When I was a little girl, the dream of visiting the Land Down Under occupied my mind. I dreamed of long stretches of white beach, of bush land as far as the eye could see, of deserts that rivaled the Sahara. I thought about the friendly faces of blond haired, blue eyed Australians smiling as they greeted me with the traditional “G’day.” When I finally visited Australia, during my senior year of college, I found myself entering the land of my dreams. Blond haired, blue eyed Australians did greet me, as I wandered across their beaches, through their bush land and in their desert. But another side of Australia greeted me as well one that I had never thought about and was not expecting. This was the side of the Aborigines, the indigenous people of Australia.  When I first arrived in July of 1998, I faced the reality that natives of Australia and the settlers were not living in harmony. I learned of “The Stolen Generation” of aboriginal children who were taken from their families (as late as the 1970’s) to be raised in white homes. I saw a country struggling to move forward, to make right the wrongs of the past, and I saw the Aborigines struggling to keep up with the modernization of their land, while retaining some part of their ancient culture. While I was there, the most debated issue was that of land rights. The Aborigines claimed that parts of Australia had been taken from them, that certain landmarks and places were sacred ground in their religion and that a hundred years before it had been stolen by the Australian government.- Awake From The Dreamtime - Facing The Realities Of Modern-Day Australia by Sharon Miller

Map Of Australia State Maps Of Australia

Real Estate In Australia Australia Properties On EscapeArtist.com Real Estate Marketplace - Real Estate In Australia - Current Listings - The property buying process in Australia is relatively straightforward and foreign investors are permitted to own real estate in Australia as long as the land or property for sale has been approved for sale to overseas buyers by the Foreign Investment Review Board. - Advertise Your Property - Also see Real Estate in the Pacific Islands - Real Estate By Type - Islands, B&B's, Plantations - Vineyards For Sale Worldwide - International Real Estate Index

Articles on Living & Investing in Australia

How to Start a New Life in Australia -  I am from England and my husband is from France. We both had good steady jobs in Switzerland, commitments and I was pregnant with our first child. We had a lot of reasons to stay where we were. What we longed for however, was a home we could afford on one salary, an interesting international job experience, safety to walk in a park, space away from crowds, less commuting and the rarity of a bit more quality time together. According to the Australian immigration department, people go primarily to Melbourne or Sydney for work or family reasons, with Brisbane listed as the third most popular settlement destination. Brisbane however, is a growing city with a vibe. Growing in self generated opportunities in addition to a large over flow of work from the two other major cities there are plenty of opportunities. There are a lot of attractions and inexpensive things to do in Brisbane. BBQ and picnic areas litter the national parks, beaches and numerous green open spaces. There are city festivals virtually every month to celebrate anything from the river life to a new show opening. Australians love an opportunity to get together, have a beer and get to know new people.

Privacy Is A Psychological Necessity - We live in a world where privacy and individuality are under attack. The right to privacy is more than an abstract necessity, it is also a psychological necessity. If we do not have the right to privacy, we do not own the rights to our own lives. Individuality entails making value judgments independent of political, religious or social dogmas.  In making value judgments we make choices.  In today's world, if the choices we make differ from the status quo then we come under pressure to 'toe the line'. There is no line to toe. We live in an intellectual vacuum, where short of the logical choices we make in our own behalf, there are no other values. Our Magazine & Websites stress privacy and living our life by our own standards,  protecting what is ours from those who have not earned it. Defeating the New Internet Privacy Threat  -  thoughts not approved by the Prowlers That Be and that something is to be done about it. It’s no wonder they are concerned: Thoughts can quickly turn into beliefs, and when you put enough sound ones together, consider them for a while and let it all sink in – you end up with something dangerous that is inevitably going to spread.

Brisbane’s Building Madness In The North Of Australia - Being Australia’s booming city means building madness for Brisbane. Land releases, whole new villages planned and built, original size blocks of land halved and existing properties increasing in value. Buying property is still possible here and the good news is that for the first time in 9 years, Australia has recorded it’s lowest annual increase in property prices. Land prices have even decreased in some places to 50% of the price they were two years ago. Yes, real estate agents are finally taking their holidays for the first time in months. There’s sufficient calm to take stock of what is available and at what cost. Given that Australia is a relatively sparsely populated country there is a great possibility to self-build, buy a brand new home & land package or buy an existing home and renovate or do minor alternations. An adventure of several months researching suburbs, home ownership options and market prices finally resulted in us setting up camp for what we hope will be several years.

