Corporate Finance in Sydney - How to Get There from London?

Hi Everyone,

Hope you're all doing well on this great journey called life. I'm doing much better now than I was when I made my last post freaking out about my future. Now that I'm in my late 20's and finishing my audit qualification, I've started thinking about what I really want out of life. Having been raised in Australia and Switzerland but actually being British (and American, which has caused nothing but headaches), I've had a lot to think about, but I've mostly come to the conclusion that I want to move back to Sydney and become 'upper-middle' class again, so to speak ($2-300k peak income). I think the quality of life is absolutely exceptional and that Sydney is the city I want to call home again, even though I know my memories are rose- (and privilege, having been raised in the very nice Eastern suburbs) tinted.

I want to do this even though I know I'm ultimately leaving money on the table by leaving London/not moving to the US. Looking ahead 5-10 years from now, the ideal goal would be to be working in Corporate Finance/Development, 9-7/8pm, working hard but with a solid life outside of work as well. I've thought long and hard about an MD lifestyle, but I ultimately don't think that's who I am deep down, and I'm fine trading away those material comforts for some balance.

With that being said, I'm currently in London finishing up my audit qualification at a non-Big 4 (I was previously at a B4 for 2 years, but was fired due to exam failure). I know that most corporate finance roles like those described above require 2-3 years of investment banking, so my question is -- what can I do now to make my medium/longer term dreams become a reality? Do I need to work in investment banking here in London for 2-3 years before transferring over? Would corporate finance roles in Sydney become available to me after 2-3 years at a MM or boutique bank over here, or would I need to move over as a banker and grind it out even longer? Is there some universe where I can move over there in audit or TAS and then break into corporate finance while I'm there after a few years? The thought of doing audit for a second longer than I have to makes me sick, however.

I will say that I have a former school friend who is a manager in B4 consulting in Sydney who is trying to refer me to everything he can (consulting/corp fin), though I'm not sure how viable that option would be in practice. I feel like I've missed the boat on consulting over here due to how long I've been in audit for (almost 4 years now), though I'd jump at the chance if it presents itself in Sydney.

Has anyone made the move or does anyone have any insight? Thank you all in advance.