Practicing law in regional Australia: Don Olney

I wrote my first post on this blog about regional legal practice, Practising Law in Regional Australia, back in October 2006.

One point that I have made that I need to return to is that the returns from professional practice in regional Australia all depend upon your needs. I was reminded of this by the obituary in the Sydney Morning Herald of Dubbo solicitor Don Olney. I quote from the first few paragraphs of Malcolm Brown's story.   

Don Olney, born at the end of World War II, was a brilliant student at Normanhurst Boys High School, where he studied under the benign dictatorship of legendary headmaster Tom Pearson and had energy to burn.

He was admitted as a solicitor of the NSW Supreme Court in 1969 and there was no stopping him. He had already met the love of his life, secretary Rhonda Howells, during his daily train trips from Hornsby to the city and had married her in 1967 while still a student.

Completing his articles with the legal firm Baldich, McPherson and Walsh, he found himself a fully fledged lawyer, virile, with a beautiful wife and the world at his feet. But where was he to go?

He went bush, a reverse of the trend of young professionals who prefer the comfort and convenience of the metropolis. During his long and successful career in Dubbo, in central western NSW, he showed just what a young professional could do in a regional area.

I leave you to read the rest. It's just that the story illustrates my point.

Related post: Sydney barrister tree-changes to Glen Innes

Sydney barrister tree-changes to Glen Innes

I see from the Armidale Express that senior Sydney silk Chris Leahy has decided to tree change to Glen Innes.

For those who don't know Glen Innes, it is a historic town on the New England Tablelands with a population of about 6,000.

Chris had worked as a barrister for more than thirty years, ten as a senior counsel, and then he and wife Margaret decided that it was time for a change.

The change means that Chis will be working as a solicitor rather than barrister, but it gives them a chance to find a new life style without Sydney pressures. I quote from Peter Barrett's story:

Mr Leahy ... has ‘absolutely no plans for retirement’.

Indeed, he is looking forward to the challenging but interesting wider range of work in a country practice than he has been used to as a barrister.

The couple will eventually buy a property in Glen Innes but are currently leasing - a lovely old home 3km out of town on about 10 acres’.

While only in the town for two weeks, the Leahys are enthusiastic about what they have seen and are happy with the move.

“It’s the little things we have found pleasing,” Mr Leahy said.

“People are incredibly welcoming, and things like driving to work - no traffic, no traffic lights, it takes just minutes to get a park.

“And we have the impression that the important facilities are well covered, we’re pretty well looked after.”

I have commented before on this blog about the way in which Regional Australia offers professionals of all types new opportunities.  

Opportunities for the professions in Regional Australia - Introduction

Back in October 2006, I put up Practising Law in Regional Australia dealing with the opportunities open to those who wanted to practice law in Regional Australia. At the time, there were opportunities because so many new lawyers were opting to stay in the metro areas.

Two years later the position is just the same. Now the Law Society has put forward proposals to try to redress the situation by, for example, forgiving HECS debt. Legal Eagle alerted me to this in her post Bush lawyers. This includes a link through to the original newspaper story.

The reasons for the current shortage of lawyers in regional Australia as well as other professionals are quite complex, combining structural and cultural reasons. Discussions on the reasons, and I am no exception, generally focus on the nature of the problem. In doing so, we ignore a simple fact, the opportunities open to those who are prepared to move.

Given this, I thought that it was time that I revisited the opportunity side in a series of posts, setting out the reasons why the Regional Australia option is worth considering. I will add later posts to the end of this one as they are completed.

Tree change - how do I know that I will fit in?

One of the most common worries that people have when considering a shift from the metros is simply the question of whether or not they will fit in in their new environment. This is a very real issue.

Last week I was talking to someone who had made the shift then returned to the city after three years in a large regional centre. The move should have worked. His skills were much in demand. However, he was also single, gay and had lived in one part the city all his life. He returned because he missed home and also felt that he did not quite fit in in his new environment.

The question of fit is partly a matter of family or personal need and of personal interests. However, the degree of fit between you and the culture of the new community is also important.

