Centrelink will be busy in the future

Something to be proud of.

Hi my fellow Australians. I just had my first driving lesson today. While on the highway, my instructor instructed me to move to the left when safe. All of a sudden, an audi car behind me kept flashing high beam lights at me. I was confused because in my own country, it means "get the f**k out of the way!" or "move your arse faster, you are too slow!"

But my instructor says, in Australia, it is a respectful gesture to signal you that it is safe to move to another lane.

So, I want to ask, is it true that it is a signal telling you that "it is safe to do it"?

This largish Dugite was lucky enough that I was the one who came across it at a camping and recreation spot as I don’t think there would be many people who would attempt to free it, understandably so.
I was in disbelief really, I had a close look, it was well and truly stuck.
I figured well it can’t bite me, but still with my safety as a priority given it’s extremely venomous, I used everything I had to protect myself.
I got a pair of pointy nose pliers and went to work slowly and carefully widening the opening, I was surprised how much I needed to widen it to free it.
The snake had as much of its body in there as the can is long, once freed it most likely had the bright light stun after being in total darkness for who knows how long.
It just stayed still for a good couple of minutes or so constantly sticking its tongue in and out and then slowly made its way into the bush.
Happy to have helped the poor thing.

I’ve noticed that in Australia phone calls seem to get results where emails don’t. A few examples from my own experience:

Dental cancellation: I emailed to cancel my appointment and got no response. I then realised my first email had gone to their headquarters, so I sent a second one to the local practice. Still nothing so I had to ring them whiich is just time consuming.

Price list: I emailed several dental practices asking for their prices. One never replied, even though I saw their email screen open when I visited in person.

Job applications: I sent several enquiries for jobs I were well qualified for and heard nothing back. Out of frustration, I rang a different employer instead. I was offered an interview the next day, and then the job. Like wtf?

Is this just how things work here? Why is the phone so much more effective than email, and are there any tips for getting a reply by email?

Just a heads up this is more so a rant of my recent experiences with the GPs.

To give you some context, 6 months ago I started having tiny red dots clustered all around my eyes. They first appeared after going to the bathroom or strenuous activities and would gradually fade away after a few days. After goolging it seemed like they could be pressure related petechiae. It didn't happen frequent enough for me to worry about it though.

Then a few months later, I noticed it was becoming more frequent and I would wake up finding them on my cheeks as well even without apparent triggers. Then a few more months later, they started popping up almost every day and the areas spread to my neck, sometimes my arms but more sporadic or when I carry heavy bags. Recently I scratched my neck because my hair was itching it and they popped up again in large numbers. This is when I finally made the GP appointment.

I made double appointment and showed the GP my neck and a photo of it. He spent literally less than two seconds looking at the photo, didn't look at my neck at all, heard the word 'itching' and immediately started writing down a cream he recommended me to put on because it's an allergic rash.

The next 5 minutes was me trying to convince the GP why it is unlikely an allergic reaction. The whole experience was so dismissive and maybe even humiliating.

Hearing a lot of stories across the years, I get the whole healthcare system is failing both doctors and patients, and that doctors are trained to find clues and facts from the patient's account. But now having to go through it myself made me realised that isn't it equally as important to hear what your patient is telling you? Why are GPs working almost against their patients rather than advocating for them? I can dismiss my own health problems I don't need you to do that for me. Are Australian GPs on average just incompetent af?

They keep talking about redeveloping it into housing ala Pentridge

But nothing ever happens

https://www.realestate.com.au/news/prison-union-slams-nsw-coalition-plan-to-replace-long-bay-jail-with-housing/

These could be photos you have taken, or something from the Internet, that are uniquely Australian.

Examples are Australian scenery, wildlife or tourist attractions.

You can either post them as comments here or make a standalone post with the tag [Wonderful Wednesday].

I've been noticing how crazy the cost of living in Australia has become lately.

Groceries, rent, takeaway food, petrol... pretty much everything seems to be getting more expensive.

And if you smoke or use nicotine products, that's another massive expense on top of everything else.

It honestly feels like even basic everyday stuff costs way more than it should.

I've started looking for cheaper ways to buy everyday essentials online instead of always paying retail prices.

Just curious how everyone else is dealing with this:

• What websites or apps do you use to save money on everyday essentials?
• Do you mostly shop at Woolies, Coles, Aldi, Amazon, or somewhere else?
• For those who smoke or use nicotine products, how much are you spending per month these days?
• Have you found any legitimate online stores or apps that offer better value than traditional retail?
• Any underrated Australian shopping websites worth checking out?

Would love to hear what everyone is using.

Feels like we could all benefit from sharing a few money-saving tips at this point. 😂

Was at service nsw yesterday renewing car rego and drivers licence, wasn’t really paying attention to the music until “I see you baby, shaking that ass” and “my anaconda don’t want none unless you got buns hun” came on. Couldn’t help but laugh, was someone taking the piss by putting their own playlist on or is it just random or what? Think some of the old people in there were probably disgusted but I got a laugh out of it.

