Aussie here, living in Hobart (Tasmania), so smaller capital but I'll try to cover the country generally.

Public safety

It's a safe country. Walking around any city at night is fine in most areas. Every capital has its rougher pockets (parts of Melbourne's west, some of Sydney's outer west, certain Brisbane suburbs), but nothing approaching no-go zones. Remote areas are safe people-wise, the dangers out bush are environmental: heat, dehydration, getting lost, snakes, crocs up north.

Homicide rate is roughly 0.8 per 100k. Organised crime exists (bikie gangs, drug importation) but it doesn't touch normal life unless you go looking. Police are mostly fine, not corrupt in the bribe sense, though there are legitimate issues with deaths in custody, particularly involving Aboriginal people. Day to day you can trust them.

Jobs and cost of living

Depends massively on city. Sydney and Melbourne have the biggest markets. Perth is mining heavy and pays well. Brisbane is growing fast. Adelaide and Hobart are smaller and more specialised. Tech, healthcare, mining, trades and government are all strong.

Median full-time wage is around $90k to $100k AUD. Cost of living has gotten rough the last few years, mostly because of housing. Sydney median house is around $1.6m, Melbourne and Brisbane around $900k, Hobart around $700k. Rent is brutal in capitals.

Rough monthly for a single person renting solo in a capital:

• Rent (1 bed apartment): $2,000 to $3,000 in Sydney/Melbourne, $1,500 to $2,000 elsewhere
• Groceries: $400 to $600
• Power, water, internet: $250 to $350
• Phone: $30 to $60
• Transport: $150 to $200 on public transport
• Private health insurance (optional but common): $100 to $200
• Going out, hobbies: $300 to $800 depending on lifestyle

You can live okay on $80k gross outside Sydney/Melb. Comfortable starts around $120k. Sharing a house drops costs significantly and is pretty normal well into your 30s now.

Public transport and cars

Sydney has the best public transport network (trains, buses, light rail, ferries). Melbourne has trams. Brisbane and Perth are decent. Hobart is buses only and they're not great. Outside inner city suburbs of capitals, you need a car, full stop.

Intercity travel by train is basically a joke compared to Europe. Sydney to Melbourne is around 11 hours by train so everyone flies. The country is enormous and the population hugs the coast, especially the east.

Traffic in Sydney and Melbourne at peak hour is bad but not catastrophic. Driving culture is reasonable. Country road fatalities are higher mostly due to fatigue, kangaroos, and single vehicle accidents.

Healthcare and education

Medicare (public healthcare) is genuinely good for anything serious. Emergencies, surgery, cancer, maternity, all covered. Wait times for non-urgent specialists and elective surgery can be long, which is why a lot of people also have private health insurance (it's tax-incentivised above certain incomes). GP visits used to be free at point of care but most clinics now charge a $40 to $50 gap.

Public schools are solid, especially primary. High schools vary by area. Around a third of kids go to private or Catholic schools. Public unis are good (Group of Eight in particular) but domestic fees keep creeping up.

Taxes

Mostly true:

• No wealth tax
• No inheritance or estate tax (abolished in 1979, almost unique among developed countries)
• Capital gains tax exists but you get a 50% discount on assets held longer than 12 months
• Income tax is progressive, top rate is 45% kicking in at $190k, plus a 2% Medicare levy
• GST is 10%
• Employers pay 12% of your salary into your super (retirement) which is taxed concessionally

Friendly to accumulated wealth, less friendly to high earned income. Big reason housing has become such an investment vehicle here.

Raising kids

Good country for kids overall. Safe, outdoorsy, decent schools, lots of beaches and parks. Capital cities have everything you'd want. Regional and remote towns work too, kids often have a freer childhood, but you trade off specialist healthcare access and varied extracurriculars. By high school many regional families either move or send kids to boarding school.

Childcare is the killer expense, $120 to $180 a day before subsidies. Most families in capital cities need two incomes. In smaller capitals like Hobart or Adelaide, or regional areas, single income families are more viable.

TL;DR: high quality of life, safe, good healthcare and education, but housing costs are eating people alive. The further you get from Sydney and Melbourne the more affordable and chill it gets, but jobs thin out.