Penny22

It's painful waiting to hear back, and hard to stay focused in work when you just want to get on a plane. We're now leaning towards selling up.our house here instead of renting it out. More cash for the move and less hassle with tenants. Fingers crossed for good news.

Pincher

My Academy contacts have said September start dates too.

LP873

I had my interview yesterday. Lasted about 70 mins.
I asked about intakes and start dates. Basically they look to discuss intakes and start dates after your visa is confirmed. You go into the selection pool once immigration have told WAPol you have your visa.
They fully accept some will be able to move quicker than others and a discussion takes place re start dates.

Slippery Pete

I’ve heard first intake September then March 2024

Penny22

When you say intake, is that one class or could that be several classes of transitional officers??? Any idea of how many will start in September???

Slippery Pete

I reckon 1class in September then 2 in march 2024

Pincher

When you start with an employer here, they sign you up to a Superannuation scheme - basically a pension where your contributions are invested in stocks and shares to increase in value. You can access it at 60 if you wish and retire.
The amount paid in by employers each pay fortnight stands at 10.5% to be increased by 0.5% every 6 months until it reaches 12%
You can make additional payments to your Super each year up to a maximum of $22,500.
You don't have to stay with the scheme your employer signs you up to (WAPol use a government scheme called GESB) I've moved mine twice since being here. There are hundreds of schemes to choose from.

I transferred my UK police pension over, basically due to my length of service and I didn't trust the UK government not to mess with it if I left it. UK Inland Revenue put a stop to government/public sector worker pensions being transferred abroad in April 2015. I don't know if that has changed. Maybe if you speak with a financial advisor they might be able to find a way around that.

I think if you leave your pension in the UK it is frozen until you reach 67 years.

LP873

When you can access your UK police pension depends on;

scheme you are/were in
length of service
age

for example. I have over 25 years service. I will be 50 this year. I can access my 1987 scheme when I reach 50 should I choose to retire.

Ben_capitan

Without being too cheeky and asking for figures? Is the pension/superannuation comparable to the UK? Do bobbies retire at 55 or 60 like they would in the UK and be able to live off a pension/superannuation considering the cost of living etc? I know this would be based on what you pay in / years accrued, but with a real likelihood of doing just over 20 years in Aus how would that likely stand?
Also, how difficult is it to reach senior Constable? Or even Sergeant over there? Sorry for all the questions, take it as a compliment because your answers are spot on and really informed.

Badger677

I took some advice and have been categorically told that transfer of pension is stili not an option. It changed in 2015 as you say and remains so.

Pincher

There's no retirement date for Coppers here. You gain access to your Super at 60. You can retire then, or keep on working.
There are various calculators you can find on the Superannuation companies websites which can work out, based on you age and salary how much you are projected to have in you Super at 60 or any other age you choose. They can also tell you how much you would need in your Super to retire comfortably.
A friend with working here since 2014 on a similar salary to me, but who was unable to transfer their pension, has $55,000 in their GESB Super.

Once you have 10 years or more recognisable service, including from the UK, you are to become a Senior Connie. This just involves you sitting a series of on-line tests on your knowledge of the law. And that's it!
They are very similar to the tests for First Class Connie most of you will do at the end of the Academy.
I was eligible to go for Senior Connie straight out of the Academy. I gave it a year so I was fully conversant with all the IT systems and admin procedures. This is because once you're a Senior you're expected to do probationer mentoring and occasional Acting duties. I wanted to make sure I really did know what I was doing first.

Once a Senior, as well as a yearly index linked pay rise, you get an automatic pay rise every 2 years for 10 years. I'm on $104,000 (the average Australian salary is $68,000) which pulls in $3,000 pay and shift penalties add on another $250 -$300. Pay is fortnightly here, which is awesome.

I have never been interested in promotion so never looked into what is involved in being a Skipper. However, I was talking to a colleague tonight who said that they have completely changed the process. It's moving away from interviews and will be based on hands-on live action scenario assessments.

Ben_capitan

Thanks for all of your answers, really helpful.

Penny22

Yes, very helpful. Thanks.

old.sparkles

On pensions, don't forget that if you have more than 10 qualifying years on your UK NI record you will be eligible for a UK state pension (35 years for full pension). In addition to voluntary additional payments to super, you can also make voluntary NI contributions to improve UK pension.

spouse of scouse

Just a couple of things to add to the great information from Pincher and Sparkles.

Superannuation in Australia is employment based, it's mandatory that employers pay into an employee's superannuation account.
Superannuation is different to the Australian Age Pension, which is the federal government payment to people who reach retirement age. The current retirement age for people born after 1 January 1957 is 67.

The Australian Age Pension is not the same as a UK State Pension. While the UK pension is based on NI contributions, the Australian one is classed as a welfare payment and applicants must meet the criteria for payment.

A few things people moving to Australia from the UK may need to consider:
To be eligible for the Australian Age Pension, you need to have lived in Australia for at least 10 years, with at least 5 of those years in continuous residence.
Income and assets tests must be met before being eligible. Worldwide income, including the UK State Pension, is counted in the income test. Similarly, worldwide assets, such a property in the UK, forms part of the assets test. Your Australian superannuation is also included in the income and assets tests.

It's quite complex. As an example, my husband gets a partial UK State Pension (based solely on his NI contributions), a small UK dock workers pension (based on a couple of years working on the Liverpool docks), and a part Australian age pension (he's lived in Australia for 25 years) - he's not eligible for the full Australian pension because he has income from UK pensions, and income from UK property (the UK property also affected the assets test for the Oz Age Pension)

Everyone's financial circumstances are so different, hence the complexity! We don't have any Oz superannuation because we cashed it in when we moved to the UK and invested it in two little houses, this was to comprise the main part of our retirement funds. Then we massively complicated our lives by moving back to Australia!