time. Again, part time work may require local experience so you can instead volunteer to a community project, a non-government organisation, or anything similar. Behold, volunteers are also screened as if they will get paid for work. Difficult, right?

Some people are lucky, they land good jobs, even without local experience. These people are either exceptionally brilliant, or they have work experience in the Philippines or abroad in a multi-national company known in Australia, such as technology giants, big banks, international accounting firms, global consulting organisations, or both. Most Filipino mortals, however, are neither exceptionally brilliant nor have outstanding work experience. The trick, then, is to find any job that suits you, any job. A contractual engagement is okay– it gives you local experience, and in most cases, you get absorbed by the company because by the time your contract ends, you would have already proven yourself and you have already learned the office systems and thus do not need training anymore. Chances are, the company would think twice about hiring a newbie who would have to start from scratch again.

If you are not the picky type and could bear manual work, the Centrelink can help you find a job. They will arrange for your interviews, and they are serious about it. Of course they would want you to find a job so that you can be sooner or later taken off from their welfare list. You have to become a productive member of society. Besides, you did not migrate to Australia to rely on government dole out right?

A blue collar job could pay higher than an office work. One could be a cleaner for the RailCorp (the agency running the train system in NSW) yet enjoy better pay and benefits than a front office receptionist in Sydney CBD. A plumber could be earning more than what a bank teller makes. The best thing in Australia is that the middle class is the majority class, unlike back home where either you are super rich or are struggling along the poverty line. The choice of occupation, therefore, will really depend on what you are willing to be doing on a regular basis and not much on how much you get paid. Once you get that local experience, finding the job of your dream will be easier. Changing jobs in Australia is quite common, as common as taking an annual vacation. It is very rare for locals to stay on the same job for years, which is typical of Filipinos and Asians in general.

Jobs are available year round, but it is generally better to look for a job towards the end of the Australian fiscal year, which is the period between June and August. It would therefore be good to adjust your date of entry, considering that more jobs are available during this period. The reason for this is simple: at this time, the budget year will start, so new positions are available. It is also at this time that people go on holidays, and many of them resign from work to look for work at some future time when they get back from the holidays. With people on holidays, temporary work also becomes available, and it is your chance to get local experience.

References are a big deal in Australia. When you apply for a job, they will ask for references and trust me, they will call and verify. So, before leaving the Philippines, talk to your former boss and ask if he or she could be your reference. Needless to say, choose a reference who would say good things about you. Some people do not get hired because of the unfavorable words their chosen referee made.

More on job hunting tips in a separate post.

The Safest Suburbs

Tags

Best Suburb, Crime Statistics, Crime Statistics Australia, Crime Statistics NSW, Crime Statistics Sydney, Safe Suburb, Safest Suburb, Safest Suburb in Australia, Safest Suburb in NSW, Suburb

Crime is everywhere. There is crime even in Australia. When looking for a place to call home in this new country you have chosen to permanently reside in, perhaps one of your primary consideration is the relative safety of the area you’d live in. The best way to know a suburb, they say, is to ask the locals. But just as a local in one of our remote municipalities in the Philippines would opine that 10 kilometers is just a short walk, an Australian local would probably think his or her suburb is safe when from an outsider’s point of view, it is not. Thus, to be scientific about it, you can rely on available crime statistics. The caveat though is that crime statistics is based on recorded incidence of crime, and there could be many unreported, and hence unrecorded incidents, isolated or otherwise.

Crime statistics for New South Wales is available through the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. In Victoria, information is available from the Victorian Police. For the other Australian states, just Google it, or look it up from the national crime statistics information available from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Specifically for New South Wales, based on data from the BOCSAR covering the period 2006 to 2010 for recorded incidence of at least 27 crimes, the following appears to be the safest local government areas:

1. Ku-ring-gai
2. Hunters Hill
3. Lane Cove
4. Kogarah
5. Hornsby
6. The Hill Shire
7. Canada Bay
8. Mosman
9. Greater Hume Shire
10. Upper Lachlan Shire
11. Cabonne
12. Parelang
13. Kiama
14. Warringah
15. Pittwater
16. Dungog
17. Wollondilly
18. Ryde
19. Willoughby
20. Yass Valley

This list is based on the relative average rank of each LGA, arrived at as follows: for each kind of offense, the LGAs were ranked based on the number of reported incidence. The LGA ranks for all offenses under consideration were then averaged to yield the average rank of the LGA. Finally, the average ranks of all LGAs under consideration were sorted, and those which are at the bottom of the list are deemed to be the safest areas.

Note that rates were calculated Rates calculated per 100,000 population for each LGA where the LGA population is greater than 3000. LGAs with populations lower than 3000 were excluded because rate calculations for these areas are very sensitive to small changes in population sizes and the number of incidents recorded. Rate calculations should also be treated very cautiously for LGAs that have high visitor numbers relative to their residential population. This is because rate calculations are based on estimated residential population and no adjustment has been made for the number of people visiting each LGA per year. For this reason Sydney LGA and LGAs without the offence have also been excluded.

