Is Australia right for you?
Australia shares a language, a legal system and a lot of habits with the UK, which makes it feel familiar. But it is a very long way away, the seasons are upside down and getting a visa is the hard part.
In 30 seconds
- It suits people who love the outdoors, have skills employers want and are relaxed about being a day’s travel from family
- The UK is 7 to 11 hours behind, depending on the city and the time of year, and a trip home takes about a day each way
- Most people need a work, skilled or family visa. There is no open retirement visa for new applicants
Who it tends to suit
| Often works well for | Often finds it harder |
|---|---|
| People with skills on the shortage lists, or a job offer from an employer who will sponsor them | People without a clear visa route, or whose job has no local demand |
| Families who want an outdoor, sporty life for their children | People who want to see parents or grandchildren often |
| Couples where both partners can work | Households relying on one income in Sydney or Melbourne, where housing is expensive |
| People who like early starts and active weekends | People who love long, light British summer evenings and a pub culture built around them |
Many people are surprised that the hardest part is not the move itself but the visa. Read Visa routes to Australia before you do anything else. If you are thinking of retiring there, note that the Retirement (subclass 410) and Investor Retirement (subclass 405) visas are closed to new applicants. Most older movers come on a parent visa, if they have a settled child in Australia.
A normal week
- Many people make the most of the light mornings, with a swim, a run or a coffee before work
- Weekends are outdoors: the beach, children’s sport, a barbecue, a walk in a national park
- Shops and services are familiar: supermarkets, chemists, cafés and a high street or a big shopping centre
- Café culture is strong. Check prices for eating out and alcohol in the cost of living guide
- Cities are spread out. Outside the centres, most families rely on a car
Climate by city
The seasons are the reverse of the UK’s: summer is December to February and winter is June to August. Christmas is usually hot. Average daytime highs, from the Bureau of Meteorology:
| City | January high | July high | Feels like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | 27°C | 17°C | Warm and humid summers, mild winters |
| Melbourne | 26°C | 13°C | Changeable, with hot spells and cool, grey winters |
| Brisbane | 29°C | 21°C | Subtropical: hot, wet summers and warm, dry winters |
| Perth | 31°C | 19°C | Hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters |
| Adelaide | 29°C | 15°C | Hot, dry summers with heatwaves |
| Canberra | 29°C | 12°C | Hot summers and frosty winter mornings |
| Hobart | 22°C | 12°C | The closest to a British climate |
These are averages. Heatwaves above 40°C happen in most mainland cities in summer. The sun is much stronger than in the UK: Cancer Council advises sun protection whenever the UV index is 3 or higher, which in summer is most of the day.
Bushfires, floods and cyclones
- Southern Australia (Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania): bushfire danger peaks in the dry summer and autumn
- NSW and southern Queensland: danger is highest after a dry winter and spring
- Southern Western Australia: late spring to early autumn
- The tropical north: the cyclone season runs November to April, with heavy rain and flooding in the wet season
- Every state has a fire and emergency service and an app for warnings. Check the risk before you choose a house on the edge of the bush
Distance and time difference
A flight from London to Sydney takes about 23 hours, with a stop in Asia. Perth is closer: Qantas’s non-stop flight takes about 17 hours. Because of airspace closures in the Middle East, flights from Perth to London have stopped in Singapore for most of 2026, adding about 3 hours, while flights from London to Perth still fly non-stop. Qantas plans to make the Perth to London flight non-stop again from 1 February 2027. Check current schedules on qantas.com
| City | UK on summer time (April–October) | UK on winter time (November–March) |
|---|---|---|
| Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Hobart | 9 hours ahead | 11 hours ahead |
| Brisbane | 9 hours ahead | 10 hours ahead |
| Adelaide | 8.5 hours ahead | 10.5 hours ahead |
| Perth | 7 hours ahead | 8 hours ahead |
Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory don’t change their clocks. NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT move to daylight saving on 4 October 2026, three weeks before the UK clocks go back on 25 October. For those few weeks, Sydney is 10 hours ahead. In practice, the easy time to call home is your evening, which is the UK morning.
Questions to ask yourselves
- Do we have a realistic visa route, and how long will it take?
- Can we afford to rent in the city where the jobs are? See Cost of living
- How often do we want to fly home, and can we afford it for the whole family?
- Who will we miss most, and how will we stay close across the time difference?
- What will the partner who isn’t sponsored do all day?
- If it doesn’t work out, what is our plan to come back?
What to do next
- Check your visa options first
- Compare cities on climate, rent and jobs
- Talk honestly as a family about distance from home
- Australian Bureau of Statistics: Australia’s population by country of birth (2025)
- Bureau of Meteorology: Climate of Australia’s capital cities
- Bureau of Meteorology: Australia’s bushfire seasons
- Bureau of Meteorology: Tropical cyclone climatology
- NSW Government: Daylight saving in NSW
- GOV.UK: When do the clocks change?
- British Airways: Flights to Sydney
- Aerospace Global News: Qantas delays return of non-stop Perth–London flights (Aug 2026)
- Aerospace Global News: Qantas re-routes Perth to London non-stop flights via Singapore (Mar 2026)
- Cancer Council Australia: Be SunSmart
- Home Affairs: Retirement visa pathway