Each area within Regional Australia has its own character and culture determined by its history and geography. This character and culture can vary quite dramatically between areas. Smaller communities also make for higher degrees of personal interaction and visibility- people simply know more about each other than is common in metro areas.

As a general rule of thumb, people who identify with and participate in their new community generally find that the community identifies with them. However, issues of fit can still arise.

The only way of identifying potential problems is to spend some time in the community as a visitor. Read the local newspaper first, most regional papers now have an on-line presence, to get a feel for the community. Then on your visit or visits take the time to check the community out.

Obviously you will want to check out facilities and amenities linked to your interests and needs. But also spend some time listening and dropping in. Just ask questions, get people talking. Listen to conversations in pubs and cafes. If after this you feel comfortable with the community, you can be pretty sure that they will feel comfortable with you.

Postscript

Pam kindly added this comment.

thought this was a good post Jim. We lived interstate for a time but moved back because we missed old friends, cycling mates, and suprisingly family, because it was one of the reasons we thought a bit of distance might be good. Proved otherwise which made us laugh. It is true that abscence makes the heart grow fonder. Also there is quite a bit of wariness on both sides, of people you don't know and don't know you, so establishing new friendships takes tentative time.Missing very old friendships was the deciding factor in moving back to familiar territory.

I think that Pam's comment captures some of the elements in the tree change process that I was talking about.

New Country NSW web site

I see that Peter Bailey and the team from Country Week have put up a new web site intended to help those wishing to relocate to Regional NSW.

On the surface, the site looks good and I wish them well.

Tree Change, Sea Change Stories

Brief post to note that there are some interesting case studies on the your sea change site.

Update 5 August 2010. Sadly, this site has changed its form and is now nothing but ads that have very little if anything to do with sea change! My thanks to Michelle for pointing this out. I have removed the link.

Going bush for city slickers - working out what you want

Okay, so you have decided that you would like to go bush, whether to live or just for weekends. So what's the first thing you need to do?

This may sound obvious, but you need to decide what you want and how much you are prepared to pay. By pay I mean not just cash, but time and effort.

Starting with what you want. Are you looking for a place to live, or just to visit on weekends?

If you are looking to live there, do you want to make a living from your block or is it to be a base with income coming from elsewhere?

If the first, then you need to start investigating just what is involved in primary production. If the second, then the starting point has to be investigation of job or other income earning possibilities.

If you are looking for a place to visit, a get away, then how much travel time will you allow, what travel costs can you afford, how often do you want to go there?

In all cases, why are you doing this? Write it down. Write down, too, a list of criteria that your new location must meet.

All this done, you are now ready to move to the next stage, investigating possibilities.

Introductory post. Next post.

Going bush for city slickers - introduction

The desire to own a piece of bush as a retreat is still deeply felt by many Australians, recurring to many as a dream in the midst of a crowded city life. Often, it remains just that, a dream. In other cases, the step turns out to be a mistake, bringing problems to both the city dweller and their new neighbours. In still other cases, the result is great satisfaction.

The main reason for failure is simply failure to properly identify in advance all the issues that need to be considered. Take a simple example, weed control. Many weekend farmers let the land run wild, failing to recognise that things such as noxious weeds have to be controlled. This failure then creates difficulties for those around them.

Given the continuing interest, I can see this from some of the searches on this blog, I thought that I might start a new series pointing to some of the issues that need to be considered.

While I have been around farms all my life, I am not a farmer. So I am not going to tell you how to farm. But I thought that I could usefully give you some general hints to consider, focused especially on those who are looking for an escape, a retreat, rather than a permanent, full time, move.

In doing so, I will follow the structure that seems to work. This post will be the entry post. Then, as I add posts, I will put next posts, previous post, back to introduction at the bottom of each post to make navigation easier.

Next post.

Getting the local gossip - ABC Regional Radio

Photo: Gordon Smith, Tree Change. Can you spot the houses in this photo? There are at least two.

For those interested in the tree or sea change option or who just want to find out about home, ABC local radio provides a another good entry point.

