It has been a dream of mine to move to Australia ever since I can remember. After a lot of planning and organizing and a lot of Goodbyes, finally my dream has come to life.

I have now been working and living in Sydney for 5 months and it has honestly felt like an extended holiday. Every day is a new adventure here. Being able to live by the beach, watch the sunsets and sunrises, do yoga in the sand and enjoy sea swims whenever I can is surreal.

Every weekend there is a new event being held and something new to do or see. I have made so many new friends since arriving in Sydney and feel so grateful that I get to experience life in Australia.

When I finally decided that it was the right time for me to move to Australia I reached out to Health care abroad to get some information about how to apply for jobs and what documents I would need to submit to be able to work “down under”. They were so helpful and this gave me a lot of reassurance about the move.

I knew I wanted to work as a Speech Therapist in Australia so I started getting things in motion in January 2023; applying to the Australian Speech Pathology Governing Body to get my degree and Speech therapy skills assessed, applying for a working holiday visa and submitting all the relevant documents.

Once all of the documents were accepted, I had a discussion with Jon from Health Care Abroad to discuss what kind of roles I was interested in and what locations were going to be suitable for me. He was able to put me in touch with a variety of employers who had SLT positions available.

After some interviews I was offered a job in the Eastern Suburbs and I am so happy I accepted it. It was a big transition for me to move to private practice as I had only ever worked in the public system, however after a number of weeks in the new work environment, I started to feel more settled. I work in a clinic now and engage with a range of children who present with a variety of differences. It is really fulfilling work.

I think my 3 pieces of advice for a SLT thinking of moving to Australia are;

1) Ride the wave- it’s a bit of an emotional rollercoaster when you first arrive in Australia and you are basically starting a whole new life here. Go easy on yourself and things eventually all fall into place.

2) Be organized and prepared. Get in touch with Health Care Abroad, they are really knowledgeable about the options available and have been extremely helpful throughout the whole job recruitment process. Decide what city you want to move to, talk to people, get you visa and documents prepared and book the flights!

3) Enjoy every minute!