hi

i have been trawling through this site to speak to any British bobbies that have joined any of the Australian police services.

i was wondering how the move went and what life was like as an oz bobbie, (if that makes sense)

any advice or info would be greatly appreciated

There have been some UK police that have emigrated here - not sure if they joined the Oz force though. There's a special section of the site for police here.

I have 3 colleageues who have gone..all love it. Work wise it is pretty similar except the firearms of course. Depends where you work just like the Uk really. Same old problems! Law is generally based on Uk law, so all states apart from NSW are fairly easy to "transfer" to as they recognise current experience. You just do a sort of conversion course for 3 months or so. NSW accept you onto a degree course , which you have to fund and pass before being offered the actual job. One colleage went to QLD on basic starting salary, another went to Perth in July on his equivalent salary (3 years service) . Sergeants exams etc are similar.
I would do it myself, but we are going to NSW and I am busy doing babies right now! I feel sick my 12 years service may go down the pan, but I guess I will just jump back in and retrain in a few years.
I have pm'd you a website that may help...good luck

thanks for the reply

i hate being confused,
i used to be in the SAP did 9 and a half years there, made inspector, then moved to the UK and joined again, now only have 3 years in. i was looking at Western Australia police and South Australia, it is a bit daunting starting again for a third time,
my concern really is the cost of moving any ideas on that?

Their is over 200 uk coppers who have joined SAPOL [sth aust police] they have thier own forum POLICE FORUM i think?? ............ mm

thanks for the info, just going to check it out

my concern really is the cost of moving any ideas on that?[/QUOTE]

Hmmmm, where to start?! This varies with what visa you choose/need, whether you use an agent, ship stuff over etc etc. Very personal. We spent £5347 on getting our visa...this included all phone calls, postage, medical, DIMIA fees, study and exam fees for husbands job, blah,blah blah! It can be done cheaper, but we would only have saved about a grand by not using an agent.
If you were SAPOL before then can you not contact your old bosses and see if they can take you on? Oh hang on do you mean S Africa? Let me know how you get on anyway!

Hmmmm, where to start?! This varies with what visa you choose/need, whether you use an agent, ship stuff over etc etc. Very personal. We spent £5347 on getting our visa...this included all phone calls, postage, medical, DIMIA fees, study and exam fees for husbands job, blah,blah blah! It can be done cheaper, but we would only have saved about a grand by not using an agent.
If you were SAPOL before then can you not contact your old bosses and see if they can take you on? Oh hang on do you mean S Africa? Let me know how you get on anyway![/QUOTE]


hi thanks, yes i should have made that clear, i was in the S African police. at this stage the best way for us to move over is by me aapplyingfor one of the police forces that are recruiting over in the uk at the moment. will keep looking and keep you posted, many thanks

Hello?













Sorry, misunderstood thread title ;-)

All police badges and shoulder patches respectfully requested.

HI Bokkie

My OH is a police officer in the Met at the moment, I am awaiting a final job offer and he will be coming with me. We contacted some people on police forum I think and there are loads of people on there who have made the move.

TO be honest my understand that you can go to events in the UK when they have them, which some seem to do, although others either travelling with partners already on visas or who qualify without the transfer from the police, are just doing conversion training. Most of the states offer this. NOt sure exactly how long it lasts but I know when we checked it (a few weeks ago) they said whilst you are in the training school you get around $1100 per fortnight so quite low. Good news it goes up quite quickly and you can transfer your UK pension for around £500 one off fee.

Uniform is provided however alot who had made the move recommended taking bullet proof vests as apparently these are not standard issue.....that was the response we got anyway.

Seemed that everyone that made the move was really happy they did, the shifts weren't quite as bad as here in UK but not huge amounts more sociable.

Hope that helps let me know if you need more and I can see what else I have at home (sorry away with work at the moment).

Cheers

Jossy

"More sociable"

I visited some of the troops who were ex-British cops serving as PACE cops in the Queensland Police, on the Sunshine Coast. They said they had BBQ's at the back of the stations, along with a police surfing club!

The Queensland Police lateral entry seems quite good, for anyone interested. They take into account your service (will pay you as a cop in the QPS with up to five years service when you start - assuming you have five years or more service in the UK or elsewhere,) there is an AU$2000 re-location allowance, a shortened training course, and the oppertunity to apply for Senior Constable (more pay,) shortly after qualifying. Within reason, you also get to select your preferance for posting, from what i have heard most people get their first choice but there are no garuntees. They also do not make you jump through too many "hoops" for the sake of it, like some forces do (phsycometric testing - correct spelling? Lie detector tests, exams etc, etc ,etc.) It is pretty much just application, background checks, interview & medical, then job offer (fitness test once you start at the academy.)