I Finally Left Australia After 5 Years
And I brought 5 bittersweet lessons with me.
I first came to Australia when I was 12, on a student exchange in Sydney.
It was also my first time outside of my home country, Indonesia. I still remember how I felt then, eyes sparkling and mouth agape, like a country kid on his first visit to a big city.
Everything I saw, heard, and felt piqued my interest: European-esque architecture that felt like they shouldn’t be there, animals with pockets on their bellies, and people with different hair and skin colors than mine. Oh, and that weird language they spoke, the one I’m writing in right now.
Back then, a tiny dream welled up in my head. I want to return to this beautiful land when I grow up. And not just for a vacation—I want to live here. I don’t know how, but I’m gonna do it, I thought.
Lo and behold, my dream came true 11 years later.
In 2020, I paid Australia another visit, this time to Melbourne. I was 23 and about to start my Master’s studies. Of course, COVID lockdowns happened that year—that’s a tale on its own, and I’m not gonna go into it here—but even with the pandemic, I had the time of my life. I met many good friends, recorded memories both happy and sad, and got a shiny new degree.
Most international students would’ve gone straight home after graduation, given how hard it is to find a good job in Australia as a migrant. Most would be lucky to score even a minimum-wage, blue-collar job.
And yet, somehow I scored my dream job right out of the gate. It was a Project & Communications role at an art-tech organization.
My work combined two immensely exciting fields: the vibrancy of the creative industries and the inventiveness of STEM. Imagine that. It doesn’t even sound real, right? But it exists, and I was in it.
But I suppose all things have to come to an end. Right before Christmas 2024, my work contract ended. I still had a few months on my visa, but the timeframe was too tight to find a new job (in this economy!?), so I decided the wiser choice was to return to Indonesia, at least for the time being.
I have lived my dream in Australia for five years (two years of university and three years of full-time work), and it’s time to find a new dream elsewhere.
Am I sad? Super. But I also feel somewhat hopeful. My gut says that Australia is no longer where I’m supposed to be, and now I have the time and headspace to figure out where that is.
I’d like to share a few things I’ve learned from my experience. I’m gonna keep it real and tell you the good, the bad, and the ugly; exactly as I lived through them. If you’re considering visiting or even migrating to Australia, perhaps these could be of help, or at least of interest. Here we go.
1. Australia is bloody expensive
Anyone who has been to Australia knows it’s not a very affordable place to live, and costs are getting more ridiculous each year. The country is just not as livable as it used to be anymore. I’ll give you some examples.
IIRC, when I first arrived in 2020, 500g of beef chucks from Woolworths used to cost about $8. Pretty sure it’s $13 or something now (CMIIW). We can thank inflation and price-gouging for that, among other factors. And if grocery prices are bad, imagine the costs of eating out.
Housing has it worst of all. My rent in Melbourne used to cost $175 per week in 2020-2021. I moved out in 2022, but I checked online and today it’s $250 per week. Jesus Christ. That’s nearly a 150% increase in under 5 years.
I can go on, but you get the gist.
As a migrant from Indonesia, most Indonesians I see who over-glorify Australian life are either trust fund babies or partner visa hunters—people who can enjoy the fancy Aussie lifestyle without having to think about how they’re gonna afford it because they have a sponsor to latch on to.
Those of us who have to earn their own dough? Most are jaded and barely scraping by. We can still make it, but not without compromises.
It’s possible to thrive in Australia (even today), but if you’re a middle-class worker like me, your journey is not gonna be easy. Plan accordingly.
2. It’s far away from everywhere else
Australia is literally at the end of the world. This is obvious when you look at a map, but you won’t really feel it until you actually live there.
There are pros and cons to it. For one, it’s peaceful. Its distance from the rest of the world means it rarely ever gets involved when there’s war or conflict on the global map. Bombs could be dropping in the Middle East, but the shockwaves would barely be felt in Australia (literally and figuratively).
The thing is, this distance also makes overseas travel such a chore. Every flight to and from Australia is a long-haul flight, or at least feels like it. Not only are the flights long and exhausting, they’re also exorbitantly expensive.
I used to think Indonesia was a backwater country, but now I realize how spoiled I am in terms of geography. Jakarta is a major international hub, which means flights to and from it are relatively affordable and abundant.
You know how Europeans like to say they could fly to Italy on a whim just to eat pasta? Well, Southeast Asia is kind of like that. If I wanted to and had the means, I could catch a one-hour flight to Kuala Lumpur for breakfast, another flight to Bangkok for lunch, and be back in Jakarta for dinner.
You can’t do shit like that in Australia. Even flights to its closest neighbors—Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and New Zealand—take about 5-6 hours on average (although this depends on which city you’re flying from). And you bet it’s not gonna be easy on your wallet. Or your lower back, if you’re like me.
And I’m not saying this because I’m a super avid globetrotter or anything, but Australia can get pretty boring (or even suffocating) sometimes, and it does feel necessary to escape every once in a while—hence the constant deluge of Aussie tourists in places like Bali and Phuket.
However, unless you’re rich (see the recurring theme?), you probably won’t be able to travel overseas very often. And even when you are, every trip is gonna require some proper preparation.
3. Racism is still pretty bad there
It’s not as bad as it used to be, I’m sure. Most Australians I know are the friendliest and loveliest people I’ve ever met. But racism is still alive and well, albeit in a more benign form.