Creatures And Comforts On Kangaroo Island ~ 4-WD Tracking of Koalas, Kangaroos, and Cockatoos -  Kangaroo Island - The dark, deserted building showed no resemblance to an airport. Noticing our hesitation, the cab driver reassured us that this was the Adelaide General Aviation Terminal, the departure venue for Emu Airways’ 84 weekly flights to Kangaroo Island. Much of our eager anticipation for this sojourn centered on a magical,ecological adventure to Australia’s third largest island 30 minutes by air and 120 km. from the mainland. Being the dutiful U.S. travelers that we are, we arrived at the terminal the customary 2 hours prior to departure time. That turned out to be 1 ½ hours too early. Slower paced, “no worries” attitude prevails in South Australia.

Adventures in Australia's Outback - As much as I love setting out on my own to explore an area with nothing more than my guidebook to direct me, there are certain situations and locations that justify, or even necessitate a guided tour.  Australia’s Red Center is one of those places. Not only is the area inhospitable, but there are huge distances between places of interest to travellers.And so I find myself jumping on an Adventure Tours bus leaving Alice Springs very early one November morning.  Today we are travelling deep into the desert to see some of Australia’s most stunning landscapes. Kings Canyon  Although the tour has a maximum of 25 people, I’ve lucked out and have an even smaller group of only ten. This means that everyone gets a seat to themselves, and on the almost five hour drive to our first stop, Kings Canyon, everyone catches up on their sleep. We arrive just in time for lunch, and after refuelling our bodies, and the bus, we begin our first adventure.

Australia Property Buying Process and Investment Facts - The property buying process in Australia is relatively straightforward and foreign investors are permitted to own real estate in Australia as long as the land or property for sale has been approved for sale to overseas buyers by the Foreign Investment Review Board. Income and capital gains derived from property owned in Australia has to be reported to the Australian taxation authorities but there are certain incentives in place for overseas property investors to reduce or negate their taxation liability. In general the first stage of the property buying process in Australia is to source suitable real estate or land for sale that suits the particular requirements of the investor. It is essential to ensure that any particular property the investor is interested in has Foreign Investment Review Board approval as previously stated, and then it is possible to make a move on that real estate either by making a formal offer to purchase or attending an auction and bidding.

Australia’s East Coast Islands ~ Island Hopping ~ by Dawnelle Salant - One place worth stopping in for at least a few days is the town of 1770. The only town to have a name consisting solely of numbers, 1770 was named after the year Captain James Cook stopped there. Our main reason for visiting here is to participate in one of the day trips going to Lady Musgrave Island. From 1770, the boat takes about two hours to get out to the Great Barrier Reef. Once there, it ties up to a pontoon that holds snorkeling equipment, an underwater viewing tunnel and a glass bottom boat. You can go for a walk on the island itself, but scuba divers have to sacrifice this opportunity in order to descend into the depths of the coral rich blue-green waters of the lagoon. Lady Musgrave was the site of my first dives on the Great Barrier Reef, and possibly some of the best diving I have ever experienced. The clarity of the water and the superior visibility, which stretched to well over 30 meters, made for some of the best conditions I have ever experienced underwater.

Ex-Pats Living And Thriving Down Under ~ In Australia - This article was inspired by a recent headline and paragraph buried inside Australia’s leading daily newspaper. “Yanks Visa Abusers.” According to the immigration trends report, Americans make up most of Australia’s illegal immigrants. Thousands have overstayed their visas. (Why leave paradise and the great lifestyle when King W is back in power?) Thousands more are legally living and thriving downunder, in every state from tiny Tasmania to super-sized Sydney ? beyond. Before, during and since the recent election in USA, my inbox has been hit repeadtedly by friends and strangers alike who want the advice of someone gone before. “Yes, I’d do it again. Yes, it’s worth the paperwork. Yes, you too can live and work and retire in Australia. Come on down to the land down under.” Australia and New Zealand are very appealing to Americans because of the similarities in lifestyle, language and currency - and for a lot more reasons, politics aside.

Expatriates Build Wealth in Australia -  The Aussie dollar is at an all time low against the American dollar and the strong Pound Sterling, consequently there is strong purchasing power for Expats and UK residents in Australia. Australia welcomes foreign investment in real estate.  Overseas investors can therefore obtain the benefit of freehold title.  To take advantage of this, major developers such as Central Equity apply to the Federal Government Foreign Investment Review Board to gain permission to sell their residential apartments to foreign investors prior to releasing their development to the public. There are only two major markets in Australia, Melbourne and Sydney because of their population, industry and commerce.  In the case of NSW and particularly Sydney, residential investment has been strong with purchasers paying significantly higher figures for residential investments than for equivalent style and location in Melbourne.

