Shippers come on the 8th August and we fly on the 11th. Obviously I'm going to ship the majority of my work tools with the rest of our belongings and (touch wood) I'll find a job before our stuff arrives. Can anyone foresee any problems in packing a few tools in the suitcase just to get me started? The sort of tools would be tin snips, engineers square, trammel heads etc and are all in used condition. Would I have to declare these on arrival?

I would suggest you write to customs.
heres the link: http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page.cfm
I wrote to them about my new Laptop asking about GST, I good a very nice feedback explaining all the details. I am sure they will do for you. They normally take 2/3 days to respond. So you still have time.
Good luck hey. You surely will get a good job

would be interested myself as i will be doing the same with some electrical tool when we set off later this year. if you could let me know how u get on i would be grateful.

andy

Hi

I'm a plumber and when we came over I packed some basic hand tools into my suitcase never mentioned it to customs but no one pulled me up so either I was lucky or they weren't bothered.

F.H.

I brought screwdrivers, pliers, spanners, tape measures and torches through in my suitcase without mentioning it. I did get stoped but it was for a packet of M&Ms and got a 30 minute lecture about bringing food in.

You'll probably be alright as long as they don't have wooden handles and the tools are clean. Oily tools sometimes get stopped and have to be steam cleaned at your cost of course. I'd be surprised if they'll be that dirty if they're packed with your clothes. Your cargo will be more of a problem.

If you get stopped just act ignorant and swallow the humiliation. They can only insist that you have them cleaned which you then have the option of paying for or having the tools confiscated.

Mind you we did come in through Brisbane and they were still feeling the pain from the baggage handler drug smuggler thing.

Good luck.

we arrived in melbourne late march, and being a brickie, i knew that i would need my tools before the container arrived, so me personally i telephoned the head office of the airline and informed them that i would be carrying hand tools, and they said that was fine as long as the tools were packed securely!
the rest of my tools arrived later and i cant believe customs didnt pull us up on them! when i unpacked them i didn't realise how dirty the things were, luckily enough we only got pulled on 1 childs bike which was thoroughly cleaned before we left and they charged us $190 to clean the thing!

hi what is all this on cleaning everything does everything have to be spotless before it enters???? Also what tools did you pack as my hubby is also a bricklayer.

Is there a lot of work in melbourne and roughly what are the wages.


send me a pm if you like , sorry about all the questions just trying to find out a lot of answers.

thanks in advance

marie

Carl, Good luck with the tools, I don't think you'll have a problem as they are not on any restriction lists. Who are you flying with? we are also going on the 11th with Singapore Airlines.

Dave

hi marie,
we were told by the removal company that everything had to be clean before they packed it, especially the things that have touched british soil, kids bikes, garden furniture etc. which we did. didnt even think of my hubbies tools that were going in the container, like disc cutters, car ramps, his spanners and every thing out of the garage!
with regards to his bricklaying tools to be honest he was about due for new ones and they were so reasonable on screwfix direct that he decided to have all new rather than try and scrape 10 years of muck off his trowel, wages: he is on $25 per hour and works 7am til 3pm, which seems to be about the norm. loads of work for british brickies in melbourne the aussies carl works for will hire a british brickie rather than an aussie one anyday!
carl reckons the work is a lot easier over here, he is currently working with a gang of 5 british brickies and each 1 has their own labourer, they dont even wash their own tools at the end of the day (lazy sods!) its single skin brickwork and he hasnt touched a block since arriving!
if you got any questions dont hesitate to ask
louise.x

Thanks all. I'm flying with Malaysia Airlines. If I have any problems bringing the tools in, I'll let you know.

hello mate, i'm also flying with malaysia airlines. If they are securely packed and in the hold with your main luggage, I'm sure you'll be fine. I will be taking just a few specialist tools over (wire strippers,cable shears, terminal crimpers etc.) and getting the rest over there. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Take it easy,

Jamie