A local government area (LGA) is what corresponds to our cities or municipalities in the Philippines. An LGA consists of suburbs, and you can look at the hotpot maps available from the BOCSAR or the relevant statistics body in your state of choice to know which area you better avoid in your chosen LGA. Again, it does not hurt to be cautious. Otherwise, you can just go ahead and choose your own suburb using your own set of criteria.

Crunch the data yourself, download it as an Excel file from here. The ranking data set was used for the above list.

Megan Tidd of Australia’s Nine News compiled a list of the ten best Australian suburbs. You can read the details here, or see the list below without any explanation:

1. Innaloo, WA
2. Kensington Gardens, SA
3. North Plympton, SA
4. Airds, NSW
5. Sheidow Park, SA
6. Highett, VIC
7. Highbury, SA
8. Helensvale, QLD
9. Bowral, NSW
10. Mount Colah, NSW

You may also want to check out the Top 100 Locations in Australia (or in each specific state) listed based on audience reviews and ratings. It’s a moving list so I will not list down here, but you can find it in this link.

To Do List Upon Arrival

Tags

Bank, Centrelink, Driver's License, Driving, Medicare, Tax, TFN

Upon arrival at your port of destination, as with any country, you need to clear customs. Information on this can be found here, or you can browse through the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service website.

Let us assume you have already made arrangements for your temporary accommodation. If it is otherwise, I’d discuss that in another post. For now, let us take a look at the important things you need to do after you arrive in Australia, setting aside first concerns for board and lodging.

It is important, upon your arrival, to immediately set out to establish your identity. Sooner or later, your Philippine passport will not be enough to do certain transactions and your other Philippine identification cards will not be honored as such. Besides, you do not want to be carrying around your passport, don’t you?

Step 1. Register with the Department of Human Services (DHS) through the Centrelink. This is the government agency that provides all citizens and permanent residents with financial and job placement assistance, among others, subject to certain criteria. Who knows, you may already qualify for a subsidy? You can register online.

Step 2. Register with Medicare. It is the DHS agency that administers the national health program on behalf of the Commonwealth Government. Check out their website for the office nearest your location. Medicare is similar to our Philhealth, except that it is so much better. Most visits to the doctor is covered by Medicare, and you also do not have to pay for regular contributions. Whatever is not covered by Medicare can be covered by the health insurance of your choice, but more on this in another post.

Step 3. Obtain a Tax File Number (TFN) from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). The ATO is what the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is in the Philippines, just take out the red tape and widespread corruption. The TFN is similar to our TIN and it identifies you with the ATO in your lifetime. You can visit any ATO office or apply for a TFN online here. You would need to provide your TFN to the Centrelink if you are to make any claim for a living allowance or subsidy.

Step 4. Open a bank account. Within a certain period of time upon your entry to Australia, you’d only need your passport to open a bank account. After the lapse of said period, you’d need to prove your identification through a points system, and that would complicate matters for you. Moreover, a bank account entitles you to receive a bank statement through the mail, a document you’d need in the next step. In Australia, transacting with a bank attracts charges, such as making an over-the-counter withdrawal. There is usually an account maintenance fee which you pay each month. As of writing, the National Australia Bank (NAB) has waived all such fees, so you may want to start banking through the NAB.

Step 5. Prepare to convert your Philippine driver’s license to an Australian driver’s license. In Australia, each state has its own equivalent to our LTO. Here’s the list:

Australian Capital Territory – Road Transport Authority
New South Wales – Roads and Traffic Authority
Northern Territory – NT Transport Group
Queensland – Department of Transport and Main Roads
Tasmania – Transport DIER
Victoria – VicRoads
Western Australia – Department of Transport

As soon as you receive your bank statement or you are able to print a bank statement using your online banking access, bring your passport, your Philippine driver’s license, if any, the LTO certification, if applicable, and a copy of your bank statement (to prove your place of residence) to the nearest government authority listed above. Check out the relevant website for their specific requirements, as these could vary. While you can already apply for a full license after taking an actual driving test, that may not be a good idea if you have not driven in a right-hand drive country such as Australia. Thus, just for purposes of establishing your identity and obtaining an identification card so you need not bring your passport with you every time you go out of the house, get a learner’s license. Try taking the free online Driver’s Knowledge Test sample from NSW’s RTA to get a feel of what it’s like. You can retake the online sample as many times as you wish so you’ll get familiar with Australian road rules. More on obtaining a full license later.

That’s it. You’re all set. Next step is to find a job, set up that business, or find a home, not necessarily in that order. Let us put off job hunting or setting up a business (if you do not intend to be employed) at some later time, and jump right to finding a place you’d call home.

