don logan

Hi,

My wife and i have recently received our 175 Visas and will be moving to WA once loose ends are tied up here and enough money has been saved to move there. We're looking at around 18 months from now.

She's a teacher, i'm an electrician. We obtained the visa with her as the main applicant, hence no VETASSES or anything for me.

I have read a fair bit about getting an A Grade Technical Licence for working as a licenced electrician in WA, is the below correct?



Whilst in UK:

Apply for ARTC- $930- This was until recently $300 wasn't it? Who needs to sign and verify the copies of the certificates that i send to ARTC?

Register with Energy Saftey- $40 by sending ARTC cert and get for approval letter for ETL course.

Book ETL course by sending approval letter and pay fee. What's the

When in WA:

Complete 2 week course

Send off all Certs and apply for licence?




Is this still the case? I am told that there have recently been some changes. Is the ETL course a course that teaches as well as tests you, or is it more of a two week assessment? I'm fully qualified (NVQ Level 3, G&G 2330, 17th Edition, etc) in the UK and did the 3 years at college, but my memory of some of the theory side of what i learned is flagging by now.


Just seen this on a website regarding the ETL:

As of January 1, 2013, Energy Safety no longer accepts this course as a pathway for migrants to gain an unrestricted Electrical licence in WA. Only those who have been approved prior to that date are eligible.

If anyone could give any advice, then it would much appreciated. I am reading and hearing a lot of conflicting info and it seems that some people who have advised are unaware of some recent changes.

Thanks.

don logan

Bump.

I do realise that this question has been asked hundreds of times already, but most people are asking about the VETASSES route, which doesn't apply to me.

Also most posts are old and my main question is regarding the statement that i saw saying:

'As of January 1, 2013, Energy Safety no longer accepts this course as a pathway for migrants to gain an unrestricted Electrical licence in WA. Only those who have been approved prior to that date are eligible.'

Could anyone advise on this?

Thanks.

old.sparkles

I would guess that Energy Safety could advise you. I had heard that in WA you would follow the same route with ARTC as those with OTSR. SA is still offering A license with ARTC and Peer course. NSW don't accept ARTC at all. Contacting energy safety or an RTO in WA may be you best option at the moment

don logan

Hi and thanks for that. I have contacted Energy Safety but only had a reply saying that my enquiry has been passed on to their licencing department.

old.sparkles

Hopefully you wont have to wait too long.

One thing, you do know you cannot apply for ARTC from UK don't you?

colinmaclec

OK are you sitting down?
You can only apply for ARTC when you arrive in Oz. It can take 3 months i believe i was OSTR so i cant say for definite.
Apply for electrical permit to work from from energy safety takes 1 month

Enrol at college to start gap training

Get employed

2 weeks college with practical exam and paper exam

Complete assignments at home lots of homework

Complete log book (roughly 1 years work experience, quicker if more hours worked)

Tele/coms course 4 days with practical exam and paper exam

Capstone course 4 days ( pretty much AM2 )

once all all the above is completed you can get an A grade licence. I'd say with the time off work this cost me roughly $10,000

Also getting employed can be pretty hard. Some people get paid as little as $20 ph doing domestic work. If you have good experience and background it will be easier to get a better paid job $35 plus

don logan

Wow, what wonderful news...

Thanks for that Colin. So are the logbook, telecoms and Capstone parts that you mention a new addition to the process?

I was aware of the artc/ 2 week college parts but that's the first ive heard about the other parts. So you basically have to do a bloody nvq again?! Did you do all this recently?


So is it hard to find work as a trainee sparky while completing the log book? I do have a lot of heavy industrial experience and don't really want to go back to the apprenticeship days of sweeping up and chasing out walls for a year while taking pictures of myself clipping twin and earth cables for a bloody log book.

Does the mutual recognition of licencing between states still exist? If so, would it be worth going to SA and doing things quicker and then transferring? Are there any other states that make it easier than in WA?

I find all this quite astonishing for a country that allows the placement of standard electrical sockets right above bathroom sinks..

colinmaclec

I was one of the first on this system I missed the old 2 week course by less than a week!!!!
As far as I am aware the SA loophole still exists but I have heard that WA no longer accept the mutual recognition until you have had the SA license for a year but someone else maybe has done this recently and be able to confirm or deny if this is true.
It can be hard to find decent employment whilst having a provisional license. I got reasonable pay of $32 and then $37 due to having a lot of experience in the UK and working as a leading hand for both companies. You wont be sweeping floors again lol, but you will be exploited as cheap labour. If you have heavy industrial experience you should be able to get a better paying job than with domestic exp for example. Getting on to the large union sites or mines is almost impossible unless you are someones buddy or have worked in exactly the same job in WA for a few years. One of the big union companies here pay sparks $45 ph but are trying to cut the rate on certain jobs to $35 as they cant compete with the companies who pay $35. So even with an A grade you could be looking at $30-$35 ph

Sparkyandy

I am basically in the same position as the OP but a little further down the line.
My missus is sponsored and i am defacto.

