As a mostly able-bodied person in their early 20s, dental care has to be one of the only things that I regularly go to a medical professional for, aside from vaccination. I'm lucky that I have a job where I can afford to pay for Extras, let alone private health insurance, but even then I'm now paying almost three times as much from my gross income on health compared to Medicare alone. It's a disgusting joke that hits me financially like a brick, and I can only imagine it's hitting those who don't earn as much far more than I could ever imagine.
The video game industry is still in its infancy in Australia, but we have had some breakthroughs like Hollow Knight. I would recommend Melbourne, as it's the biggest city and has the majority of video game companies and workers in the country. That being said it's also one of the most expensive capitals to live in, so expect 30-40% of your paycheck to go straight to rent and bills. Melbourne isn't exactly known for being warm, but it will definitely be warmer than Canada. If you want more sun but still want to work in video games, Sydney and Brisbane are warmer.
As for healthcare, as you won't be a permanent resident or citizen you will have to pay for health insurance, which isn't cheap - I pay $122/month, and although I'm a citizen and am covered under Medicare, I need private insurance for dental and mental.
To see a mental health specialist you will need a GP referral. Or, if you're just looking for some medication to manage your conditions such as SSRI's, GP's can prescribe these to you, and SSRI's are about $2 per tablet - most medications have their prices controlled in Aus, so I imagine the bulk of your medical costs will come from the consultations with mental health specialists rather than paying for the actual medicine. Talking to a psychiatrist generally runs anywhere from $200 - $300, and even Medicare only covers about $100 of that, so it's a lot out of pocket.
In terms of disability, we do have the NDIS and the Disability Support Pension, however this is generally for people with physical disability, or cognitive/mental disability that severely impact autonomy. As a non-PR or citizen I also don't think you would be able to qualify for these. Unfortunately, while Medicare is well-praised across the world, disability and mental health are two key fields where we are sorely lacking.
Generally speaking I go to a yumcha or seafood restaurant with my family or my partners family. There will often be dancing dragons from the local karate club or temples that accept donations, and we will also gift mooncakes to our family members. While chinese is one of the more common traditions there is a bit of a hodge podge of east asian cultures that celebrate mid autumn festival in australia and as such it tends to generally be pan-asian.
Might seem irrelevant, but the abolition of group voting tickets under the Turnbull Government makes preference deals a lot harder, and hence encourages voters to think about who they preference on the Senate ballot. It's group voting tickets that caused dumb stuff like in 2013 where Family First got a senator with only a max of 4% of the primary vote in a state. Now the regional senators, in order to win a seat, need a much more substantial primary vote in order to be elected i.e. David Pocock's 21% (for a 33% quota) or Jacqui Lambie's 9% (for a 14% quota).
But yeah. That's the best I've got.
I think trying to tie Aboriginality to racial purity isn't really a good idea. Indigenous leaders express disdain at the notion of being Aboriginal as equivalent to having dark skin, because the Australian government historically attempted to eliminate Aboriginal people by forcing them to have children with European settlers in what we now call the Stolen Generations. As such, Aboriginality has to do more with whether you are culturally connected to Aboriginal society such as partaking in customs, speaking the language, following kinship routines etc., rather than the colour of your skin.
Not to mention we don't really tie racial purity to culture in most places in developed countries, at least. For example, being "English" has very little to do with Anglo-Saxon heritage anymore and instead your understanding of English culture; an Englishman could be of Indian or Pakistani heritage and be just as English as any Anglo person. Likewise, I've had many friends who had orange hair, green eyes, and freckles, and are also Aboriginal.
The line is legally drawn at connection to Aboriginal culture. Ultimately, this is where I personally draw the line too. The Proof of Aboriginality, often used to determine eligibility for Aboriginal-only welfare or programs, requires you to have the following:
Government agencies and community organisations usually accept three ‘working criteria’ as confirmation of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage. These are:
- being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent- identifying as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person- being accepted as such by the community in which you live, or formerly lived.All of these things must apply. The way you look or how you live are not requirements.
As such, Aboriginality doesn't have to do with your skin or how you live, but it's about acceptance and participation in an Aboriginal community. Note that this isn't actually that easy for a lot of people, as many Aboriginal people in the city often have ancestral lands across the country to which they have lost their cultural connection to as their ancestors were displaced or migrated due to European intervention. But in order to actually access financial benefit, you often do need Proof of Aboriginality.
I understand that you may not separate race and culture, and that's somewhat understandable considering ethno-nationalism is an ideology that used to be the norm only a century ago, but that is the truth of things and how Aboriginal people identify themselves. When the government intentionally tries to erase Aboriginal people by "breeding" them out, they ultimately failed, because black skin isn't integral to Aboriginal identity.
In other words, where do I draw the line? was already answered by what I previously mentioned about English people - it doesn't matter about your ancestry, it's about your cultural connection. English-Pakistani folk who were born and raised in England might not be Anglo racially, but they are culturally more English than culturally Pakistani; In the same way that you might be ethnically Celtic, but having been born grown up in Australia it would likely be more relevant to call yourself Australian than to call yourself Scottish or Irish.
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This affects less than 1% of people folks. We've been paying for mothers to birth their children for decades and extra leave for them to raise their newborn. The amount of money ANZ loses for paying for trans folk to undergo surgery is miniscule in exchange for the massive social boon they get for respecting their staff, at least in this way.
MeepTMW
u/MeepTMW · 9yKarma
Cake day
Trophy Case (4)
Nine-Year Club
Place '22