Falling In Love With Australia ~ Staying On In Australia - I fell in love with Australia when I was about 10. It might have been the koalas, kangaroos or pictures of the Opera House. I am not quite sure, but I always had a healthy obsession with the land down under and a strong desire to travel there. I found myself finished with college and graduate school and working in America as a Speech Pathologist. The school schedule left me plenty of time to travel so I finally bought a ticket to Sydney. The first time you see Sydney Harbour, it is as amazing and breathtaking as you would think. The views of the Opera House, the cool breeze and the people buzzing around snapping photos feel like an adrenal rush. There are ferries, boats and water taxis in Circular Quay. The sidewalks are full of street performers and people relaxing in the grass soaking up the sun and people watching. I was traveling with my sister and we did all the tourist sites: climbing the Harbour Bridge, Bondi Beach, Saturday markets, touring the Opera House and walking the grounds at the Royal Botanic Gardens. We also did our fair share of feeding native animals such as wallabies and kangaroos!

Fleeing Tropical Darwin For The Capricorn Coast ~ Or, How We Escaped The “Build-Up” In Australia’s Sunshine State -  Tropical Darwin has two seasons, “dry” and “wet,” and in between three to four months of what is unfondly known as “the build-up.” From September, imagine 90% humidity at 6 a.m. (and that’s the lowest it gets) with no rain relief until the monsoons hit in December/January. It’s like walking around with a 10-ton block of concrete on your shoulders, and even breathing is an effort.  With good reason, this is known as the suicide season. I said to Heather, my wife, “If I have to endure one more build-up, I’m liable to kill somebody—probably myself!” Through International Living, we started researching alternative location and lifestyle options. We looked at Europe and Central and South America, and it quickly became apparent that these were not really viable options for us. Housing and living costs in these places are no cheaper (and in some cases much more expensive) than what we enjoy in Australia. Add to that the sheer distance we would have to travel, the necessity to learn another language, giving up our careers, and starting from scratch…and it all seemed too daunting a prospect.

Immigrating To Australia - The First Twelve Months - There are obvious times in one’s life to immigrate to Australia. Being pregnant, with no organized prearranged job, family or friends in Queensland are not many peoples idea of good, well-planned timing. The Migration Process - To explain our madness I can say that we didn’t plan our move to be this way. Both my husband and I had steady professional jobs in Switzerland, friends, social activities and had a secure structured life. What we fancied however was a lifestyle that offered us a possibility to enjoy more family time and own a home. Whilst still based in Switzerland we tried to get sponsored by a company to move. The Information Technology companies (my husband’s profession), in our experience weren’t very forthcoming. Family sponsorship also wasn’t an option and so we chose to do what’s known as “Skilled Migration”. This works by submitting an application to immigrate, based on education, English language ability, work experience, health, marital status and finance. At this point in time, work skills such as IT Professionals, midwives, teachers, and pastry chefs were of interest to the immigration department.

LEARN SOMETHING - In addition to standard EscapeArtist videos we have a large section of documentary videos. Good ones! There's something for every taste; history, philosophy, psychology, nature, and more.  Watch free, learn something. Over 100 Documentary Videos - Free

EscapeArtist Expat Taxes Newsletter - Individuals have been leaving their own land to seek opportunities elsewhere since the dawn of mankind  -  But it has only been since the development of the modern nation-state, and its taxation of the worldwide income of its citizen-residents, that expatriation has taken on significant tax consequences. One of the first tax advisors to appreciate the potential tax savings of expatriation was my friend and colleague, Marshall Langer J.D., a valued member of The Sovereign Society Council of Experts. Langer is an international tax attorney and the respected author of several major international tax treatises. He is also the daring creator of a now out-of-print book, The Tax Exile Report. This title gained international notoriety when the late U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.), red-faced and angry, waived a copy of the book at a televised Senate hearing, denouncing it as “a legal income tax avoidance plan.” - Escapeartist has hatched a new partnership with Global Wealth Protection that will set the standard for authoritative information on Asset Protection, International Banking and Wealth Management and with a number of accountants, lawyers and bookkeepers that know the laws regarding expat taxes, how to do your income tax, which form to use, and which services understand the complexity of expat concerns. Simply put, the EscapeArtist Expat Taxes Newsletter portal will provide a wealth of information that will show you ways to save on taxes . . .  and then some.