There are 2 kinds of people that go overseas to study. People who are too good for the local universities, or people who are not good enough for the local universities.

Saying that you're from the GO8 doesn't mean much. The only universities in that 8, no, in the whole of Australia, that's worth leaving NUS for are ANU, Umelb and Usyd. If you're from this three, good for you, if not, you're pretty much just average.

When the govt needs graduates with unique degrees, such as yours, that is unavailable in Singapore(actually NTU just started offering a major in Food Science within their Bio Science degree), they usually hand out specific scholarships to fill the roles. Such as what MOHH is doing with optometry, speech therapy etc etc. The demand is not high enough to validate a whole course dedicated to produce these grads. So they send students overseas.

Hence, if you don't have the scholarship, you might actually find it difficult to land a job within the govt, since they already have their own scholars to employ.

So it really boils down to demand. If those SB and ministries need you, you can demand for more, since its a specialised degree and whatnot. But if not, you might just be ruining your chances if you ask too much. Since they already have their own scholars, they might feel as if they don't need you.

From my observation, most grads from overseas take in a lower salary from the local uni grads. Because a majority of them attend universities that just aren't as good. Of course, the ones that take in more are from Oxbridge and the like. The ones that take in an equivalent amount as local uni grads are usually scholars, not talking about SAFOS/pres scholars who will earn much more, but more like SMS and MOHH scholars, yes, even scholars have tiers.

So if you're from Adelaide or UNSW, part of GO8, chances are that you might earn less. Not your fault though. Im not saying that you are less. Just that the liberal admissions of AUS/UK universities tend to make those who go there look like as if they had no choice and were rejected by NUS/NTU.