Question for the Aussies

[Erica K.]

My friend moved to Australia last december and has been wanting me to join him since, and I'm finally going to get the ball rolling to do it! I just need to get my passport & a job lined up. I'm so excited, I can't wait :cheer:

My question is, how tg/cd friendly is the place? i'm thinking of going as close to full time as things permit when I'm there, so I just want to know if there are any people/places/things I should avoid, and people/places/things I should check out?

[Davinnia]

Well, Erica, Australia is a BIG country, where exactly were you intending to live ?
The obvious places would be Sydney & Melbourne, girls from those cities would be able to advise you on places to go.

Things to avoid ? Easy. Sharks, spiders & snakes of the deadly variety.

[TxKimberly]

I think Suzy has 'em pretty well trained over there! :D

[battybattybats]

Things are changing quickly for the better here.

It has lots of problems and work needing done but a recent poll showed 85% of the population was in favour of federal TG anti-discrimination protection!

It can be hard to compare things of course, but the hate-crime rate appears way lower just for starters. The TG attempted suicide rate is also lower around 37% compared to the 50%+ of many other countries.

Of course there are problems like the removal of the word transgender from school dictionaries, SRS and healthcare access, different laws from state to state, excessive influence of hate-groups on government despite the public majorities opinions and no actual bill of rights on a federal level and only some states and territories with one.

Here's a recent study http://www.glhv.org.au/node/398

[Ellie Lierae]

Brisbane is also another good place from what I've seen, I'm looking at moving down there next year, if I went out dressed here where I live in Gladstone I'd be laughed out of town, but that seems to be what happens in a small industrial town full of manly men

[Jan W]

Erica,

Melbourne is pretty tranny friendly. I do all my socialising here and have not had too many problems.

Of course it largely depends on what line of work you are in should you transition.

Where is your friend situated? As Davinnia said Australia is a ridiculously large place that most people do not have any idea of how big until they see for themselves.

We are four hours from east to west and seven from south to north by airliner - seriously big.

Do your homework honey before you decide where to settle.

Hope you do come on down, the more of us the better.


Jan

[PrettyFlowingGown]

Brisbane is good where I live. I dont know about going out mainstream, but I go to a gay pub once a month, where theres great security and you just, walk around, dance, socialize in your femme gear and just have fun. No one cares!!! Its great.
Melbourne is good too. I used to go there when I lived down in Ballarat.

[Kristen-Gaye]

Sydney is pretty good but as the girls have said, Australia is a BIG place! Good luck!
K.

[Tasha McIntyre]

I live in North Brisbane, and am only just out of the closet.
Been to several shopping centres etc, never had a problem at all.

Haven't been out at night time though.

Tash

[Suzy Harrison]

I think Suzy has 'em pretty well trained over there! :D


Ha! - well thanks for saying that but it's not quite true.

What is true is that most Aussies are very laid back and very accepting. As many others have said on this site - Australia may only have a population of 20 million - but the country is nearly as big as the US - so things can vary a little.

I think most places are TG/TS/Gay friendly - apart from a few desolete places in the bush where the old views die hard.

To give you an idea of the acceptance - I live in Perth (Western Australia) which wouldn't not be considered as TG active as Sydney or Melbourne. However I came out to all at work, all of my customers and all of my friends 3 months ago - I guess there must be a few hundred who know by now. I have not had a single bad comment or lost any friends since that day - not one. You'll be fine here.

:hugs: Suzy

[NatashaCD]

It is a great place like others have said sydney and melbourne are to 2 major cities of the ts community probably followed by brissy and adelaide I know a few here in adelaide and they have had no real dramas either

[battybattybats]

Just so people don't get the idea the country is a perfect TG paradise this is worth mentioning http://www.thedaily.com.au/news/2008/dec/11/transexual-woman-ran-out-town-caloundra/

[Erica K.]

looks like i will be living in brisbane at first, but plan to travel around. Lugging around all those shoes is going to be the tricky part :) Melbourne sound pretty fun, sounds like I might end up there once or twice. I hope to see some of you girls when I get there, as long as you don't mind hanging out witha cali girl. It's going to take a few months to settle all things here, then I'm off! Thank you so much for the advice, gave a lot to think about.

and thanks for the warning, batty. I've had some not so good experiences before, that's why I have pepper spray.

[The Gas Man Cometh]

Well, I live in Sydney and I can walk down the street anytime, wearing anything, with anyone and be totally safe xD [safe from discrimmination, not so much rapists D= ]

Sydney's the LGBT capital of Australia, or at least NSW, as far as I'm concerned.

America pretends to be a free country, and boasts that freedom at every corner. Australia really IS a free country, and doesn't even have to boast it as much. Sure we have our own troubles and injustice here, but Sydney rocks.

I'm sure Brisbane would be just as cool, especially around where all the Goths hang out. ^_^ [King George's Square - only been to Bris once]

Sydney also has a lot of Fetish events in night clubs. CDing in those places is normal. <3 [Normal as in, no vanillas xD]

Hope my input helps. Oh yeah, if you're ever in Sydney Erica, CALL ME xD



Just so people don't get the idea the country is a perfect TG paradise this is worth mentioning http://www.thedaily.com.au/news/2008/dec/11/transexual-woman-ran-out-town-caloundra/


LOL, Sydney feels that way for me. Hehehe you're too damn cute.. sorry but the way you worded your post is just adorable xD

[Angel.Marie76]

Not that I've been to the country, but I'll tell you the experiences my GF has had with trying to get work down there.. She's a professional cook, and has had work visas for other countries before - however applying for a work visa for Australia has been nothing but frustration.

From her perspectives, you can easier get a holiday visa than you can a work one, and the reasons they gave her for the denials weren't that varied either: Mostly that 'Her experience did not make her unique enough to warrant employment there'. Now, please understand I'll make my own interpretation on this and also have hers, but from what we both got out of it was that basically they didn't want her working down there, even if she could have lined up a position in advance - which she had begun the preliminaries of.

*shrug* Best of luck of course getting all the ducks in a row for yourself. I note that you mentioned pepper spray - and Batty and other probably know the laws pretty well, what's the permit requirements and such for self-protection down there?

[Erica K.]

Sydney also has a lot of Fetish events in night clubs. CDing in those places is normal. <3 [Normal as in, no vanillas xD]

Hope my input helps. Oh yeah, if you're ever in Sydney Erica, CALL ME xD




[/B]

It did, thank you. And I most definitely will =0

so they might give me a little bit of trouble with the visa, hmm. I'll get on that soon then. thanks for the heads up!