Hey chill...bear in mind the written word can sound black and white and interpreted in different contexts. Yes he/she was being blunt but also perversely helpful, Australia is a strange place inhabited by strange people and common sense is illegal in most bureaucratic circles here! I jest but believe me some things will infuriate you when you get here.
Australia is not UK with sunshine, it UK 1970 with freak weather!! A lot of highly experienced people find they have to start at a lower level than they expect due to the way they do things here, which in my opinion is also slightly anti Pom but that's just my cynical perception. Ozzies don't like being told they are wrong or that you are better than them, which most of us Pommies are but lets just keep schtum on that hey!!

Yes. And Centrelink has a big call centre in Coffs Harbour, NSW. I know because up until 5 months I used to live there.

Spot on Dorothy. Centrelink, along with Medicare, the Child Support agency, CRS Australia and Australian Hearing all became part of the Department of Human Services last November which resulted in some job losses.

I am trying to get a job as a Customer Service Officer with Centrelink or Medicare in Perth but positions are few and far between in WA. When they do come up they are somewhere like Broome or Kalgoorlie or, like you say, pool only.

And there is a lot of competition for vacancies, hence a rigorous selection process which includes a full day of assessments.

I got a job with Medicare in Coffs Harbour in 2008 and I was only eligible because I had become a citizen 5 months earlier.

And I don't think I would have job the job if I hadn't worked for an Australian private health fund for 2 years.

The position at Medicare was not permanent. It was non-ongoing for 12 months only. I worked my socks off, took hardly any days off sick, worked extra shifts if asked and took leave on whatever days were available after the permanent employees booked theirs. I hoped I would be offered a permanent position.

Didn't happen but my contract was extended for another year and again in 2010 but that was it. I was told it would not be extended after July 2011 because of cutbacks.

And as I was a non-ongoing employee I could not get a transfer when I moved to Perth.

True.

I try to tell 'em but they never believe it 'til they're here!!

Thats very true especially in Govt roles, but.... if you are prepared to knuckle down, get a year or so OZ experience and then transfer your skills to the private sector, you can have a good lifestyle inside of 2-3 years.

At least thats my experience.

Oh that is soooo true. I remember when I got the ANZAC job I did about 8 hours of paperwork getting processed to start the job. Plus its the only job that I've ever been asked to supply original proof of my academic and professional qualifications and the only job where they have contacted every single one of my employers (including my uni summer jobs ). Talk about anal!!!

I remember having to dig through my newly-delivered mountain of boxes looking for my degree certificate when I first went for a government job here in 2004. It was a 3 month temp position, and the degree is in a totally unrelated field and dates from 1985! But they wanted the original, no photocopy would do. I don't think i ever showed it to an employer in the UK, not even when relevant to the position