Before Leaving the Philippines

Tags

Documents, Migrating to Australia 101, Migration, Plane Ticket, Prohibited Items, What to Bring to Australia

Before you leave the Philippines, you need to attend the PDOS through the CFO. I have previously discussed it here, in case you want to read about it. The CFO will put a sticker on your passport, much like the visa evidence of your Australian permanent residency. Philippine immigration officials may not allow you to board your plane without this sticker.

Plane Ticket

You will, of course, need a plane ticket. Normally, international flights provide you with baggage allowance from 20kg to 25kg, for an economy class ticket, depending on the airline. However, if you will book your flight through the Manila Administrative Center and Mission for the Philippines of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), for a one-way ticket to Australia, you will be given a baggage allowance of 45kg per person! Certainly, this is a good option considering that you can only bring so much with a 25kg cap. Airfare through the IOM is also cheaper, but you’d generally fly via the flag carrier, in this case Qantas.

To contact the IOM, call +63 2 8481260 to 63 local 138. Their office is at 29/F Citibank Tower, 8741 Paseo de Roxas, Makati City. For more details, see the IOM website.

If you are booking your ticket yourself, only Philippine Airlines and Qantas have direct flights to Australia. If you are going to Darwin, the budget airline Jetstar, a Qantas subsidiary, operates direct flights from Manila. Otherwise, other options are Cathay Pacific (with a stop-over in Hong Kong) and the other Asian airlines (with stopover in their home countries). Note that only Philippine Airlines will include payment of the Philippine Travel Tax. Yes, all Philippine passport holders pay the travel tax every time they go out of the country. The good news is, as a migrant, you are not required to pay the travel tax of, as of writing, PHP1,620. The bad news is, you need to pay the travel tax exemption processing fee of PHP200. Worse, you have to line up at the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, formely Philippine Tourism Authority, counter at the airport. If you’ve dealt with a Philippine government agency before, you know that you have to allow plenty of time if you have to wait in a queue. At any rate, whether requesting for exemption or not, if you have not paid the travel tax, you have to queue and that would not be a very good experience– you might get left behind by your airplane. Better settle the travel tax issue before your flight date by going to any of their offices listed here.

What to Bring

Of course you know what to bring. You cannot bring everything though. Even with a 45kg allowance from the IOM, you’d find that insufficient to take all your Philippine possessions with you. Things will certainly be left behind, but there are a few which you should bring:

1. Civil documents such as birth certificates and marriage certificate, if applicable, in both the original and copy on NSO paper.
2. Religious documents such as baptismal and confirmation certificates, for Catholics, or their equivalent, if any, both the original and a certified copy.
3. If you are driving in the Philippines, your driver’s license and a certification from the LTO as to when your first license was issued. No, you do not need an international driver’s license. An international driver’s license is merely an accepted translation of your Philippine license, and since it is already in English, you do not need one. In Australia, there are stringent requirements to get a full license– you’ll get an exemption if you have proof that you have been driving for years already. More on this later.
4. Academic qualifications such as transcript of records, course descriptions, diploma and English translations of documents not written in English. If you are a licensed professional, get a certificate from the PRC or the IBP, as the case may be. You’ll need these when you apply for work, or to pursue further studies.
5. Clearances. Although not really required, it pays to obtain clearances for hassle free travel, specially if you have criminal namesakes, i.e. your name is quite common and there is a good chance someone with the same name has committed a crime elsewhere in the Philippines. Get an NBI clearance. Have a quick check at the BID if you are in any of their lists, and if you are (or your namesake), get a clearance.
6. Appropriate clothing. Note that roughly, winter in Australia is from June-August, spring is September-November, summer is December-February, and autumn is March-May. Sometimes, a season could start early, or could end late. Thus, it pays to be prepared, specially for winter. In most of Australia, winters are snow-free except for the occasional hail, but the cold could be biting.
7. Cash (and credit cards, if any). It is better if you can bring funds in Australian dollar so you’ll not lose money in conversion and commissions. You can buy Australian currency from most banks, notably Allied Bank. They had the best rates, but you can check as this may have changed.

You need to bring, too, any other item that you wish to bring. Note however the Australian customs restrictions. Check out this page for arriving travelers to Australia, or the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service website. Penalties are high, so be warned. Watch the TV series on cable to get some ideas.

Prepare yourself psychologically. Be aware that you are uprooting yourself from a life you’ve been familiar with; you are leaving your comfort zone. You will battle homesickness–you are leaving behind family and friends. Expect, too, that when you get to Australia, you will be starting all over again. Some are lucky, they are able to land good jobs, senior positions or at least those within their professional competency. Some are not so lucky, or choose not to practice their usual profession in the Philippines– some take entry level positions, while some go for blue collar jobs. But watch out: one could be a mere cleaner but may earn much more than what a bank teller in downtown Sydney earns. More on that later, suffice it to say for now that you have to be prepared psychologically and emotionally.