Latest news with #Coogee
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Expat exposes 'expensive' trap catching those moving to Australia: 'Super surprised'
A British woman who recently moved to Sydney on a working holiday visa has revealed the common cost-of-living trap catching out expats. Thousands of British people come to Australia each year, and some have found the price of life Down Under to be a shock. Gabby Watson is currently on the third year of her working holiday visa (WHV) in Australia, having previously done her first two years a decade ago. The 35-year-old, originally from the East Midlands, told Yahoo Finance she'd found the cost of living, job market and rental market weren't nearly as bad as everyone made out to be online. Watson said a big trap she'd seen many expats fall into was renting in expensive suburbs like Bondi Beach and then complaining about not being able to afford anything. RELATED Gen Z worker reveals $4,732 DoorDash, Uber Eats cost-of-living problem facing millions Centrelink cash boost for millions of Aussies: 'More money in bank accounts' Centrelink age pension changes coming into effect for millions 'I'm staying in Strathfield, which everyone is super surprised at, since most people on a WHV tend to base themselves in Bondi or Coogee, but these areas are super expensive and really aren't 'real' Australia,' she said. Medium rents in the inner west suburb are $1,000 per week for houses and $700 per week for apartments. Comparatively, Bondi has average rents at $1,700 per week for houses and $925 per week for units. Watson said she secured a room for rent in a sharehouse within the first week of being in Australia through costs me $250 a week, [and] is on par with what I was paying back home, which is wild when you compare the most expensive city in the country to a small market town in the midlands in the UK,' she said. Watson said location was important for both accommodation and when applying for jobs. 'Forget Bondi or Manly or Coogee, you can visit them anytime, but they'll hold you back if you're serious about finding a decent job without the competition of other backpackers, especially in hospitality roles,' she said. 'Same goes for accommodation. These areas are super expensive, and for the price you'll be paying to share a bedroom with a stranger with zero privacy, you can have your own room with a balcony just 15 minutes from the CBD.' A total of 193,922 visa applications were granted in 2023-24 for the working holiday program, up from 178,306 the year prior. The United Kingdom was the most popular country to be granted Aussie visas, followed by France, Ireland, Japan and South Korea. Some expats have found it tough to find work when they land in Australia. Northern Irish man Jordan Morris said he was forced to leave the country after being unable to find a job or accommodation after three weeks in Sydney. Watson said she was initially a bit worried she would struggle to find work in Australia given the current economic climate, but ended up finding a job within a week of arriving. She applied for temporary debt collecting type positions, since this is where most of her experience is. But it took about 20 applications before she secured a two-month contract. Watson said finding a job on a WHV was 'not impossible' and recommended people base themselves in a large city and contact recruitment agencies. 'I tend to reach out to them by phone, speak to the person/department responsible for temp work, on a WHV you can't accept a permanent position, have a chat with them, and then send over my CV,' she said. 'Calling them first gives you a bit of an edge over other people and they can get a feel for your experience.' Superior People Recruitment director Graham Wynn told Yahoo Finance those on working holiday visas could face difficulties finding work, depending on the industry. 'If you're happy to go into retail or hospitality, it's not a problem because they do have casual staff in those industries,' he said. 'If you're looking for something where the employer is looking for long-term or career-driven people, you've got no chance on a working holiday visa.' Wynn said Watson likely found it easier to find a job because of the particular industry she was applying for. 'That kind of industry has a lot of burnout of staff, it's a tough job," he said. "So to find someone with experience, they're going to grab that person and even if they only get six months out of them because of their visa situation, they'll take it because they are struggling to find people." Wynn recommended people on WHVs looking for retail or hospitality jobs to physically hand out resumes to businesses that are hiring. He said it can be worth exploring recruiters, but to make sure you found one that specialised in temporary or labour hire, not permanent in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data
News.com.au
6 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Cafe owner wins latest battle against Coogee Diggers
