New Job Opportunity - don't do it
Hey Beema,
Fellow public-servant here, Sydney-based and also a one-time supervisor who had severe anxiety issues coupled with bullying from my direct managers. I rode it out, and being a worker again has its benefits, but the glass ceiling is something else again.
We moved from inner-west to outer-west, effectively doubling my commute. For me, though, it was more time to spend doing uni work or, when uni's not on, catching up with reading, or puzzles, etc. The 20min commute didn't give much time for relaxing, and you'd never get a seat unless you got the all-stops train with the school-kids.
As for leaving a full-time job to go non-ongoing and so far away and for only $10K extra, I would have to advise against it on the following grounds:
1) How much is seeing your son worth?
My brother just scored a promotion which landed him as much as I earn in a year, on top of what he was already on! But it's now as a national manager, involving junkets like you wouldn't believe, including a 4-day regional conference in China. While SIL doesn't have to work any more, he reckons it won't interfere with his seeing his boys. Although they're 8 and 5, I still reckon he has no idea.
2) Will the $10K cover your added expenses - lunch, commuting - as well as the inevitable toll on your mental health?
Getting up that much earlier and getting home that much later will exhaust you. We have a super-commuter from the Central Coast here who gets up at 0400 to be here by 8, and isn't home until 1830-1900 .. that has to be telling!!!
Just my $0.02 worth.