It’s subtle things usually. Condescending stares, people intentionally mispronouncing my name, you know. But that’s not to say more blatant forms of racism no longer exist. They definitely still do.
For example, these days in Melbourne, don’t be surprised if you see a neo-Nazi rally every other week, usually in areas where there are high concentrations of migrants or international students (e.g. universities).
I was terrified when I first saw one. A bunch of white men clad in black attire, chanting hateful propaganda, blaming their misfortunes on people who look like me. But now I’m pretty much desensitized after having witnessed so many.
I’m not gonna lie. This isn’t a main factor, but it did weigh on my decision to leave. I could’ve fought to extend my visa if I wanted to, but after seeing one too many banners that say “Fuck off, we’re full,” “Deportation now!” or “Australia for the white man,” I just don’t feel like staying anymore.
Ironically, these white supremacists seem to forget that Australia is not even their land. They’re migrants, too. If anyone has the right to tell me to leave, it would be the First Nations people, not them.
I get their arguments on illegal and unchecked migration (which is definitely a bad thing), but if migration is the only issue, why do their rhetorics always involve race? I don’t see anybody complaining about British migrants. No, they only hate migrants when they’re black, brown, or yellow.
Oh well, now they have one less person of color on their land. I can’t be the only one leaving, though, and that makes me curious: If this rot is allowed to fester, would Australia really fare better as a white-only nation?
4. Despite everything, I love the diversity
One of the best things about Australia is actually its multiculturalism. There’s something beautiful about people of all shapes, sizes, and colors coming together, bringing their respective cultures and ideas from all corners of the globe. That’s why it’s such a shame that some bad eggs are ruining it.
To be fair, Indonesia is pretty diverse too, but only within its own bubble. There are about 1300 Indigenous ethnic groups, but there’s barely any international diversity except in touristy areas like Bali.
Even compared with our close Southeast Asian neighbors like Malaysia or Thailand, Indonesia is way behind in terms of cosmopolitanism. Most people here look and think alike, and those who don’t are encouraged to. And I don’t do well in such a homogenous, conformist environment.
I like being a foreigner, an anomaly. And everyone’s an anomaly in Australia, so you never really feel out of place. There’s a certain freedom that comes with that. All physical features, schools of thought, and faiths (or lack thereof) are accepted. You can be anyone you want, in every sense of the word.
Of course, sometimes this can be taken too far. And there will surely be friction whenever dissonant cultures are gathered in one place. But credit where credit’s due, Australia actually does a pretty good job with this. It’s often dubbed the world’s most successful multicultural society—which is debatable, but all things considered, I think that’s a fairly accurate label.
There’s definitely still work to do (as I elaborated in the previous point on racism and white supremacy). But compared to other countries in the West, and in the Anglosphere specifically, Australia does seem to be ahead.
5. The laid-back culture is awesome, but…
There’s a caveat. I do love Australia’s slow and relaxed way of living, but sometimes it has unintended, undesirable consequences too.
I particularly want to highlight the work culture there. Everything closes early, and everyone takes leave all the time—which I realize sounds lovely, and as a worker in Australia, I definitely enjoyed my privileges. My professional life there was relatively stress-free compared to what my Indonesian peers were going through back home.
However, when viewed on a bigger scale, this laid-back culture also means that Australia is lacking in productivity and innovation.
Let’s take the tech scene for example. I can’t name any successful Australian tech startups off the top of my head, except maybe Canva and Atlassian. When you see a big, profitable institution in Australia, it’s usually a legacy institution like a bank or a university. And businesses in every sector are usually dominated by monopolies or duopolies (e.g. Woolworths and Coles).
If you’re an ambitious entrepreneur with avant-garde ideas, Australia may not be the place for you. There are a lot of factors that contribute to this. It’s not just the laid-back culture, but also things like the tall poppy syndrome, and the endless red tape (e.g. taxes, regulations) that you have to go through as a business owner.
Innovation is not rewarded here. If anything, it’s stifled from every side—by the government, by the market, by your mates. I honestly don’t know what purpose this serves. I’d think every country should be interested in innovating and future-proofing their economy, but evidently not.
That’s just me, though. If your only aspiration in life is to live peacefully, and you don’t mind living Groundhog Day-style every day, then Australia is perfect. Barely anything novel ever happens there, and while that may spell boring for some, it’s blissful and idyllic for others. To each their own.
Coda
Australia is not the utopia I imagined when I was 12. It’s just like any other country on Earth, with its own perks and perils. It still has a special place in my heart, and I would love to come back one day—perhaps not to settle permanently, but definitely for a quick trip down memory lane.
What’s next for me? I don’t know. I still have an aspiration to live abroad, but not now, and not in Australia. I feel like 5 years is enough time to experience life in any given place. I’m sure there will always be something to explore, but I feel like I’ve seen enough of Australia for now, and I don’t feel a particularly strong urge to return anytime soon.
Guess I’ll stay in Jakarta for the time being. You know, reconnect with friends and families. Find a partner and get married (or at least get into a serious relationship). Upskill, improve myself, learn whatever there is to learn.
After that, maybe I’ll find a job in Singapore or Dubai. Or get another degree in Europe. Who knows. As all my mates keep saying to me, apparently the world is my oyster. Oysters aren’t so bad.
What do you think? Is there any part of my story you relate to or disagree with? Let me know in the comments :)