Go to The Backyard. There you will find an entry point to ABC local radio about the country. Not all the stations shown on the map have links. The western half of the country appears linkless. But if you click on the state it will then take you through.

As an example, if you click on WA and then on Kununurra it will take you through to ABC Radio Kimberly where you will find all sorts of interesting local information.

Channel 7's The Real Sea Change

I have been remiss in not mentioning Channel 7's the Real Sea Change program on this blog. I was reminded of this by a request from Jason, one of the producers, asking me if I could put him in touch with people planning to sea/tree change.

The program follows the real life experiences of those making the change.

Summaries of the first thirteen episodes can be found on the Real Sea change blog. The blog also includes an interesting message board where people can post their own experiences, comment on others.

Tree Change Conversations - Bellingen and Dorrigo

Photo: Gordon Smith, Dorrigo Show Main Pavilion

Two conversations this week that show that tree change is alive and well, and both about the same area.

At drinks to mark the start of the school year I was talking to parents whose daughter is in my youngest's class. Both girls have just entered year 12. Originally English, I had thought of them as sea and city people. I now find that they are planning to move to Bellingen on the NSW Mid North as soon as their girl finishes school.

Bellingen (and here, here and here) lies up the beautiful Bellinger River Valley about 16k (14 minutes) from the mouth of the river at Urunga. Over the last thirty year Bellingen, population around 2,500, has become a significant alternative life style centre.

A little later at school tennis I was talking to a Dad who had just come back from staying at Dorrigo. He, too, was keen to leave Sydney as soon as his daughter had finished school.

Dorrigo, population around 2,600, lies on the top of the escarpment, 29k (26 minutes) along the Waterfall Way from Bellingen. Dorrigo, one of the wettest places in NSW, lies at the edge of the Dorrigo Plateau, another very beautiful area.

Dorrigo, too, has become a lifestyle centre for those wanting peace and beauty but still with easy access to bigger centres. The major coastal centre of Coffs Harbour is only 65k (53 minutes) to the north east, the major educational centre of Armidale 129k (9o minutes) to the west.

The Birds of Bradley Street - Postscript

Back in October 2006 I carried a story - the Birds of Bradley Street - talking about the way in which a remarkable group of women including tree changers had brought about economic renaissance in the previously depressed New England town of Guyra.

I see from the Armidale Express (17 January) that Guyra's growth has continued, with Mayor Robyn Jackson reporting that council had approved $75 million in development applications over the previous two years. Council was determined to maintain this.

" We feel we're on a roll," Mayor Jackson said. "We feel we can take advantage of lots of industrial situations now. There's more industrial land being opened up in Guyra. We're feeling we're on a wave and want to go ahead with that."

One difficulty that smaller towns like Guyra face is that growth can run up against short term constraints, in particular limited housing stocks.

In Gurya's case, stock and station agents in Guyra have reported that property prices are rising dramatically as the district experiences a population boom. They say there is also a critical shortage of good rental accommodation, good units and homes on acres. This will ease in due course as higher returns attract new real estate investment.

Relocation Possibility - Maitland Rugby Club needs players

The Maitland (NSW) Rugby Club is seeking players willing to relocate to Maitland.

Now in its 130th year and with a strong record in the Newcastle and Hunter Rugby Union Competition, the Club faces a problem in its senior grade because of regular loss of key players to university commitments or relocation for career purposes.

According to Club President Paul Fletcher, the Club is searching for a five eight, an inside centre, full back and prop, although anybody interested in joining the Club is welcome to apply.

Mr Fletcher said that there were plenty of employment opportunities in the Lower Hunter so that so long as the players were qualified in something, the Club would be able to find them work.

The Club's offer includes a month's worth of accommodation to allow time to find permanent accommodation.

For more information contact Paul Fletcher 0438 133 501.

Source: The Land regional edition, 7 December 2006

Tree Change - Deciding where do you want to live

Waiting for the Judge. Another great photo by Gordon Smith because I like it.

This post continues to story of Katrina and Tom's search for an alternative life in Regional Australia. I have listed all the previous posts at the end of this post so that those who are interested can follow the story through.

