I wan tee go oz

Hi all,
I'm a Para, formerly from Lancashire (NWAS), applied for NSW service 2 yrs ago, got accepted, sadly their labour agreement with the government ran out, and they could no longer sponsor in international applicants. Last year I applied to St. John in Perth, WA. Been in Perth 9 months now, and love it.
Very similar to my old service in the UK, yes it's a bit more protocol driven here, but the pay is good and the lifestyle is awesome here. Even the drugs avail are greatly increased here, e.g. Ketamine for severe trauma and midazolam for sedation.
Looking back on things, I'm glad I came to Perth rather than Sydney now. I know a few mates who worked for QAS, all 3 of them are now back in the UK.
It's worth a thought, especially for all those unhappy in QLD/QAS

temptininnit

How do you find cost of living and house prices there?

I was put off by tales of really expensive houses because of the mining boom. We bought a house for around 500k in a decent area on the Gold coast with a pool etc. At that time Perth prices were soaring.

MissBetty

Very interesting! Actually I grew up in Perth and I love it, very pretty city and I have a lot of friends and family there. I have 2 friends from the UK who work there they love it too also another para I know is starting with SJAA next June. Also I'm quite keen to find out more about the industrial paramedic side of things - something different to try maybe?! Lol!
I just read another post after yours and I was going to ask the same thing re cost of housing, I hear it is very high in Perth so how have you found that?
Sounds like you made a good decision though! I am coming to Perth in the new year for a bit of a look see and to meet up with my UK friends, they keep urging me to give Perth a chance so who knows? Thanks for taking the time to post, it has definately given me another option to think about

John_R

I applied to NSW, WA and QLD at the same time, got excepted by all three, just QLD was quicker with the processing. WA gave me what I asked for, Broome, but I had been in oz for 12 months when they contacted me for visa application lol. Still fancy Broome, but wife and kids don't like the sound of it, i.e. too small

John

temptininnit

I applied for WA and QAS, WA took their time with every stage then asked for a second video interview. In the mean time QAS had offered me a job so along with the house price surge in WA at that time I went for QAS.

Perhaps I should have gone to Perth.

MissBetty

I had a long chat with my mate yesterday, he and his missus have worked for SJAA for 3 years now after coming from the UK and they love it. He said there is no on call, no single officers and NO ICP's - marvelous!!!

I checked on line and the pay is better than QAS too. They are recruiting atm and the closing date for qualifieds is 23/12/11 so I put in an application yesterday online - lets just see what happens eh?! All I know is I really cannot work for QAS much longer, I am over it

I wan tee go oz

Hi,

WA isn't exactly the cheapest state in Oz, however, SJAA pay very well compared to other services, pay rise to come soon as well!
They also have a great skills and drug protocols, no de-skilling here, and as someone just commented, no ICP's breathing down your neck! There is great support from clinical skill para's, who tend to be on hand in comms, and regular refresher courses.

House prices here can be expensive, but if you go 20-40km's South of Perth city center, e.g. Port Kennedy/Secret harbor, you can get a 4/5 bed, 2 bathroom in a great area 5-10 mins from the beach for between $400-$500k

I'm renting at the mo until our UK house sells. Tempted to just rent for long term here and buy another house in the UK, and pay the mortgage by buying UK £'s with my $AUD's as the exchange rate is great, if you're over here that is! We shall see, still lots to sort out, but nice to have options. Something we feel we have more of here than in the UK

I wan tee go oz

Hi, btw SJA have for the last 18months continually recruited, every time one date closes, another opens. BIG recruitment drive here, they are so short of staff! Good luck

There is also a thread on here for SJA WA for those that didn't know

MissBetty

Thanks mate. I know no service is ever going to be perfect but all the stuff that is pissing me off here - ICP's, 178 hrs straight on duty, loss of skills, isolation, would not exist in Perth. I had a good chat with my boss this morning and told him I want to leave, he said he'll be sorry to see me go but he understands and he'll give me a great reference - bless him!
The only thing that puts me off is the long drawn out recruitment process I have to go thru - AGAIN! Still its easier from interstate I guess and I already have a lot of stuff in place, car, money, bank account, Medicare, tax file number and leave owing.
I had a look at through the WA thread and it seems they are doing inductions Feb, April and June next year - fingers crossed and thanks again for the advice

Sonic Kemp

Hi all!

