4 months in Oz as an Electrician
Mar 29th 2006, 9:59 pm
#1
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Location: Anglesea, Victoria
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4 months in Oz as an Electrician
So here we are 4 months down the line. And what an experience it has all been. It feels like we are the only english family who didn't emigrate to Brisbane, Perth or the Mornington Penninsula! 
I'm sure that is not true but it sure feels like it. We moved to Anglesea on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. It was for a total life change. English life was full of indoor activities for the kids and Richard working a 14 hour day, 6 days a week.
Having never been to Australia before we picked Anglesea out of pure luck and have never regretted it. Our home for the first 3 weeks was on the Big 4 caravan park. They were amazing people who made us feel so welcome. We had those 3 weeks to find rented accomodation which was not easy as it was the start of the tourist season and all places had been let out. But luckily again we found one. It's a complete mess but nothing that a bit of elbow grease and paint couldn't fix. Those first 3 weeks were spent buying cars, getting tax numbers, getting driving licences, opening bank accounts! Basically getting a life again!
Richard is an electrician by trade and applying for his "licence to trade" is where all the trouble started! Boy were we unprepared for the saga that follows! In England we had all his qualifications transferred over to australian recognised qualifications. Then on arrival, we did nothing about his work for the first month, just concentrated on the above stuff. Then we inquired about how we get his licence. Richard was self employed, running his own successful business in England, but here that means nothing! Here he has to prove he is an electrician by the following process. First he needs to get a TRA certificate. We foolishly thought that the one we got in England whilst going through the emigration fiasco was the one they need. It's not! This TRA certificate we were told is for emigration purposes only and can not be used again! So we needed to apply for another one exactly the same, with exactly the same information, ie references etc.
We thought this was stupid as we had already done it all so we got onto our local MP, who was just brilliant and got his secretary to look into it for us. Unfortunately, though he thought it was stupid himself, he said there was nothing he could do about it. So it took us another 6 weeks writing to people in England begging them to send us new references. It took this long because basically people are not interested and can't be bothered. Also we stupidly left all Richards Tax books from his business at his mums house thinking we would not need them. Eventually his mum posted them to us, as we needed to prove that he had been self employed. So we filled out the forms and sent it all off. The man we spoke to at the TRA office told us not to hold our breath as the committee only meet up once a month to view all applications for TRA certificates.....and we had just missed a meeting!!!! So this is the stage we are at. We are still waiting now for that meeting.
Once we get the TRA certificate we can then apply for a Class E licence. Which means Richard can work as a qualified electrician for another company. To be self employed, in other words to get his Class A licence, we have been told we would then need to do a 4 month college course with exam. AAagh!!
Just as well we had savings otherwise we would be stuffed. Luckily, in the mean time, Richard has been working as a "labourer" for an electrician on labourers wages, which is at least something. Every building site he has been onto people have said that they are desperate for electricians and that he should have no trouble finding work....once he gets his licence!!
All in all, we know that by the end of this year it will all be sorted. We came out here expecting the first 12 months to be difficult and because of that attitude none of this has been stressful. Richards working day is Mon - Fri 7:30 to 4pm, then he goes surfing! Not bad eh! It all comes out in the wash, eventually.
What have I learned from all of this? That there are things you have no control over or didn't anticipate. So instead of stressing about it or beating myself up for not having done better research, I just adopted the attitude of, "Oh well, we'll get there." Would I go back to england? No way! Life here is brilliant. I walk the dog on the beach every night, I body surf with the kids, we do outdoor activities.....The biggest thing we are learning is to be as laid back as the Aussies. No more English tight, stressed, stiff upper lip for me. We just go with the flow. Perfect.
I'm sure that is not true but it sure feels like it. We moved to Anglesea on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. It was for a total life change. English life was full of indoor activities for the kids and Richard working a 14 hour day, 6 days a week.Having never been to Australia before we picked Anglesea out of pure luck and have never regretted it. Our home for the first 3 weeks was on the Big 4 caravan park. They were amazing people who made us feel so welcome. We had those 3 weeks to find rented accomodation which was not easy as it was the start of the tourist season and all places had been let out. But luckily again we found one. It's a complete mess but nothing that a bit of elbow grease and paint couldn't fix. Those first 3 weeks were spent buying cars, getting tax numbers, getting driving licences, opening bank accounts! Basically getting a life again!