Our focus in this post shifts to ways of analysing and ranking different localities, starting from the premise that you have followed previous advice and therefore have a pretty fair idea as to your needs.

Drawing up a Table

On good technique is to start with a table. Down the left hand side put your needs as you have defined them. Then along the top put the names of the areas that you are considering. This then allows you compare the varying advantages and disadvantages of different localities by inserting comments in each box.

Time and Distance

City people are used to thinking in terms of travel time rather than distance. For some reason when they look at the regional alternative, many switch to thinking in terms of distance. This is plain dumb.

Ten minutes in the city is the same as ten minutes in regional Australia. Ten kilometres or miles is not the same because it just takes so much longer to travel the distance in the city. So its very important to compare like with like.

In an earlier post, Sydney or the Bush - a few numbers, I attempted to compare a Sydney life style with an exactly equivalent regional one.

I followed this up with a post, Understanding the Regional Alternative -Comparing Like with Like, in which I looked at the normal patterns of metro life, suggesting that people thought of this in terms of a series of circles whose size was determined by travel time. My message was that you should apply the same approach in considering the regional alternative.

In Getting the Best out of Regional Living - Wagga Wagga case study, I took a major regional city and looked at just what was offered by the broader region around the city, comparing this with the things available to Sydney people, taking travel time into account.

Drawing from all this, I suggest that you draw three circles on the map around each locality under consideration:

• Circle one represents, say, 10-15 minutes driving time one way. This represents the normal city travel time for the day-to-day circle round home. Work travel time may be much longer. In regional areas most activities will be well within the circle. But there are advantages in adopting a broader approach.
• Circle two equates to around 60-80 minutes driving time one way. This is the maximum radius for things like city sporting activities, although most things - a special dinner for example - will be within a 30 minute radius.
• Circle three equates to 2-3 hours driving time. This is the maximum normal driving time that a city person will do for, say, a weekend away. Two hours driving is about the normal limit, 3 hours for something special.

You can then look at what is in each circle.

The advantage of this type of approach is that it provides a comparative structure for analysing total opportunities in any area.

Circle One: the 10-15 minute Circle

This is the day to day circle, so it is very important to understand just what lies within it. Here you need to look at:

Structure of the town: You need to get a feel for how the town fits together, the distances between things, the structure of life in the town. The local newspaper is usually a good source of information. Most now have an on-line presence, but to really get a feel you need a subscription. Beyond that, the only way to get a final feel is by visiting and then talking to people.

Housing: Most local real estate agents now have a web presence. Don't get caught by a heaven sale, buying at inflated prices. Take the time to really get to understand your options.

Education: Identify all the local schools in order to determine your options. Most schools have web sites that can give you some initial information. You can also get local feedback by talking to people. Beyond that, you have to visit. Depending upon your needs, you may want to check access to TAFE and University facilities. In smaller centres, you may need to consider studying externally or factor some travel in.

Health: Again, you need to check local health facilities. Where there is a local gap, you may need to check nearest availability and then look at travel times. These may or may not be greater than the metro equivalent.

Community, professional and recreational: Most professional bodies have specific support programs for regional areas and can provide advice here. Local professionals are usually happy to talk. Most councils maintain community directories that list local organisations. Most communities, too, have chambers of commerce that can act as a source of advice on business issues.

Supporting Infrastructure: In an earlier post, Getting the Best out of Regional Living - Using the On-line World, I looked at the impact of modern communications. This is an example of another thing you need to look at, supporting infrastructure. This includes:

• water and sewerage. Some regional areas, for example, have lots of water and no water restrictions at all, others suffer from periodic water shortages. If one of your reasons for considering a move is to have the type of home garden no longer possible in metro areas, then you need to take rainfall and water supply into account.
• communications. Availability of broadband may be important, as may access to air, bus or train travel. Air travel is generally more expensive in Regional Australia, so you will want to factor this in.
• business services. If you are looking to establish a business and require supporting services, you should check local availability. Some services may not exist in the immediate area.

Circle two: the 60 to 8o minute circle

This circle covers all those things that you might want to access on an irregular basis, including life style and recreational opportunities as well as special shopping, educational and business services.

