Australia no longer offers a retirement visa to new applicants (the 405 and 410 subclasses are closed). The main routes now are parent visas for those with a child settled in Australia, which lead to residency but carry long waits and high fees.
A few things to line up early:
Visa rules change often — treat this as a starting point and confirm the latest official requirements before you plan.
Remember: buying a home and gaining the right to live there are usually separate steps. See how ownership works in Australia, and what it costs to live there in our cost-of-retiring guide.
As an Australian tax resident you're taxed on worldwide income, so a UK pension is generally taxable in Australia at progressive rates (nothing up to A$18,200, then 16-45%), with the UK-Australia treaty preventing double taxation. Those of Age Pension age may qualify for the Seniors and Pensioners Tax Offset, which can reduce or remove the bill on modest incomes.
Medicare covers citizens and permanent residents, and the UK's reciprocal agreement gives British visitors medically necessary care, but most retirees on parent or temporary visas aren't fully covered and are required to hold private health insurance. Care is excellent, so budget for private cover as an older arrival. Very safe and English-speaking, with a familiar, outdoorsy culture and driving on the left — about as easy a cultural fit as a British retiree will find, high costs aside.
Queensland's Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast for warm, beachy living hugely popular with retirees; sunny, relaxed Perth; and coastal New South Wales towns like Port Macquarie — though many Britons simply settle wherever their adult children already are.
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