how about margaret river, dunsborough, yallingup in the south west, i mean you could also work and live in places like esperance and albany but its quite cold down there and wet.
or if you feel like trekking it up north there are plenty of surfing spots in geraldton and you could head all the way up to exmouth - depending on what kind of surf your into and what jobs your after with your experience ???
i have travelled up and down the coast many times surfing and working in the west, and if you have any questions feel free to ask.
good job on escaping from SA tho and wanting to explore and find some good waves, all in all lately (last 6 months) i have been disappointed in the west for surfing, maybe im not looking or trying hard enough. HAHA. goodluck