The 60 to 80 minute circle can be especially important if you have chosen for life style reasons to live in a smaller community since this will, be definition, have fewer local services.

The clue here is simply to look at the map to identify possibilities for further investigation.

Circle three: the 2 to 3 hour circle

Although specific services in this broader circle may be important in particular cases, this should be thought of primarily as the play circle within which it is easy to get away. Again, use a map to identify possibilities.

Previous Posts in this Series

• In search of the regional alternative - the case of Katrina and Tom
• Tree change - defining your needs
• Tree Change & the loss of the familiar
• Tree Change & the job search process - the story of Tom & Katrina continues
• Tree Change - Contessa & removalists costs
• Tree Change & the job search process - accessing local sources of information

Tree Change & the Job Search Process - accessing local information

In my post Tom & Tree Change & the Job Search Process - the story of Katrina and Tom continues I outlined a number of general sources of information that Katrina and Tom might access to find out about job vacancies. They can then use this information to start investigating localities that might be of interest to them

An alternative route if you have already identified areas that might be of interest to you is to start with the local council. Increasingly councils and their economic development officers are playing a pro-active role in trying to attract people to their areas. This is best illustrated by example.

The city of Greater Taree in the beautiful Manning Valley on the Mid North Coast of NSW has a population of 43,000 and is home to a number of significant industrial establishments offering, among other things, the type of boilermaking work of interest to Tom. In this case, the Council web site has a specific relocation section including an on-line job matching service. Here you can enter details of your skills and Council will then match those with local employers needs.

Not all councils are as well organised as Taree. Sometimes you have to dig down a bit.

In the case of Dalby in Queensland for example, the council web site provides a range of general information about the town, but does not appear at first site to have any jobs information. However, if you keep clicking on links you will finally come to Your Guide to the Dalby Wambo Region which does have jobs information.

This split in information sources between councils and local guides, community or development sites is fairly common.

Rockhampton is another example. Here if you visit the council site, then click on tourist, migrant and business information and then on Rockhampton Tourist and Business Information (Information for Migrants) you will be taken through to the information site. This includes a relocation service.

The split in information sources can be a nuisance where proper links are not provided. However, you will usually pick up both through a web search on the town name.

Tamworth, NSW, provides another example of the need to dig down. Here you go to the council web site. Under business/industry there is an employment page. This provides some general information, but it is very general.

In this case, the council does not appear to offer direct relocation support. Your best bet is to go the regional directory on the council site which has a search facility that allows you not only to identify employment agencies but also firms in a variety of industry areas. This allows you to investigate directly.

Some councils sites, Duaringa Shire in Queensland is an example, may not provide any employment information. This shire contains a several mining centres. In this case, you will need to contact the council directly.

Tree Change - Contessa & Removalist's Costs

On an earlier post I talked about Contessa and the challenge she faced in thinking through a move to Sheffield in Tasmania.

In this post I am repeating one part of the comment exchange between us on the original post because I think that this exchange may be of broader interest.

Contessa wrote:

Jim, we have been searching everywhere for SOME idea of how much (approx) it is going to cost us to move...removalists costs...any clues as to how we can work out a guestimate?

I replied:

Crikey, Contessa, that's hard. I would do two things. First, get some quotes from Melbourne removalists to provide a costing base. Then ring Devenport removalists to get a counter cost. My experience has been that local removalists can have a back load problem. That is, more people going to Melbourne from Devenport that are coming from Devenport to Melbourne. This may give you a lower rate.As I said, I don't pretend to have expertise in this area.

Contessa responded:

Jim, the difference in removalist quotes is HUGE...we have one from a Tassie company and one from a Vic company and the Vic one is twice as much.We have signed the docs! BUT there has been a last minute hitch where the vendor raised GST at the signing! We said no, our lawyers said no and he said well if it has to be paid, I'm not paying it...AARRGGGHHH...there is no mention of it in his contract but we had it included as not chargeable in ours. So we are waiting for that to be cleared up and then it's ON! WOW!

