Common misconceptions and clichés about life in Australia

Hi,

We love living in Melbourne.

Guess one of the downsides about living in Australia is the cost of living, everything is expensive here. The bigger companies see Australia as a cash cow and milk it, I think they think that everyone works in the mines and earns big bucks. Some items are locked price (no discounts available), but if you buy overseas including shipping and insurance you can save 50% of the cost.

Buying cloud based software wasn't too bad when the AUD was nearly equal to the USD, now it is 0.77 AUD to the USD. So any company locking themselves into cloud based software have to add 25% to their expected budget.

Another downside is the medical insurance scams, being on a temporary visa and not eligible for Medicare, have to get overseas medical insurance. Cost is nearly $350 per month.

Government does a great job of talking about innovation, but not much action. There are some very talented people living in Australia, and given the right funding they could put Australia on the world stage.