- I applied for my ARTC on Jan 12th $930 Granted as an Electrical Mechanic Feb 5th (really lucky can take up to 3 months) waited a week to receive it.

- Applied to Energy Safety for my Restricted License Feb 12th $112 received my restricted today 28th feb (took so long because the girl who processes the licenses only works two days a week what a joke) with a letter saying.

"Australian Context Training
The Electrical Licensing Board has approved your application subject to completing successfully the Australian context Training and providing a copy of your Certificate III in Electrotechnology Electrician issued by the Registered Training Organization. "

In other words you have to do a ridiculous 10 months gap training and three weeks of college in order to be dragged down to Australian standards.

I called the colleges listed
CET next course 28th of April 2 months from now cost $1640 part A then gap then $800 for part B not including books.

Challenger Rockingham 28th April cost $2750 incl books

Polytechnic West Extremely Rude and the girl who deals with the course has not been there the last two days.

Getting someone to take you on with this gap training is like asking them to hire an expensive apprentice its a joke and an insult to oversees tradesmen. This licensing takes over a year bearing in mind your wages will be significantly reduced if you even find someone crazy enough to take you on with all this log book crap hanging over you.

I really didn't want to go down the Peer SA route but I will be calling them on Tuesday (its a bank holiday on Monday) to see if its still possible to do it that way. I will keep you posted on my progress.

Be aware that its a long and very costly process not to mention all the other tickets you need to get for a decent job.
I have been working in the mines as a T/A for the last few months and things are definitely slowing down in WA its hard enough to get work with an A grade and employers generally wont even consider a restricted electrical license. They are getting close to making this license unattainable.

Dont get me wrong i love living in Perth the lifestyle is great and the people are very nice and once your licensing is over you'll be care free.

Best of luck mate.

don logan

Thanks for that Andy.

What kind of money where you making as a T/A in the mines? I'd have thought it was impossible to work in mining on a restricted licence..

I'd be prepared to work as something else, if it weren't for the fact that the something else wouldn't give me the on the job training needed to complete the log book.


I actually work as a hospital maintenance engineer with electrical bias now. I'd like to carry on this kind of work when in WA, although i'm sure that most maintenance engineers will need a full trade licence of some kind anyway. I did also consider doing something else, although any other than electrical installation work wouldn't give me the required on the job 'training' to complete a portfolio. I do a lot of management of contractors, health and safety, machine breakdown and PPM type work at the moment, any idea if that kind of work is possible to walk into without more licencing and bureaucracy?

Thanks again.

Sparkyandy

I have been with a few different mining companies there's two ways of being paid:

With penalties includes site allowances overtime pip payment etc its hard to estimate your wage as it varies from site to site and the hours you work. If its a construction project and your with a large reputable company pay+penalties is the standard. you could expect anything from around 32 - 40ph

Flat rate is everything all in no extra for overtime etc this rate is higher but dosen't necessarily mean you will earn more money this is the usual through agencies and shutdown work. you can expect anything around 35 - 45ph

This is just my experience i work primarily on Rio sites im sure the rates vary a lot more on different sites.

I did a maintenance role at a shopping center i didn't need my license just a white card and working at heights the pay wasn't great as i was essentially sparking as i was assisting a lazy sparky. you really need to get an electrical trades assistant role more on the construction side of things in order to complete your logbook otherwise your wasting your time.

If i was you i would focus on first things first download the ARTC applicant guidelines pdf on the TRA website. and follow this to the letter get references from every employer you have had make sure they don't refer to maintenance you need installation based ones fist and second fix description of work, full time hours, tools used etc or they will class you as a fitter all the criteria is in the guidelines.
Next get all your transcripts from your apprenticeship and breakdowns of training before you leave for oz and make sure your training dates and dates on your references are all in sync my agent said this is the biggest problem most people have. They are BIG on paperwork over here so the more the better even certified copies of your birth cert, qualifications etc. this will save valuable time rather than having to wait for this stuff from home

As i said these are only my experiences, Hope this helps