I replied:

How very exiting Contessa. I am glad that the removalist hint was helpful. I am going to run the exchange here as a separate post because it might be helpful to others. Hope that the GST issue will be sorted out.Do post from time to time about your experiences. I know that this will be of interest to our still small if growing pool of readers. Who knows, I may be able to give the farm some plugs as well!

Tree Change & the Job Search Process - the story of Katrina and Tom continues

Photo: Park scene, Dalby, Queensland, one of Katrina and Tom's options.

This post continues the story of Katrina and Tom's search for a future in Regional Australia.

In my first post I reported that Katrina had sought advice on relocation possibilities in regional Queensland or possibly NSW. Because final choice depends upon family needs, my second post discussed Katrina and Tom's needs based on information supplied by Katrina.

At this point I diverted from Katrina and Tom's story to discuss the case of Contessa and a possible move to Tasmania. While a diversion, the theme (the need to think through needs) was the same.

Now that we understand Katrina and Tom's needs, the next step is to help them scope the marketplace for Tom's skills as a boilermaker. As they do this, we will then be able to start scoping the pluses and minuses of particular locations. Remember, it's not just a job for Tom that they want, but a life style no longer available in metro Australia.

Information Sources

Many skilled trades jobs in Regional Australia are no longer advertised simply because employers have found it so hard to get a response. I will talk about ways to access this marketplace later. For the moment, I want to focus on major information sources that Katrina can access via computer.

I start with Seek. This site used to be pretty awful outside metro areas, but is now getting much better regional coverage.

I started by doing a search on boilermaker/welder in NSW other. Eleven jobs had been listed over the last 30 days mainly located in Newcastle and the Hunter Valley. This is an area where the growth of the coal industry has had a major impact.

I then looked at Queensland, other. Here there were 26 boilermaker/welder positions listed again with a bias towards manufacturing and mining areas in Regional Queensland. So this simple search has generated over 35 possibilities listed in the previous 30 days.

I then looked at the Rural Press JobsGuide. This covers job ads in Rural Press newspapers. I did not find the search categories here as helpful as the Search categories (there is no provision to search on boilermaking), so ended up searching on trades & services, light industry, NSW. This threw up a few jobs, including an urgent need in Oberon, a town that exactly fits Katrina and Tom's specifications.

I then did a similar search on Queensland, but Rural Press is weak in Queensland, so there was nothing there at this point.

I then looked at APN, who have major newspaper holdings especially in Regional Queensland and the North Coast of NSW as well as parts of NSW. I had a little difficulty finding the APN equivalent of JobsGuide. Finally I found a site called Checkout that allows you to search APN classifieds on APN sites. I then clicked on jobs all locations. I got through the first time identifying a number of boilermaker positions, but then the site went down.

I then found a Queensland Government site providing information on over 12,000 job vacancies in regional Queensland. This site also carries you through to the Australian Jobs Search site, a national site listing over 100,000 job vacancies around Australia. From this, you can drill down by area and occupation.

Next Steps

This should give Katrina enough information to start scoping job possibilities. In the next post I will change focus to look at the approach to be adopted in selecting between localities.

Tree Change & the Loss of the Familiar

Another wonderful photo from Gordon Smith because I like it and because it seemed somehow to fit with this story.

One of my dreams for this blog is that it will develop to the point that reader questions and discussion become its core, allowing me to moderate discussion while feeding in new material from time about the wonders and diversity of Regional Australia. Given this, you will understand why I am so pleased to get comments and questions.

My last post Tree Change - defining your needs continued the story of Katrina and Tom and their search for a regional alternative. This story led Contessa to post a question that I thought we might discuss while I am doing the research to write the next post on Katrina and Tom.

I will quote Contessa's question in a moment and then provide some comments. Please feel free to post your own ideas as comments or questions.

Contessa's Question

My partner, Ian and I have talked about moving to Tassie for the past 10 yrs. I am a cold climate person and a passionate gardener and we both adore Tasmania, although the evil grip that Gunns seems to have makes me very angry and nervous for the future of this beautiful island.

