Moving to Australia from the USA?

[myfairbabies]

My dh just got a job offer as an engineer in Australia and while we are really excited I want to look into it a little. They would want him in Sydney for 6 months, and then we would move to either Perth, Brisbane, or Melbourne. We don't have any kids, but we are trying to get pregnant. What is the health care like? Would we be able to use it if we aren't permanent residents? I would like to have a homebirth with a midwife, how hard is it to have that there? Does it depend on the city I live in? What are differences between the 3 cities I mentioned? What is the housing market/renting like? Where would you live, given the choice? Anything else I need to think about/know?

Thank you!

[majikfaerie]

there's already another thread like this here somewhere, you might get some good answers.

housing in sydney is pretty expensive, have a browse around realestate.com.au to get an idea of prices in various cities. melbourne is pretty fun, funky and liveable, sydney is just a massive urban sprawl, maybe a bit like LA in that respect. Brisbane is smaller (still arund 1 million people though) as is perth.

health care is free here like in canada, though i don't think non-residents are entitled to it. I think temporary residents can get benefits though, I'm not sure. try googling medicare to find out. lots of people have private cover these days anyway.

getting a midwife and having a homebirth is generally no problem whatsoever, though you need to pay for it out of pocket.

hopefully someone who's lived in australia longer than I will have more for you

[Brettys_Girl]

How'd you go with this?
I just want to add that as far as Capital cities go I recommend Brisbane for being the most laid back (where cities are concerned).
Sydney IMOH is the most expensive
Melbourne is the fashion/food capital of Australia
Brisbane is as I said more 'lax than the others.

For birthing options you have several options:
Private Care (Obstertrician) which you pay for or your private health fund.. if no health fund medicare DOES have something called a family safety net that means out of pocket expenses should be under the $1,000 mark depending on what your obs charges.. take in mind your residental/citizen status though.. I'm not too sure
Private Care: Midwife/Birthing & education centre out of pocket expense though SOME are covered through medicare.. again not sure about the residential status & coverage IS centre specific.
Public/Shared Care (Your GP & the local midwives clinic)

Typically unless you have medical intervention (c-section, vacuum extraction/forceps etc..) or private insurance you will have 2 midwives on duty to help you with the birth of your child.. IF you go the hospital & shared care route be advised that the same midwife team that is there when you first go in will not necessarily be the ones who are present at the birth.
If you want the same midwife the whole time you WILL need to go private in either a birthing centre (loads different to birthing centres in USA/CANADA) (check out naturalbirth.org.au for a roughie idea on how birthing centres operate here).
Homebirths are becoming more & more common in Australia these days so that option is ALWAYS open to you (my Aunty delivered my cousin on the big brother's bedroom floor with my Uncle on the phone to the Ambulance/paramedics - yeah it wasn't planned but was so quick)

[myfairbabies]

Oops, I updated my other thread about this but I guess forgot about this one. We ended up getting an offer that was way way lower than we had expected and they had led us to believe (at the time of this thread, they had offered the job, but hadn't talked money yet). I was already pregnant and there was just no way we could afford to move there and start over for about half of what dh makes now with no medical insurance. We were bummed, but I was also a little relieved that I would get to keep my midwife here and not move while pregnant! Thanks for the help though! Maybe one day we'll get to move somewhere cool!