Sydney is a great place to live, but is very expensive. To be an academic you need a PhD but in the humanities you will also need to be a Post-Doc (Paid Post-Doctoral Student) for a few years before you can be sure it's 'in the bag'. The equivalent of Professor in the US is called a Lecturer here. To be a Professor in Australia means you are Grand poo-bah in your department. Like in the top 3 or 4 people. (Departments are still the same size, eg Sydney Uni philosophy has about 40-60 people on the pay role.

I believe anyone who is a resident can have free education in primary schools, we even have selective primary schools. Some are better depending on the area you are in.