We have the opportunity to buy our own slice of heaven, a certified organic property in Sheffield and I keep swinging back and forth with my feelings on moving. Every time I'm in Tassie I want to live there. Now we have the real chance to do it...I keep having emotional, unsettled, am-I-going-to-regret this thoughts. Will I miss our home of the past 12 years? What about leaving our 4 grown (early 20's) independent kids and family all here in Melbourne? Our entire lives have been spent here and we live in St Kilda.

I don't want you to tell me what to do...I just need some guidance on how to read and interpret my fluctuating emotions. It's not the physical stuff that concerns me, it's just KNOWING if this is the RIGHT thing. I JUST can't tell.I know this is a most unusual request...if you can think of anywhere else I could seek guidance, please let me know.

My Response

As Contessa says, only she and her partner can work this out. Our role is simply to help her clarify issues in her own mind.

I have not been to Sheffield for over forty years, so I thought that I should look it up on the web. Located 27k (27 minutes driving time) from the major centre of Devenport (population 26,000), Sheffield is a small community set in beautiful surrounds that has reinvented itself in recent years as a tourist centre. So Ian and the Contessa will be moving from the cosmopolitan urban life of St Kilda into a very attractive but much smaller community.

When you look at Contessa's concerns, the critical issue for her is to identify just what her real concerns are. Three issues arise:

1. To what degree are Contessa's concerns due to lack of information? She and Ian appear to have done a fair bit of research, so this may not be an issue.
2. To what degree are Contessa's concerns due to worries about risk, about burning bridges behind her? I think that the key here is for Contessa to write any such concerns down so that she can then then address them individually.
3. Linked to 2, to what degree are Contessa's concerns due, as she really suggests, to worries about loss of things that have been important to her, the area that has been familiar all her life, the house, loss of contact with the family?

Number three is by far the most difficult because it centres on the important emotional content of life. It is also a major cause of relocation failure in that people find that they miss elements of their past life more than they expected. So it's not surprising that feelings should fluctuate.

There are no easy answers here. However, again I think that it helps to break things up into bits then look at just what each bit means. For example, how easy will it be for the kids to visit? How easy will it be to return to Melbourne from time to time? In some cases, you may be able to build some of these elements into your plans.

The advantage of this type of chunking approach is that it helps identify where the core concerns are.

Tree Change - defining your needs

Photo: Gordon Smith, Detail of Orchid Flower. Photo included because I like it!

In my last post, In Search of the Regional Alternative - the case of Katrina and Tom, I reported on an email from Katrina: we are looking for a small town some where who needs the services of a boilermaker who loves a challenge , therein lies the trouble, finding one! "

The first step in the in the search process is to understand your own needs and that of your family. Relocation can be a big step, so you really do need to be clear on your needs before looking seriously at possibilities.

For that reason I emailed Katrina seeking more information. My questions and edited answers follow.

Family Connections

Access to family (parents, grandparents, siblings) can be important, especially for women with children. For that reason I asked "where is your family? Near you? Important to be near them?"

Katrina replied: "The only family we have is my brother and he spends more time overseas than home any way so as long as where ever we go has Internet access then he will be just as close to us as he is now. We do have a very special couple living in Briasbane who are more like family than any one else, but again they are big Internet uses as well and we have discussed this move with them and they think it would be right for us and would give them a place to holiday and an excuse to go! "

Katrina's reply shows that closeness to family is not an issue. However, the reply also draws out that the family are active internet users, so access to the internet is an issue to be considered. Many parts of Regional Australia have equal to if not better internet access than parts of metro Australia, but coverage does vary. So this is an issue that will need to be looked at in considering specific locations.

Children's Needs

No matter how happy parents may be, the move may fail if the needs of children are not taken into account. In this context, Katrina and Tom have four children aged fourteen down to nine weeks.

I therefore emailed Katrina "any special features re education?"

Katrina replied: Education, well my eldest is in grade 8 first year of high school while he isn't brilliant he is holding his own, he travels now to get to a decent school so that will be no big deal for him. The only other concern education wise is my second born who is in grade 6. He has trouble with his reading. He is making progress but slowly, so he would need extra help there. He is on the other hand gifted with maths and the arts. My daughter is well above average so is doing grade 3 and 4 work in her reading yet she is in grade 2 so as long as her teacher is willing to let her move forward at her pace. My youngest obviously has yet to start.