Richard is an electrician by trade and applying for his "licence to trade" is where all the trouble started! Boy were we unprepared for the saga that follows! In England we had all his qualifications transferred over to australian recognised qualifications. Then on arrival, we did nothing about his work for the first month, just concentrated on the above stuff. Then we inquired about how we get his licence. Richard was self employed, running his own successful business in England, but here that means nothing! Here he has to prove he is an electrician by the following process. First he needs to get a TRA certificate. We foolishly thought that the one we got in England whilst going through the emigration fiasco was the one they need. It's not! This TRA certificate we were told is for emigration purposes only and can not be used again! So we needed to apply for another one exactly the same, with exactly the same information, ie references etc.
We thought this was stupid as we had already done it all so we got onto our local MP, who was just brilliant and got his secretary to look into it for us. Unfortunately, though he thought it was stupid himself, he said there was nothing he could do about it. So it took us another 6 weeks writing to people in England begging them to send us new references. It took this long because basically people are not interested and can't be bothered. Also we stupidly left all Richards Tax books from his business at his mums house thinking we would not need them. Eventually his mum posted them to us, as we needed to prove that he had been self employed. So we filled out the forms and sent it all off. The man we spoke to at the TRA office told us not to hold our breath as the committee only meet up once a month to view all applications for TRA certificates.....and we had just missed a meeting!!!! So this is the stage we are at. We are still waiting now for that meeting. Once we get the TRA certificate we can then apply for a Class E licence. Which means Richard can work as a qualified electrician for another company. To be self employed, in other words to get his Class A licence, we have been told we would then need to do a 4 month college course with exam. AAagh!!
Just as well we had savings otherwise we would be stuffed. Luckily, in the mean time, Richard has been working as a "labourer" for an electrician on labourers wages, which is at least something. Every building site he has been onto people have said that they are desperate for electricians and that he should have no trouble finding work....once he gets his licence!!
All in all, we know that by the end of this year it will all be sorted. We came out here expecting the first 12 months to be difficult and because of that attitude none of this has been stressful. Richards working day is Mon - Fri 7:30 to 4pm, then he goes surfing! Not bad eh! It all comes out in the wash, eventually.
What have I learned from all of this? That there are things you have no control over or didn't anticipate. So instead of stressing about it or beating myself up for not having done better research, I just adopted the attitude of, "Oh well, we'll get there." Would I go back to england? No way! Life here is brilliant. I walk the dog on the beach every night, I body surf with the kids, we do outdoor activities.....The biggest thing we are learning is to be as laid back as the Aussies. No more English tight, stressed, stiff upper lip for me. We just go with the flow. Perfect.
Mar 29th 2006, 10:39 pm
#2
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Re: 4 months in Oz as an Electrician
Originally Posted by richard-elly
So here we are 4 months down the line. And what an experience it has all been. It feels like we are the only english family who didn't emigrate to Brisbane, Perth or the Mornington Penninsula! I'm sure that is not true but it sure feels like it. We moved to Anglesea on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. It was for a total life change. English life was full of indoor activities for the kids and Richard working a 14 hour day, 6 days a week.
Having never been to Australia before we picked Anglesea out of pure luck and have never regretted it. Our home for the first 3 weeks was on the Big 4 caravan park. They were amazing people who made us feel so welcome. We had those 3 weeks to find rented accomodation which was not easy as it was the start of the tourist season and all places had been let out. But luckily again we found one. It's a complete mess but nothing that a bit of elbow grease and paint couldn't fix. Those first 3 weeks were spent buying cars, getting tax numbers, getting driving licences, opening bank accounts! Basically getting a life again!
Richard is an electrician by trade and applying for his "licence to trade" is where all the trouble started! Boy were we unprepared for the saga that follows! In England we had all his qualifications transferred over to australian recognised qualifications. Then on arrival, we did nothing about his work for the first month, just concentrated on the above stuff. Then we inquired about how we get his licence. Richard was self employed, running his own successful business in England, but here that means nothing! Here he has to prove he is an electrician by the following process. First he needs to get a TRA certificate. We foolishly thought that the one we got in England whilst going through the emigration fiasco was the one they need. It's not! This TRA certificate we were told is for emigration purposes only and can not be used again! So we needed to apply for another one exactly the same, with exactly the same information, ie references etc. We thought this was stupid as we had already done it all so we got onto our local MP, who was just brilliant and got his secretary to look into it for us. Unfortunately, though he thought it was stupid himself, he said there was nothing he could do about it. So it took us another 6 weeks writing to people in England begging them to send us new references. It took this long because basically people are not interested and can't be bothered. Also we stupidly left all Richards Tax books from his business at his mums house thinking we would not need them. Eventually his mum posted them to us, as we needed to prove that he had been self employed. So we filled out the forms and sent it all off. The man we spoke to at the TRA office told us not to hold our breath as the committee only meet up once a month to view all applications for TRA certificates.....and we had just missed a meeting!!!! So this is the stage we are at. We are still waiting now for that meeting.
