wazzerx

Hello to one and all. My family and I have applied to join St John from a UK ambulance service. Application in, they are just checking my qualifiactions and the stuff like that.

I have a few questions if anyone of you good people can answer, please.

1. Roughly how long does the process take from start to finish?

2. Do they help with the funding towards visa's and the move?

3. What is the wage for a para working out there?

4. We have friends who live in the Secret Harbour area, they tell us how wonderful it is. If we are lucky with the selection process then we are going out there with the understanding that the cost of living is roughly the same as the UK but the standard of living is second to none.

Family and friends are advising us to visit for a short holiday first to see how the land lies, but I believe that we would go there and have a wonderful time, see it all through holiday glasses and not get a real idea how life really is. I would rather save the £4000+ and just o for it taking onboard all the advice we can get from the people who live there!

If anyone can help then we would be very grateful.

Respectfully,

Wazzer

eddie007

Hi

sorry, I'm not a paramedic I'm a nurse working in ED... in the area you're looking to move to... and dont want you to think no one is answering your question...

how long the whole process takes??? depends on the visa you're applying for, whether you get sponsorship, whether you have everything you need to hand to make that application...

Costs of living? How many are there of you? Will you "both" be working? do you shop at Harrods or Primark?

Lifestyle IS second to none... especially if you have children

Holiday? Forget it... you wont be coming here to holiday you'll be coming to live and work... a holiday destination and state of mind wont tell you whether you want to live and work here... (sorry.. personal experience... most people HAVE set foot in australia before they get here.. we hadn't)

Help with relocation expenses.... Unlikely in this economic climate... happy to be corrected...

Beware... being a uk paramedic and a WA paramedic appear to be two different things... and you need to know the differences and likely frustrations you will face... I know some of the uk paras here struggle with being a transport service for people who happen to have ambulance cover... and they sometimes struggle with lack of recognition for what they do... like nursing for many well qualified, well educated uk nurses... they can find WA nursing a bit ... what's the word... 'backward' ... depends how important your professional status is to you... I know that I no longer have a career... I have a job that I love that pays the bills... and that is one HUGE difference..

I dont know what you get in the uk... but living expenses here are different.. and expectations can be shattered by the world wide economy... we wouldn't survive with 4 kids if we both weren't working (fulltime)

But hey, the lifestyle IS amazing, certainly at home My kids couldn;t walk to the beach and swim after school... that is PRICELESS...

wazzerx

Hi Eddie,

Thanks for the reply. We have two small girls, one of 3 (going on 15) the other 19 months. My wife is an Ambulance Technician, also qualified nursery nurse, but doesn't want to continue with the ambo.

As to shopping........Aldi, Primark and Peacocks are the way forward for us.

We dont see the value for coming out first, spending lots of money then moving out to see it totaly different...quality of life for the girls is what I want and you guys certainly seem to have that.

Thanks for the reply, take care

eddie007

quality of life for the kids is excellent, we still have to work damned hard to make it that way, but its easier here especially when the sun is shining

wazzerx

Thanks, we have no probs in working hard. What made you move out in the first place?

eddie007

NHS couldn't employ me at my Grade.... no jobs locally, would have had to chase a job halfway across the country so thought I might as well chase a job halfway across the world..

Ian had always wanted to leave the uk anyway... and we thought what the heck? Why not?

and for us, inspite of my occassional bouts of homesickness and missing my parents, there's been no going back..

wazzerx

cheers,all sounds promising. Just playing the waiting game now to see if they accept me.

Thanks again for your advice, hopefully this time next year...........

eddie007

well when you arrive feel free to look us up, we're just down the road