I've been living in Australia and honestly, the cost of everyday life has surprised me more than I expected. 🇦🇺

Rent, groceries, fuel, transport and bills all seem to add up so quickly. Even when you're trying to be careful with money, it's easy to spend more than planned.

I've started comparing prices more often and thinking twice before buying things I don't really need.

I'm curious how other people here feel about it.

Have you changed your shopping habits because of the rising cost of living? Are there certain things you've stopped buying, or do you just look for better value these days?

Keen to hear everyone's experiences from around Australia.

Curious what this sub views as the stereotype of the typical young aussie cobba these days.

When I was young, us cobbas had a team, we had a ute and we loved the piss.

These days young blokes have no ute, have no team and musical tastes revolve around tiktok dance challengers rahter than footy anthems. Instead of piss, we got maytes having matcha offs.

There is nothing wrong with change, I am just cruious what even we see ourselves as these days!!!

I got the painting from Facebook marketplace , it looks way better in real life but I still don't know any information about the artist other than that it could be a woman and where and when the painting is painted

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To give some background, I was born in Iran, immigrated to Türkiye and lived there for seven years, and then moved to Australia five years ago.

I'm genuinely happy with where I am today. I'm working, studying, adapting to Australian culture, and enjoying my life here. I feel incredibly lucky to have been given the opportunity to live in this country and contribute to society.

However, there's one thing about Australia that I genuinely struggle to understand: the healthcare system, particularly emergency departments.

My experiences with healthcare in both Iran and Türkiye were generally positive, especially when it came to emergency care. If your symptoms worsened or you were experiencing significant pain, you could go to the emergency department and generally receive prompt attention. Even in countries with limited resources and large populations, my personal experience was that emergency care was much more accessible.

Last night, I had one of the most disappointing experiences I've ever had with a healthcare system.

I was experiencing severe abdominal pain, nausea and diarrhoea. The pain was around 7/10, and I couldn't even sit upright. I contacted the hospital and was told the waiting time was around 4–5 hours. Unfortunately, I didn't feel I had another option, so I went to the emergency department.

After registering and undergoing initial tests, I waited for four hours. During that time, I saw only one patient being taken through for further care, and I was then told the waiting time could potentially reach 12–16 hours.

Thankfully, my pain gradually improved while I was waiting. I eventually decided to leave and arrange an appointment with a GP the following day.

But what really upset me wasn't just my own experience. It was watching other people sitting there in pain. People with broken knees, broken shoulders and other painful conditions were waiting for hours just to see a doctor. I felt terrible for them. I even questioned whether I should have gone to the emergency department in the first place, despite the severity of my symptoms.

I understand that emergency departments use triage to prioritise patients according to how urgently they need treatment, and I'm not suggesting that everyone should be seen immediately regardless of their condition. I also recognise that Australia's healthcare system has its own challenges and that my experiences in other countries don't necessarily represent everyone's experience.

But I genuinely want to understand why this happens.

How can countries with significantly fewer economic resources provide what feels like more immediate access to emergency care, while people in Australia sometimes wait 8, 12 or even 16 hours in an emergency department?

I know Australia has a universal healthcare system, and I appreciate that access to medical care isn't supposed to depend on how much money you have. But what does that mean in practice if someone is in significant pain and has to sit in an emergency department for hours before receiving treatment?

I'm not posting this to attack Australia or claim that healthcare in Iran or Türkiye is better overall. I'm genuinely trying to understand the underlying reasons, particularly from people who work in healthcare or have a better understanding of how the Australian system operates.

Why are emergency department waiting times so long in Australia, and what would need to change to improve the situation?

I'd really appreciate some informed perspectives. Thank you for reading.

Hi fellow redditors!

I am looking for some information and guidance regarding gym memberships. I have been satisfied with my current gym membership at Jett's Gym for a while, however would like a gym that provides group fitness classes, which unfortunately my local Jett's doesn't. I currently pay $29.90 per fortnight for the membership, which I believe is quite good in comparison to other gyms around.

I am thinking of potentially joining a Goodlife Health Club locally. The level of membership I am interested in is the Blue Membership, which I think is approximately $23 per week with group fitness classes included and access to one home gym.

I would like to hear from anyone regarding their experiences at a Goodlife Health Club in Melbourne (in particular the Preston/Balwyn ones.) How are the fitness classes and how big are the classes? How polite and friendly are the staff? Is the equipment new or in your opinion is it subpar to what you expected?

Lastly, I see that there is a free trial on the website. Did you have any trouble signing up and getting this free trial?

Any advice is appreciated, thank you.

I've heard a bit recently regarding NSW rules now bringing in the ability for police officers to make a copy of your mobile phones data.

I assume initially it would be in rare instances pertaining to highly suspect people, though I can definitely see it being just a routine check once people are used to it being normalised.

I'm curious about the laws pertaining to explicit content held on someones device. If I have explicit images and videos of a sexual partner or partners, all of which have not given consent for their likeness to be shared, what is the legal ramifications for an officer making copies of them/potentially viewing them?

I'm aware that distributing revenge porn is something now punishable but where does that line begin and end? I would assume that the government would take that into account before passing something like this, right?