One luxury to being an expat here in Australia is the ability to claim LAFHA every month. LAFHA is a government funded allowance for people living away from home. Basically, it helps subsidize your food and rent expenses thereby giving you more money in your paycheck. Since Adam works for a very large global consulting firm, he was unable to get this allowance (we were super bummed). However, once I got my new job for a much smaller company, I was able to obtain it with such ease. Within one paycheck cycle I noticed an increase in my salary which was not from my company.
It has been great benefiting from this for the last 11 months but to my sadness it has come to pass that as of July 2012, this allowance will no longer be given to expats living in Australia without PR (permanent residency). Many people on the same 457 Visa as myself claim they are eligible based on the fact that we normally reside overseas but are living in Australia for work. Just in the past year the amount of active 457 Visas in Australia doubled to 9,000. That means there are going to be 9,000 people just as unhappy as me.
Showing posts with label LAFHA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LAFHA. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Monday, April 4, 2011
Being the foreigner
I just finished week one at my new job here in Australia ( I work here ) and other than having no time to workout the week was pretty cool. I met new people and best of all am now back to having income!
In the past I have been pretty quick to adapt to new environments, but I can already tell this is going to take a little more time. I am the only American among many Aussies; they all speak fast and use LOTS of slang. I now know what an ocker and a blower are and also learned that cursing in the workplace is totally acceptable.
I have to be honest, though: it's pretty great being the foreigner! I can get away with so much. I just say "Oh, but I am from America" or "Thats not what we do in America." Plus, they love my accent! One co-worker asked me to setup her work voicemail and another co-worker asked me to call one of our difficult-to-handle accounts because they thought my accent sounds nice and I would have a better chance at winning her over.
I moved here from Manhattan thinking no one could possibly work longer hours than New Yorkers. Man, was I wrong! I start work at 830am here and leave the same time as I did in New York. Plus, public transportation sucks here so after taking 2 buses to get home I have pretty much killed an hour.
Goodbye Lady of Leisure, hello working woman!
In the past I have been pretty quick to adapt to new environments, but I can already tell this is going to take a little more time. I am the only American among many Aussies; they all speak fast and use LOTS of slang. I now know what an ocker and a blower are and also learned that cursing in the workplace is totally acceptable.
I have to be honest, though: it's pretty great being the foreigner! I can get away with so much. I just say "Oh, but I am from America" or "Thats not what we do in America." Plus, they love my accent! One co-worker asked me to setup her work voicemail and another co-worker asked me to call one of our difficult-to-handle accounts because they thought my accent sounds nice and I would have a better chance at winning her over.
I moved here from Manhattan thinking no one could possibly work longer hours than New Yorkers. Man, was I wrong! I start work at 830am here and leave the same time as I did in New York. Plus, public transportation sucks here so after taking 2 buses to get home I have pretty much killed an hour.
Goodbye Lady of Leisure, hello working woman!
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