Tom and I love a challenge and our children are not really what you'd call city kids they love to be out doors and don't often play video type games. They email all their friends of course and we all have computers but they still love to run!

We haven't gone into this with our eyes closed we have talked things over with the kids so they are aware of what this would mean, they will miss there friends but will make new ones. They know it and so do I, they are all happy go lucky kids and we would rather they grow up some where where the nastier side of life isn't so in your face all the time, some where that we can feel safe to let them play in their own front yard or to go to the park and know that they will not be harassed or called names for being happy together.

We are a close family as we don't really have any one but each other to rely on so we can be happy any where as long as we have each other and a roof over our heads and plenty to keep dad busy!

Katrina's reply draws out a number of important issues. She and Tom have discussed the move with the kids and have involved them. This is very important since a move away from friends can create real worries in kid's minds.

Education may be an issue in final selection between towns and will need to be investigated. This has to be done on ground. The nature of the support available to the eldest to help with any learning diffculties will be important (country schools can be good in this area because of the personal support that can be provided in a smaller school), as will the capacity of the school to provide accelerated learning opportunities for Katrina and Tom's daughter.

Health services will also need to be investigated on ground. Medical services in a smaller town can be limited, with some services provided in the nearest major regional centre. The critical issue here is not distance but travel time.

Partner Needs

Partner considerations are important in any move because both sides have to be happy.

Katrina's responses focused the needs of Tom and her family, leading me to ask: "What do you want? Do you want to stay at home, to work part time, to work full time? What would you like to do?"

Katrina responded:

What do I want? Well I don't really want to work. I love being a mum and Tom works so I can stay home to raise our kids. Pre children I was working as a seamstress so I love all things making, still do it when I get time, sew that is, I love craft, I quilt, crochet and all things made by hand but my real passion is wood turning I have even sold some on line until getting pregnant and being unable to use the lathe for safety reasons .... I love to read and learn to make new things I am always on the look out for some thing new to try and create.

looking at this, Katrina can be happy pretty much anywhere so long as she and her family have the life style they need.

The life style issue is critical. The life Tom and Katrina want is really no longer obtainable in a metro area. Tom and Katrina need a biggish block with access to a shed and place for the children to play, to dig, to have pets. They need an area in which it is still posssible for the kids to hop on their bikes and vanish without their parents being worried.

In the next post I will discuss how Katrina and Tom might set about finding the job that Tom wants.

In Search of the Regional Alternative - the case of Katrina and Tom

On 19 October I invited people to submit questions about life in Regional Australia that I and my colleagues would try to find to answers for. Subsequently Katrina emailed me:

Hello I currently live in outer Brisbane with my husband and four children aged 13 years down to 9 weeks, we are looking to make a "country move" but there seems endless information that tells you not a lot I am afraid. You see my husband is a trade qualified boilermaker with transport and fabricating experience as well as some fitting and body work experience, and we are looking for a small town some where who needs the services of a boilermaker who loves a challenge , therein lies the trouble, finding one!

I was wondering if you new of any small towns in Queensland that are looking for the services of a boilermaker that can turn his hand to almost anything fabricating and isn't afraid of trying new things. If you don't would you be able to help us with where to start we don't have a specific place in mind but mountains come to mind and rivers! We love fishing and camping so we are planning an exploratory holiday in the Christmas holidays so any pointers as to where we may start would be greatly appreciated. I guess that isn't exactly a questions is it oh well we won't know if we don't ask.

I have read through your questions and answers section of the blog site but it seems to deal with NSW not that I have anything against it and from what I can gather we could move there with out worrying about work either but again I have no idea where to start. Thank you for your time. I look forward to your response.

I was very pleased to hear from Katrina since she and her husband are just the type of people Regional Australia needs. So we are going to try to help her. With her approval, we are going to feature the on-going story on this blog.