robynewt

Can anyone tell me if superannuation is taken out of that baseline salary or paid in addition by WA Police. Also what other dedutions are taken from wages i.e any other pension, federation etc?

Cheers

spouse of scouse

WAPOL as your employer pays your superannuation, it's not deducted from your salary. You may be able to make additional contributions yourself, but that's your decision, not your employer's. Can't answer the pension etc question but I'm sure someone else will be able to.

If you haven't seen it here's a quick guide to some of the issues people might be wondering about, including leave (annual holidays) etc.
https://search.jobs.wa.gov.au/files/...31/5572260.pdf

robynewt

Thanks!. I haven't seen this document before.

With the cost of living. I saw above that people say that it is consierable lower that the UK. From the research I have conducted, it would suggest otherwise. Anyone got any first had experience of the cost of living. example for utilities, fuel, food, etc.

Thanks again

christmasoompa

Everything I've read in the Oz forums says it's considerably more expensive there (although perhaps that's changed with the UK prices going up!). But I'd suggest you ask in the main Oz forums, where you'll get lots of info from those that live there, rather than in the police sub forum.

HTH, good luck.

spouse of scouse

You're most welcome.

Re the cost of living, I've lived in Perth all my life apart from 3 years (2015 -2018) in the UK. I'm always hesitant to compare the two places because there are so many variables. I'll give you my electricity bills for the last 12 months, this is for a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom new build villa with two adults living here. But (and this is one of those annoying variables) we have solar panels installed on the roof, which cuts the cost. Also, since the villa is a new build all the systems and appliances are far more energy efficient than most old builds.

We have reverse cycle air conditioning and run it on cold most days in summer (not nights). We rarely use it for heating in winter. Everything in our house is electric except for the hot water and the cooktop, which are gas. Each bill is for approx. 2 months.

June - August 2021, $203.
August - October 2021, $152
October - November 2021, $132
November - early Feb 2022, $348 (it was a hot summer!)
February - April 2022, $320 (still really hot, even into autumn)
April - June 2022, $162
June - August 2022, $190.

Our gas bills are miniscule in comparison, around $25 per month.

Fuel has become more expensive over the past 6 months (as it has most places), currently paying around $1.70 per litre.

Our Council rates are around $2,000 per year, this can vary a lot depending on the 'rateable value' of your property. Don't ask me how it all works, haven't got a clue But it's ok for a guide, unless you want to live in one of the top of the wozza blue ribbon areas. Of note is that, unlike the UK, if you're renting here the landlord pays the Council tax, owner occupiers pay their own.

For food and household stuff, do a 'dummy' shop on the online sites for Woolworths and/or Coles supermarkets.

Hope that helps a bit.

robynewt

super response and good idea about online shopping. thanks

Pincher

The superannuation is your pension.
There are no compulsory deductions from your pay. You can sign up for voluntary deductions such as WA Pol sports clubs, police legacy etc.
Union fees are payed fortnightly from your bank account - again you don't have to join if you don't want to.

notbrazil

So basically a non-contributory pension as we would call it here? Out of interest, is there any option to 'transfer' any UK pension in to the scheme or do you have to park it in the UK and start again?

My pension contributions here are now over £500 a month so that would be a decent chunk of extra pay.

Looking online, there's not much info about the superannuation scheme - I assume it's the standard WA public sector scheme and not police specific. How does it compare to (what's left of) the UK police pension?

old.sparkles

I'm not a WAPOL employee, but I would think they are like most employers here - they have a recommended or company scheme. You are under no obligation to use this in my experience, and can nominate any scheme of your choice.

Pincher

You won't be able to transfer your pension here. Unfortunately HMRC put a stop to that in 2015.

WAPol use GESB which is a Government employee superfund. You sign up to it, or you can do some research and open your own.
You don't have to stick with one, it's fairly easy to move funds if you find a more preferable one later on.
Current contributions are 10.5% of gross fortnightly salary (excluding shift and other allowances), increasing by 0.5% each year until it reaches 12.0%.
You can make extra contributions to your super of up to $27,500 each year.
You can access your superfund, and retire if you want, when you reach 60 years of age.

notbrazil

Thanks Pincher, that's very useful.

mossy1986

Hi all, I hope you are all well. I’ve been following this thread and information on here is so useful!!

Does anyone have any idea on how strict start dates would be for successful overseas applicants? I was wondering if a job offer was made would there be a start date that would have to be adhered to or would there be some flexibility so the person can get affairs in order before the big move?

thanks in advance.

Pincher

You should easily get at least 3-4 months notice of a move if successful. I know some people did defer to a later start date, but I can't recall the details.
If you for instance get offered June 2023 and then tell them you can't start until November 2023, you run the risk that come November they're no longer running Transitional Courses.
I applied November 2013, did my testing in February 2014, was accepted April and then started in August having moved over in late June. For us that gave us more than enough time to sort things out.

notbrazil

Can anyone over in WAPOL advise what the model is for General Duties at the moment - i.e do officers carry 'workloads' of crimes and conduct follow-up investigation, prepare case files etc or is it mainly initial response and then handed over to an investigation team? There's a mixture of this across UK forces at present. Would be interested to know how it works over there.

Moocher90

I would also like to know about what shift patterns are generally like. Is it like 2 early shifts 2 lates and 2 nights and however many day off or does it work differently in WA