KJCherokee

British Gas have bought the Queensland Gas Company who are heavily involved with the development of coal seam gas here in Queensland. It is a rapidly expanding industry with many players - BGC, Origin/Conoco, Shell and Santos/Petronas all proposing multi-billion dollar projects.

All these large projects are currently in the feasibility or early design stage - I can't see a great need for boilermaker welders for a year or so, and even then it won't be the companies named above who employ them; it'll be the contractors. But there should be plenty of work in your field.

Amazulu

Total rubbish.

I've worked with/know loads of people who have been f**ked over on a 457.

Lets agree to disagree because this topic is something that I really don't give a shit about.

paddyo

You are entitled to you opinion and I respect that, I must admit though that I took issue because you just gave it a blanket condemnation. 457 does work, when used properly by both employer AND employee. I am a successful 457 resident and so I believe that it works for those who use it/want it for the right reasons.

Tellyaddict

Well excuse me for having an opinion!! I am purely giving my opinion based on our experience and advising the OP to take everything into consideration. My husband worked for a small family firm so LAFHA was not included, we did not mind as we were grateful for the opportunity to come here and yes financially we were worse off than we were in the UK which is something that the OP should consider. Unless you are able to go down the permanancy route on your own without your employers help then you need to have worked for them for 2 years prior to applying for ENS. I would suggest that most people who come here on a 457 are hoping to acheive permanant residency eventually and that is why I advised the OP to apply for permanant residency if he was able to rather than the 457 as it is not guaranteed.
I appreciate that you MAY be able to find another sponser but this would depend on the sector that you work in and the availabilty of jobs. As others have suggested it is generally the higher end jobs that are offered on this visa not welders, boilermakers etc. and therefore it makes it a lot more difficult to find alternative sponsors.

To the OP, the job that we applied for was direct and not through an agency.

paddyo

I totally value an opinion, but your post was misleading and it could lead an uninformed poster to think they are facts, which they most certainly are not.

Also, again, you have your facts wrong. You do NOT have to wait 2 years to go PR. Most companies do use that as a benchmark but you can go PR, if eligible, any time. 2 years of Temp can however count to the requirements for Citizenship.

Dawson AKJ

Thanks for the facts and peoples experiences. We realise its different for everyone.as its on an induvidual basis and luck does play its part.
WE hope it would pass our way....
Any more info would be great thanks

achanalt

Hi they are in mining mostly but if you check them out on their web site you will see what else they do! i think building ect hope this helps

Mike 3G

In my case we had to take the 457 route as we will only qualify for PR via ENS this can be the case for many people. Also whats crap about having flights, removals and eight weeks accommodation paid for by the company?
I would agree with other posters though that you can be at the mercy of the employer to some extent. I had a few offers country wide and went with the company that seemed the most reputable. This has paid off as I failed an exam before leaving the UK and they paid for my return to re-sit 5 months after coming out here, they have also lived up to all the other promises they made. having done the 457 route through necessity my advice is choose the job carefully.



Good luck

ps try Downer EDI they are always busy in Geelong Vic

paddyo

Also having a few problems at the moment!

man_called_Horse

I would agree with Paddyo nothing wrong with 457 as long as its not abused by either party, it might be the case that in the future it could be used as the main stepping stone to getting PR.

Don't knock it it too much you might be glad of it someday.

>Trigger<

Read the Wiki article...457 depends on a lot of different things

1. You can only work for your sponsoring employer.....If you are laid off, you have 28 days to find a new employer (plus sponsor) or leave Australia.

NSW..you'll pay school fees,if you have kids that will be reaching 18 and want to go to Uni...they will be classified as overseas students and it's bloody expensive,trust me I know


457's are good for people with no or few commitments..not so good for familys..

457 time for me was 3 years of total uncertainty, all in the past now,but stressful at the time


http://britishexpats.com/wiki/457_Visa_Restrictions

paddyo

I have a family and am totally happy with my 457. Why shouldn't I be? To me it is a temporary move for a different work and life experience, still have house and job back in UK so if I have to leave early (already been here 2 1/2 years) its no drama.

Yes the school fees can be hard, unless you have your employer pay it for you

paddyo

Exactly, almost a case of 'try before you buy'.
For my circumstances it is a cost effective way of seeing if we like somewhere away from traditional family and friends without committment. If we want to stay permanemtly then the positive of that is your employer now knows you and would be more inclined to sponsor you for ENS.....conversely, if they think they have seen enough of you then they may not!!
I think people are seeing the possible negatory ENS or PR options here as part of the 457 issue and it shouldn't be. I see it exactly for what it is and purely temp cover for shortage skills in Oz. When they have enough of those skills in country, then bye bye 457 for that trade/profession.

>Trigger<

I guess your lucky to have a house and a job back in the UK..a lot of people have to give all that up to fund their move to Australia...be nice if we could all have a safety net

It's better to know that a 457 might be the quickest way to Aus but it aint always the easiest

man_called_Horse

I did watch Tony Abbott say on TV that he would favour Temporary employer sponsored and some student visas as a lead into Permanent residency, he didn't mention the words 'try before you buy' but it sounded very like it. To be honest it sounded like he would prefer that it would be Australia doing the trying rather than the other way around, obviously the current GSM PR program of supply rather than demand is not working.