A small-business owner who claimed the beer taps to her restaurant were cut off has won the latest round in her fight with management of a popular eastern suburbs club. Cece Cafe/Restaurant owner Tina Plessas was granted a three-month extension to orders allowing her to keep trading in the Coogee Diggers Club by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) on Friday afternoon. Ms Plessas had claimed club management had turned off the beer taps and cut access to her to electronic banking in a bid to 'forcibly evict' her last month. 'It's a small but meaningful victory for my staff, my customers and me until September,' a delighted Ms Plessas told after the ruling. 'It certainly gives this small business operator the relief and time I very much needed. Now back to work.' The parties will enter into mediation in a month. Ms Plessas is not the only tenant battling the community club for her right to trade within the building. A childcare centre which has leased space within the club for a decade is also engaged in litigation with the club alleging the childcare operator is responsible for 'millions' in damages to the historic 1930s building. Only About Children (OAC) childcare centre confirmed the litigation when contacted by 'Only About Children is currently working to resolve a landowner dispute in relation to its Carr Street campus in Coogee. As the matter is before the court, we are not in a position to comment further at this time,' a spokeswoman said. OAC sought to assure customers the dispute did not impact its quality of care offered to clients. The dispute heads to the Supreme Court in August. According to sources with knowledge of the dispute the matter relates to historic drainage issues. OAC childcare occupies a large indoor/outdoor area on the top level of the Carr Street building that was previously a redundant bowling green. Sources familiar with the litigation said the Diggers club is suing OAC for property damage which it alleges was caused by run off or drainage obstruction caused by the childcare centre. OAC is said to have already handed over a six-figure sum, in the ballpark of $100,000-$120,000, to the club to mitigate damages. Unsatisfied with that outcome, the community club's executive is pushing on with litigation and pursuing its tenant for millions of dollars. A close source said the Diggers club is pursuing the childcare centre for between $2 million and $3 million and alleges parts of the 95-year-old coastal building have concrete cancer that can be partially attributed to the childcare centre. Long-term members believe there are other more significant contributing factors including an indoor pool. OAC has 20 years to run on its lease. Coogee Diggers management refused to address questions specific to the childcare centre litigation when put them during the week. The club's six-person board also refused to answer questions. In a statement lawyers for the club said: 'Our focus remains on serving our members and continuing to invest in the long-term future of the club. We will not be drawn into a media campaign that seeks to undermine this commitment or discredit the club's leadership.' The club's boss is CEO Peter Gallagher on whose watch the Diggers has been partially transformed, via a $6 million to $8 million renovation, from its humble 1930s depression era clubhouse roots with support services for returned servicemen and women into a quasi commercial gym, albeit one with a tucked away old-style bistro, bar with poker machines. Despite the expensive facelift, the question for some RSL veterans is whether the community club remains true to its origins and as a family friendly centre. There is also the question of whether Mr Gallagher's privately shared personal vision, to create an up-market fitness and party precinct, reflects that of the broader local community. Having changed its constitution, the club is no longer affiliated with the local Coogee-Randwick-Clovelly RSL sub-branch. Critics point out that aside from offering a room in which the RSL sub-branch can hold the occasional meeting, plus a discount on gym memberships to local-only sub-branch members, the Diggers offer no services to retired war veterans. This, despite there being many young Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans living in the area. As one veteran pointed out, one doesn't have to look further than the Coogee Diggers' manifesto, published on its website, to see how far the club has drifted from its RSL roots. 'Think about this – If you're going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don't even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, boyfriends, relatives and maybe even your mind. It could mean derision. It could mean mockery-isolation. Isolation is the gift. All the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it. And, you'll do it, despite the worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you can imagine. If you're going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire,' the manifesto states. Concerning its strategic direction a lawyer speaking on behalf of the club's CEO said: 'Coogee Diggers has operated under its Registered Club licence for over 90 years and has no intention of altering this status.' Recruited as CEO in 2019, Mr Gallagher is an enigmatic character who prides himself on being a transformation agent. Originally from Victoria, the openly gay CEO, said to be in his late forties, lives in a splendid Federation home in Woollahra, one which he's understood to be painstakingly renovating on his $200,000 annual Diggers' club