We're often asked what it's like living in Australia. Luckily, the best way to find out is to come visit! If you really want some independent data before you do, then:
- The United Nations has developed the Human Development Index (HDI) as a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education and standards of living for countries worldwide. Australia is No. 2 on this index, second only to Norway ... and of course, that's without taking climate into account. (Not that there's anything wrong with winter in Norway we're sure).
- According to the OECD:
- Australia is one of the most socially mobile countries in the OECD. What your parents earned when you were a child has very little effect on your own earnings. Australia's performance in this respect is much more like those of Denmark and Canada, not Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States, where there is much less mobility.
- Similarly, the educational attainment of the parent affects the educational achievements of the child less than in most other countries.
- Terry Pratchett wrote a book called The Last Continent. In the preface he says: "This is not a book about Australia. No it's about somewhere entirely different which just happens to be, here and there, a bit ... australian." We recommend it most highly.