Young expat shares biggest ‘culture shocks’ since moving to Australia

A young expat has revealed what has surprised her the most since moving to Australia, including a tradie norm she didn’t see coming.

English expat Jenny Herriot has been living in Australia for two years, and she’s been going viral for sharing the “culture shocks” that came with moving down under.

The 26-year-old moved to Australia because she craved some sunshine and that work-life balance that she’d heard people talking about.

Back home, she commuted two hours a day to a marketing job in London and her whole life had been taken over by work, whereas here, she feels like work is just one part of her life.

“Everyone knows Australia has a much better work-life balance,” she told news.com.au.

“I feel like Australians have work as part of their day rather than just the focus of their day. Instead of just waking up, going to work, and coming home, people wake up at 5am and surf, run, or get coffee with friends.”

Jenny has lived in Australia for two years. Picture: Instagram/jennyherriot

She loves the work-life balance. Picture: Instagram/jennyherriot

Even though Ms Herriot loves her Australian life, she’s still struck by the cultural differences. For instance, she recently amassed over 200,000 views on TikTok for sharing her discovery about Aussie tradies.

“Culture shock moving to Australia is that every guy is a tradie, they all wear generic hi-vis and they get paid really well compared to the UK. If your man type is a guy in finance, move to Australia, and it’ll become a tradie,” she wrote.

Ms Herriot explained that she was surprised by our cashed-up tradie culture because back home it’s the opposite, claiming UK tradies aren’t making nearly as much as people in the industry do in Australia.

“The better-paid jobs are more corporate jobs like finance and everyone wants to live in the city because that is where you get paid the best,” she said.

According to the recruitment website Talent, the median wage for a tradie in the UK is just over £30,000, which is equivalent to about $58,500.

In comparison, according to the job search platform SEEK, the annual salary for a tradie job in Australia in 2024 ranges from $75,000 to $95,000.

The only tradie job options with a median salary above $100,000 are for those working in mining, resources and energy.

In 2023, insurance company Trade Risk released a report on self-employed tradie earnings, finding that the average tradie made just above $90,000 a year.

One tradie norm has surprised her. Picture: Instagram/jennyherriot

The video racked up over 200,000 views. Picture: Instagram/jennyherriot

She’s also been surprised to see that tradies just don’t go to work when it rains too much, claiming “nothing would get done in the UK if we had that policy”.

It isn’t just tradies that have surprised Ms Herriot. She said there are a few things about living in Australia that she did not expect at all.

“I was so surprised by how early everyone woke up. Back home you’d wake up at maybe 9am. Here you get up at 5.30am and everyone is out and about. Everyone is so much more active,” she said.

Australian coffee culture was also unexpected. Ms Herriot is amazed that there’s less emphasis on coffee chains and that everyone is a little bit of a “coffee snob”.

“Coffee is such a big deal over here. It is just all independent coffee shops and everyone takes such pride in it,” she said.

Ms Herriot said people don’t realise it gets cold in Australia. Picture: Instagram/jennyherriot

She didn’t think Australia would care about coffee so much. Picture: Instagram/jennyherriot

She has also realised that Australia isn’t hot all year around and it does actually get cold here, which is not something everyone realises back home.

The 26-year old also been pleased to discover that there aren’t that many deadly snakes and spiders around.

She said people back home are “prettified” to come to Australia because of our wildlife, but she’s found it isn’t very common to encounter either.

“Deadly snakes and spiders are less of a daily problem then I thought they’d be,” she said.

Ms Herriot has also been totally thrilled by the pay.

She said she’s earning almost double here doing a similar job and is able to obtain a better work-life balance.

Even when she first moved to Australia and was just working in a cafe she was stunned to discover she was earning over $30 an hour just for waitressing.

She’s also found it easy to amass friends, usually other expats who have moved to Australia for similar reasons and are actively looking to make friends.

Is there anything she doesn’t love about Australia?

Well, not really, but she does miss the classic English-style pubs with their incredible Sunday roasts.