salary plus 'commission' bonuses. Mr Gallagher appears to have edited his social media presence since put questions to him earlier this month about his business dispute with the club's tenant, hospitality manager Tina Plessas of Cece's restaurant. He deleted both his LinkedIn and Facebook accounts within days of this reporter contacting him for comment. The LinkedIn account had recorded part of his professional history including his time working for PCYC NSW and St Vincent de Paul. Mr Gallagher also had a term at Coogee Diggers in 2006 and 2007. A period working at Bentley RSL in Victoria around 2008 was omitted. During his current term at the Diggers Club, Mr Gallagher has polarised staff with his assertive management style. Following recent articles concerning Ms Plessas's contract dispute with Coogee Diggers club, five former ex-employees spoke to about disputes with the club. One former employee who managed the Diggers' gym centre claimed staff from different departments were told not to speak with board directors or each other, and that they were constantly monitored by surveillance cameras. On one occasion she claims she was questioned about a casual conversation she had with a club board director. 'All staff were forbidden from talking to board members,' the former employee, who asked to be known as Ann, said. 'We were told not to talk about what was going on within the broader business. The gym staff weren't to talk to the swimming centre staff weren't to talk to the bar staff. That's how (the club) operated.' In response to questions about these allegations, the club said: 'As with all licensed venues, Coogee Diggers operates CCTV for safety and compliance purposes only. The club strictly adheres to all relevant governance and privacy obligations.' Ann claimed Mr Gallagher made it clear he planned to transform the club into 'the ultimate destination for a party and recovery cycle' by growing the club's gym membership and creating a 'Justin Hemmes' style restaurant/bar with a party scene out the back'. Despite at one time being one of Mr Gallagher's most trusted lieutenants, Ann was sacked by him in 2023. She said the CEO told her she was fired for allegedly breaching compliance standards by employing gym staff who didn't possess Working with Children credentials. Ann maintains Mr Gallagher signed off on the recruitment of those employees personally and with full knowledge of their noncompliance. 'He advised me to tell them to apply for their Working with Children permit after they got the job,' she said. A bonus payment promised earlier in her tenure was subsequently revoked, with the club claiming Ann's role as gym manager was never formalised. Another staff member who successfully took Coogee Diggers to Fair Work winning an unfair dismissal payout – and apology – from the CEO, was former gaming and bar supervisor, Rita. A full-time employee of five years, Rita was made redundant in 2020 following the outbreak of the pandemic. Rita had oversight of the poker machines, TAB and bar and said she felt compelled to speak with treatment of club patrons. 'He never said hello to them. It seemed he didn't like the patrons, particularly the ones who came in every day,' she told Three other former club employees who spoke to described their concerns with the club. One former fitness centre manager described how he said he felt pressured to resign. Two staff who worked in the swimming centre described feeling 'unsupported' working for Coogee Diggers. 'I was left with morbid anxiety and depression. I felt diminished,' one employee said. 'I would receive calls after working hours and be yelled at over the phone.'
News.com.au
7 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Beer, EFTPOS turned off in Coogee Diggers' Club legal fight
A Coogee Diggers' Club restaurateur will have her day in court on Friday when an arbitration tribunal determines whether the businesswoman should be permitted to continue trading at her recently opened cafe/restaurant. Tina Plessas, proprietor of Cece's cafe/restaurant, is fighting to have the terms of her original contract with the Diggers Club – which is in dispute – upheld and honoured after the club moved to 'forcibly evict' her without notice last month. Ms Plessas alleges Coogee Diggers has violated interim orders made by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) on June 4 granting her the right to resume trading without interference until the June 27 hearing date. The businesswoman alleges the club has acted hostilely by twice turning off her beer supply, changing the restaurant lock, removing tables, introducing party restrictions including a dance and cake 'ban' and contacting her suppliers to request they close her accounts. With a week of trading to go, at the weekend the club disconnected Mr Plessas' EFTPOS facilities. 'It's been a nerve-racking time for myself and my team,' Ms Plessas said told 'We are all walking on eggshells as we don't know when (we) will discover the next act of sabotage. 