An Irish woman says moving to Australia was the “best thing” she ever did, but warns other expats that they will have to face harsh realities, including wages and the cost of living.

Shannon Sulliman gave up her marketing job in Limerick in June last year to move to Perth with her partner. The 27-year-old told Yahoo Finance The Irish have often been “sold the dream life in Australia”, but now she has learned that some of it is exaggerated.

“In Ireland we are sold the dream that we will make so much money here and life will be so easy,” said Sulliman.

“I don’t know what country we lived in, but we really thought we could come here and socialize as much as we wanted and still have savings and travel. But you have to make bigger sacrifices to move here.”

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Sulliman said she had visited Perth before and “fell in love” with the city and always wanted to move there. Now she has secured a full-time job in marketing and a sponsorship.

She said she was living “the best lifestyle” she had ever experienced in Australia, loving the weather, friendly people, fitness culture and access to the outdoors and activities such as hiking and camping. But she said the idea of ​​being awash in money and savings wasn’t quite right.

“I think before you come here you have to be a bit more realistic about things. A lot of Irish people call it ‘Peter Pan’ country,” she said.

“People think it’s easy to move here, everything will work out. But it’s a lot harder than people think.”

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Higher wages are offset by “high” living costs

Sulliman said she initially thought she would get a “magic wage for an average job,” but that’s not the reality unless you work in the mines.

She said she found that people don’t earn much more in Australia than in Ireland and that the high cost of living means there isn’t much room to save either.

“I think my salary (in Australia) is what I want out of life, which is the same as it was in Ireland,” Sulliman said. Yahoo Finance.

“So I don’t earn more than I should. Maybe I earn a little more, but it’s in line with the cost of living here.”

According to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the average weekly earnings for a full-time working adult in Australia is $1,923.40 per week. By comparison, in Ireland, the average weekly earnings are €969.12, or around $1,602 per week.

Sulliman said she was “really lucky” to find a job in Australia, but said it can be difficult for people on working holiday visas to find work. She first tried her hand at being a traffic warden before securing a temporary position through recruitment agencies.

“It’s maybe a lot harder to get back into the career you had back home in Ireland. But I took the job anyway and now I’m just helping them as a shoulder manager and doing some sort of admin work,” she said.

Sulliman noted that Ireland has also become “extremely expensive” and she believes the cost of rent and bills is now quite similar to that in Australia.

In Ireland, average rents for new lettings in the last quarter of 2023 were €1,595, or about $2,642 per month, or about $610 per week.

For comparison, Domain found that the average house rent in Australia’s capital cities is $650 per week, while apartment rent is $630 per week.

Traveling is expensive, especially in Perth

Before moving, Sulliman thought she would travel every two weeks, but she has since realized how expensive that is, especially in Perth.

“I think if I were in Sydney and Melbourne it would be a whole different story… I need to go to Sydney and I’ve looked at flights and it would cost me $800 just for the weekend,” she said.

“But I feel like Western Australia offers a lot more different holiday experiences… I love camping, so we bought a few things and went to different places. You can do a lot more here with a car.”

Sulliman said she tries to experience as much of Australia as possible and has taken trips up the east coast as well as to Bali and the Maldives. The downside of this is that she hasn’t been able to save as much as she initially thought.

“I socialize and travel. If I made those sacrifices, I could save a little more,” she said.

“I know I have my two-year visa here, but circumstances could change. I personally love traveling and experiencing new things.”

She has found that eating out can be more expensive in Ireland, but going out and drinking is much more expensive in Australia, so she is now cutting back on that.

But it’s all worth it

Sulliman said she was happy with her decision to move to Australia and hopes to obtain permanent residency in the future.

“I would say to anyone who is even remotely thinking about coming here, just do it,” she said.

“It’s a great experience to be here. There are a lot of opportunities out there if you’re willing to work for them and the company I work for now is great.

“When you move out, just be open-minded. The first move is the most stressful, but after that, everything falls into place.”

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