Having lived in Australia for a fair amount of time and now working I can probably give you guys some pointers on Australia. From what I have gathered from American friends the opportunities in Australia is fairly limited as compared to the US, however, the quality of life is much better. Even though you may not progress to that highly paid six figure package (well you still can but i speak in very general terms) there is a much higher quality of life. Like JavaBeans said Australia is a very laid back country and in terms of work-life balance its a place where there is an importance place on quality life (in terms of health care, social welfare etc...). I personally believe that Australia is a good place for those that are now planning on settling down and thinking about the future (child's education, health care etc...). In terms of job prospects... there is a market for technically qualified workers like the accountants, engineers, finance and also IT professionals (but it really depends on what IT sector your in). If you have experience in the US sector it is highly regarded, however, there is more job availability in some of the lesser known cities like Perth or Brisbane than Sydney. In the end its all dependant on individual circumstances but this is a very general kind of overview and I do hope its helped to some extent