'My staff and I just want to get on and serve the community and look after our loyal customers and the club members who have supported us. We truly love the community and if we didn't feel our services were appreciated by them I wouldn't continue fighting to remain.' In addition, a frustrated Ms Plessas told the management style of the club's CEO Peter Gallagher had made serving her customers a daily battle. Ms Plessas' fight for professional survival at the club began when the Diggers' CEO abruptly terminated her catering agreement on May 30 and evicted her. Weeks earlier, in March, she had enthusiastically opened the doors to her cafe/restaurant after recruiting 15 of her best former chefs to join her. This came after she was awarded the lease for the Diggers Club's lavishly renovated new downstairs eatery in 2024. According to Ms Plessas, in dispute are two catering contracts the club sent her, one of which stipulated she could trade rent free for the first three-months while establishing her business. An attempt was made in a second contract to delete that clause. The plucky businesswoman claims she has been subjected to a sustained campaign of alleged bullying and intimidation at the club – including attempting to smear her reputation – by attempting to evict her and disrupt her new business. On Thursday the club, through a lawyer, denied the allegations. 'Coogee Diggers is aware of a number of false claims that have recently been made and strongly rejects any suggestion of misconduct or improper behaviour by the club's leadership team,' a spokesman said in a statement. 'The club categorically denies any suggestion of noncompliance with NCAT. These allegations are baseless and no findings of breach have been made by NCAT. Coogee Diggers strongly denies the suggestion it has deliberately obstructed the operations of Cece's.' Ms Plessas believes she is a victim of her own success having taken in the ballpark of $120,000 at Cece's in her first full month of trading in April. According to club sources, Coogee Diggers is under pressure to increase profits after taking out huge bank loans to finance Mr Gallagher's grand vision of creating a premium gym and bar precinct at the 90-year-old community centre. The building work, for a ground floor renovation, cost in excess of $6 million and may, say sources, run as high as $8 million. A hefty, short-term loan with the Commonwealth Bank for $3 million is due for repayment later this year. A second loan, for $1.6 million, was also still on the books in December 2024 when the club released its annual report. One former board director and ex president has called for a forensic audit to be conducted to show club members how the money has been spent.
News.com.au
08-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Cafe owner evicted, beer turned off and 15 sacked at popular RSL club
A restaurant manager has won a reprieve from an arbitration court after a RSL-affiliated digger's club turned off the beer to her restaurant prior to ordering her unlawful eviction. Tina Plessas spent the weekend working to restore operations to her cafe/restaurant after the CEO of the RSL-affiliated Coogee Diggers Club 'forcibly evicted' Ms Plessas without notice on Friday May 27. The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) on Wednesday granted interim orders for Ms Plessas to resume trading at her Cece's restaurant after Diggers' club CEO Peter Gallagher informed her the club was abruptly terminating her catering agreement weeks after the small business owner opened her doors in March. Ms Plessas was forced to lay off 15 staff before taking the matter to NCAT to challenge the club's decision. The hearing of the application for interim orders and a directions hearing in the application for substantive orders will be listed on June 27. Ms Plessas opened her cafe/restaurant on the ground floor of Coogee Diggers after successfully pitching for the lease in 2024 and was planning to open a bakery in future weeks. The opening of Cece's followed a big budget renovation of the 90-year-old club's ground floor facilities driven by Mr Gallagher. Architecture firm Pony Design and developer Girvan put the estimated cost of their work on the project at $6 million. Sources say that figure could stretch as high as $8 million however when additional work is factored in. The upstairs areas remains largely untouched. The figure is well above the $3 million estimated by the club's committee in 2022 according to former board directors. Opened in 1935, the club is the base of the Coogee-Randwick-Clovelly RSL sub-branch which operates separately to Coogee Diggers and which for decades has seen its membership decline. Angry Coogee Diggers' patrons who contacted following Ms Plessas' eviction said her venue, the first dining room to open on the ground floor of the club in 60 years, had immediately proved popular with the local community and families disinclined to patronise the club's old-style upstairs bistro and sports bar. 'The venue was humming from 7am with parents grabbing coffees or a protein shake on the way to school drop-off and often coming back for brunch or lunch,' said one angry patron. 'Some people stayed all day. It's unthinkable she's been turfed out when the place was booming.' On Thursday Ms Plessas described her eviction by the club as 'unconscionable without a right of reply'. She claimed that after being forced to take beer off her menu on May 15 due to the taps allegedly being turned off without notice, the beer was once again flowing at her downstairs venue some 30 minutes following her eviction on May 27. 