I'm looking forward to a regulation to be enacted here that
allows us to transfer our vacation days in terms of years of
service to be transferred to our new employers if we choose to work
elsewhere. That way, we won't lose any vacation benefits from
a change of employer! 
Once I hit the 15 - 20 year service mark, biangz... I think I
get almost three months of vacation days a year!! Happiness, sia!! My colleague,
who's a Ward Clerk, has been with the hospital for 25 years, and
she only works 2 days a week, choosing to retreat to her beachside
home for the rest of the week in her fully-paid-up home, tending to
her newly-bought chooks, gardening, reading, taking hikes,
etc! What a life!
I love the work flexibility here too! I can choose to cut
down on my workdays with my current employer, and work the
remaining workdays in another hospital or with a nursing
agency! Or I can choose to work X no. of days in one ward,
and Y no. of days in another. Or X no. of days as an RN, and
Y no. of days as an administrator or trainer or clinical specialist
or what-not! 
Good, innit?
I'm not worried about the fees increasing... I'm holding
out because I have a feeling the hospital might improve their
sponsorship scheme because the current batch of students are living
a hand-to-mouth or a deficit situation and if there are dropouts or
if more are discouraged from taking this up in future, then they
will HAVE to improve the conditions. I'm biding my time and
playing my cards right because afterall, I become a fully-certified
ICU RN upon completion of my course, which ends before
November. I don't really need the Post-Grad Dip to find work
in any ICU then!
Learning how to drive and owning a car is pretty much the top
priority after my course because with a car, I can consider moving
to the outskirts, where I can purchase a larger property for
less.
So what are your plans now? You already have your car and
house! What next? A second property for rental?
House prices are so hot there right now, they are good
investments... or maybe wait for it to drop even further. I
am! 
Being able to transfer vacation hours from one employer to the
next would be nice--I wish they had legislation here that would
allow that in the private sector (the civil service, where I work,
does allow hours transfers to a limited extent, though). The only
drawback I can see would be if an excessive number of accumulated
vacation hours might act as a disincentive for a potential employer
to hire you.
The vacation policy in my organization allows employees to carry
over a maximum of 275 hours of vacation time per fiscal year.
However, during the year, you can accumulate as much time as your
position/seniority permits--you just have to ensure your balance
drops to or under 275 hour by the end of the f/y. Definitely not as
generous as what you're getting over there!
I'm amazed you've gotten by this long without a driver's license
in Oz. Didn't you have one back in SG? I can't recall.
Right now, fortunately, my cars and house are paid off. I'm
getting a little tight on space in my townhome, and might move to a
larger house within the next couple of years, depending on how the
housing market swings.
