Hi

I have already posted on here under questions about moving to australia?- thank you to those that have replied already.. but i thought I would post another thread with plumbers as the heading as it may be answered by a plumber that has moved to australia or is in australia and can tell me more about this licence that cadburyfingers mentioned in my other thread- thanks for that by the way

How much can an employed plumber earn in a year approx? and is there better paid areas than others??

He is currently corgi registered and energy efficency recommended can he just carry these qualifications over to australia, or would he have to re-take tests ect.?and can he work straight away on these qualifications or does he need to get a licence first and if so how long would this take??

We currently live in a small town with a larger town approx 10 mins away by car and we have a steady income and would like to move to a town similar ro this (small community ect) but earn a decent wage, be able to get a job and with the prospect that we would want to go self employed again after a year or so if possible. Can someone suggest any places that are similar to a this where its not boiling hot or raining all the time??.

My husband has spoken to a lady from an australia immigration company and she advised us that it would cost about £3500pounds for visa fees and that because my husbands trade is greatly needed we could go over quite quickly, is this true???as i thought that it took approx 2 yrs to arrange the visas ect . If not when should we apply for visas as i we plan to come over within 2 years, kids will be that little bit older and we will have money from doing up properties behind us and until we get this £150000 we will stay here..

thanks once again
nicola

Hi

Firstly it takes about a year on average to get a visa. I would take what you have been told about plumbers being in demand with a pinch of salt and do a search on here about plumbers...it makes depressing reading and is a sore point with me being a plumber on the way over.
The only way to make a decent wage in Aus as a plumber is to work for yourself but the licensing situation is a nightmare and you might have to be prepared to change jobs once you are in Aus to make ends meet, for example an employed plumber can earn $25 hour and a landscape labourer $30 hour.
You would be best to get the 136 visa as a General Plumber as it is quite straight forward and then look at other options as i am.

mog

CORGI over here is a little yappy dog, nothing else.
Plumbing license is straight forward enough to get, PROVIDING you have with you C&G certs (must be plumbing NOT gas acops, acs etc), if not be prepared for a long hard process.
I have given up the whole thing and am now an adult apprentice boilermaker,
it is true about the wages for plumbers and $25 is spot on (some cases $20)
terrible money really

The C&G doesn't help with the drainlayers bit of the plumbing licence which is required for the majority of jobs advertised. Also without the drainers ticket a plumber cannot be self employed in qld (QBSA requirements).
I got offered a job at $16.00/hr as a licenced plumber not too long ago so much for the award wage of $23.

Tell me about it!! I was offered a job gasfitting at $20 an hour with a van and fuel card thrown in, but when you work out the stoppage's and how much a decent house will take out of your budget, well it's an eye opener.
I even thought about working six months a year in the UK because the wages are so crap.
Now I am well into a adult apprenticeship learning Boiler maker skills, and I have secured a fantastic year 3-4 apprenticeship placement paying $30 an hour (remote fly-in, fly-out.but hey-ho)
I will have completed year 1-2 in about another 9 weeks, because this is an Accelerated apprenticeship (2 years condensed into 7 months).
there are good opportunity's out there, it's a matter of being persistent, I phoned every TAFE and training body in Qld, and loads of numbers from the Courier mail.

Good on yer Paul Boilermaker must be one of the jobs in most demand if the situations vacant ads a good indication.