'It was a deliberate obstruction of a successful business that within weeks of opening was turning over more than $100k a month,' she told Following the NCAT order, Ms Plessas returned to the Diggers on Friday hoping to resume trading only to find her property, including furniture and kitchenware, packed in a loading dock and her some coffee making equipment missing. Coogee Diggers' CEO Mr Gallagher didn't respond to specific questions concerning the beer outage and wouldn't be drawn on the restaurant's eviction. He did confirm Ms Plessas was back in the building on Friday June 6, as per the interim NCAT orders. 'Our team welcomed Tina back this morning and plan to actively work with her amazing team,' the CEO said. Ms Plessas disputed the claim she had been 'welcomed' back and stated she has been the victim of a viscous smear campaign at the club. Addressing a document Mr Gallagher forwarded, unprompted, to she confirmed one of her former restaurants in Sydney's CBD had been shuttered as a result of the Covid downturn and for personal reasons unrelated to her business. She placed that business into voluntary liquidation in 2024. The restaurant owner is not the first contractor, club employee or director to be allegedly forced out of the club during the stewardship of Mr Gallagher who has been CEO since 2019. The club's former president Steve Despea claimed he was forced to stand down from his role in 2023 after pushing back against the planned multimillion-dollar club renovations. Mr Despea lost his positions as club president and board director after a 19-year involvement. He was furthermore given a life suspension by the club for questioning the CEO and dragged before the Liquor & Gaming Regulator on claims that were ultimately rejected by the authority in February 2024. 'We have been through two years of hell,' he said on Friday before calling for a forensic audit to be conducted on club spending relating to the Coogee Diggers' downstairs renovations. Another former board director, Mr Adrian Sutter, confirmed he too was sacked by the CEO and handed a life ban by the club after he supported the then president Mr Despea. An Afghanistan war veteran who served in 2009 and 2010, Mr Sutter said he joined the club in 2019 after being approached by Mr Gallagher and asked to bring the work he was doing in veterans' rehabilitation to the Coogee Diggers. 'After standing up to the board concerning Steve Despea's rough treatment I was kicked off the board,' he said. 'There's no one doing anything for (war) veterans in Coogee and Randwick now, despite what the club's marketing suggests.' The Coogee Diggers' website states that the club supports veterans by providing facilities for meetings, commemorative events and with initiatives such as legacy membership rates at the club's gym. Coogee/Randwick/Clovelly RSL clubs, established in 1928 and 1941, operate separately from the Coogee Diggers Club, which is governed by the Registered Clubs Act. On Friday, Mr Gallagher, who has a background working in tele-fundraising and as a Police Citizens Youth Club executive, declined to comment further on Ms Plessas's eviction. Members of the club's board are yet to respond to questions emailed to them by on Friday. On May 15 Coogee Diggers issued a notice to members about plans to amalgamate with Paddington/Woollahra RSL Memorial and Community Club which are currently underway. The boards of both clubs have approved the amalgamation in principal. The matter will next go to general meetings at each club and will ultimately be in the hands of Paddington RSL's voting members. Such an amalgamation would see Coogee Diggers become the parent club in the union and strengthen the remit of the club's CEO.
Daily Mail
26-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Heartbreaking message from friend of missing woman as the frantic search continues: 'Worried sick'
The worried friend of a missing Sydney woman last seen a week ago has issued a desperate plea for information. Rachel Walker, 34, was last seen in Newtown, in Sydney's inner west about 12pm on Tuesday, May 20. Police were notified of her disappearance on Sunday when her family and friends were unable to contact or locate her. 'It's not like Rach not to be in contact for this length of time, we're all worried sick,' close friend Hannah told NewsWire. 'Anyone with any info please contact the police as soon as possible. 'Rachel is so loved by so many people. We just want to know she's OK.' Another friend shared the public appeal for information on Facebook as Ms Walker's loved ones expressed their concern in the comments. 'I am super worried about her also... horrible news,' one wrote. 'Fingers crossed,' another said. Inquiries began into her whereabouts on Sunday with police and Ms Walker's family concerned for her welfare. She remains missing as of Tuesday morning, police confirmed to Daily Mail Australia. The Sydney local is known to frequent Coogee and Erskineville. She is described as being of Caucasian appearance, about 165cm tall with a thin build and blonde hair. Ms Walker also has tattoos on the base of her neck and foot. Anyone with information into her whereabouts is urged to call Newtown Police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