Got a couple of questions for you all if I may,

Well I've been excepted into Uni on a 2 year course next September and my plan is to obviously finish the course and would like to go to Australia after and work/live there.

Firstly I am now 28 and won't qualify with HPC until I'm 30-31 would this be a problem in going over? And how long does it take? I'm only asking because I feel old now let alone when I hit 30+ and would like the quickest route if that makes sense? I did look at possibly studying over in oz but they wouldn't let me due to placement legislation?! So much ambiguity would just like a few things cleared up I guess. Also are there more exams to do when I qualify?

Many thanks in advance and apologies I'm a novice as you can tell, from working in banking in London for 5 years I hated it and hated the pretensousness of it hence why I'm a mature student and really want to make a difference to people.

Thanks again
Adrian

hater

It is almost impossible to find a job as a paramedic without work expierence. So my advice is: Get at minimum 2 years of work expierence as a graduated para and then try to get somewhere where someone sponsors a 457 visa.

I wan tee go oz

I was 36 when I moved here (Perth) in March this year as a Paramedic, oh to be 28 again!!!
As soon as your HPC comes through, you can apply.
Hope this helps

MissBetty

Oh Adrian bless you! Just to make you feel better I joined at 30 and was a paramedic by 33 and moved to Oz when I was 41 lol!!!
To answer some of yr questions you can apply straight away but it's good to have experience. I'm not sure where you are but I know that the trust I worked for let students do overtime if they worked with a qualified so you can do that and keep a record of work hours and jobs etc
I'm assuming you qualify to tech level first? If so you can always look at private work again to build up on road time. The only co I know is Mediforce and they do private as well as on road staff. You could always contact them just to see what they require as a minimum before you qualify as a para.
As for Oz well they all do an induction course here so you get used to their protocols and different drugs/procedures etc
Look I've been a para for 15 years now and although there are many times when I'm like "wtf?!!" I love my job and I wouldn't do anything else.
Hope this helps mate and good luck with yr studies - see you in Oz one day!!!!!

rascal13

Hi miss betty, sorry to hear about your experience in QAS. I hope you are doing well back in the UK. I had a simular experience in NZ. Promised alot but not really delivered. Plus there are not many paid jobs out there, as its a charity run thing.

I am not back in the UK for a while looking at options. I am in the final stages of appling to perth ambo, currently in sign off stage. But seems like it takes a while to get the answer back. But think I need a plan B..

I was very interested to hear about about you doing offshore stuff, how did you get into that. Is the pay good, and any tips you could give me?

Cheers scott

MissBetty

Hi Scott

Sorry for not replying sooner, not been on here for ages! I will be going back to the UK early next year and hoping to work offshore. The qualifications you need are BOSIET, HUET and HSE Offshore Medics. There are a lot of companies that run these courses but the two that have been recommended to me are ExMed in Hereford and University Hospital Nottingham. These are not pony courses - you have to be a nurse, state reg para or military to get on them. I have a Saffa mate here who worked off shore for years and he recommended Frontier Medex to me as an employer and I have to say they have been very good so far with answering queries etc, they have a good website which redirects you to their recruiting partner,ELGFZE. ExMed offer jobs from time to time, they have a great Facebook page which is updated regularly with vacancies and course that are coming up. Also worth a look is Remote Medic Jobs, they have some interesting positions that come up but all the Aussie jobs specify (of course!) you have to be an ICP so maybe once you've worked for Perth for a while you may qualify??? As for me, well I went to Perth recently and loved it, I applied approx 4 months ago but have not so much as even had an acknowledgement lol! I'm off back to the UK in a few months just waiting til I have enough money and my citizenship has been granted. Well good luck and I hope this helps! Cheers!