Once we get the TRA certificate we can then apply for a Class E licence. Which means Richard can work as a qualified electrician for another company. To be self employed, in other words to get his Class A licence, we have been told we would then need to do a 4 month college course with exam. AAagh!!
Just as well we had savings otherwise we would be stuffed. Luckily, in the mean time, Richard has been working as a "labourer" for an electrician on labourers wages, which is at least something. Every building site he has been onto people have said that they are desperate for electricians and that he should have no trouble finding work....once he gets his licence!!
All in all, we know that by the end of this year it will all be sorted. We came out here expecting the first 12 months to be difficult and because of that attitude none of this has been stressful. Richards working day is Mon - Fri 7:30 to 4pm, then he goes surfing! Not bad eh! It all comes out in the wash, eventually.
What have I learned from all of this? That there are things you have no control over or didn't anticipate. So instead of stressing about it or beating myself up for not having done better research, I just adopted the attitude of, "Oh well, we'll get there." Would I go back to england? No way! Life here is brilliant. I walk the dog on the beach every night, I body surf with the kids, we do outdoor activities.....The biggest thing we are learning is to be as laid back as the Aussies. No more English tight, stressed, stiff upper lip for me. We just go with the flow. Perfect.
I'm sure that is not true but it sure feels like it. We moved to Anglesea on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. It was for a total life change. English life was full of indoor activities for the kids and Richard working a 14 hour day, 6 days a week.Having never been to Australia before we picked Anglesea out of pure luck and have never regretted it. Our home for the first 3 weeks was on the Big 4 caravan park. They were amazing people who made us feel so welcome. We had those 3 weeks to find rented accomodation which was not easy as it was the start of the tourist season and all places had been let out. But luckily again we found one. It's a complete mess but nothing that a bit of elbow grease and paint couldn't fix. Those first 3 weeks were spent buying cars, getting tax numbers, getting driving licences, opening bank accounts! Basically getting a life again!
Richard is an electrician by trade and applying for his "licence to trade" is where all the trouble started! Boy were we unprepared for the saga that follows! In England we had all his qualifications transferred over to australian recognised qualifications. Then on arrival, we did nothing about his work for the first month, just concentrated on the above stuff. Then we inquired about how we get his licence. Richard was self employed, running his own successful business in England, but here that means nothing! Here he has to prove he is an electrician by the following process. First he needs to get a TRA certificate. We foolishly thought that the one we got in England whilst going through the emigration fiasco was the one they need. It's not! This TRA certificate we were told is for emigration purposes only and can not be used again! So we needed to apply for another one exactly the same, with exactly the same information, ie references etc.
We thought this was stupid as we had already done it all so we got onto our local MP, who was just brilliant and got his secretary to look into it for us. Unfortunately, though he thought it was stupid himself, he said there was nothing he could do about it. So it took us another 6 weeks writing to people in England begging them to send us new references. It took this long because basically people are not interested and can't be bothered. Also we stupidly left all Richards Tax books from his business at his mums house thinking we would not need them. Eventually his mum posted them to us, as we needed to prove that he had been self employed. So we filled out the forms and sent it all off. The man we spoke to at the TRA office told us not to hold our breath as the committee only meet up once a month to view all applications for TRA certificates.....and we had just missed a meeting!!!! So this is the stage we are at. We are still waiting now for that meeting. Once we get the TRA certificate we can then apply for a Class E licence. Which means Richard can work as a qualified electrician for another company. To be self employed, in other words to get his Class A licence, we have been told we would then need to do a 4 month college course with exam. AAagh!!
Just as well we had savings otherwise we would be stuffed. Luckily, in the mean time, Richard has been working as a "labourer" for an electrician on labourers wages, which is at least something. Every building site he has been onto people have said that they are desperate for electricians and that he should have no trouble finding work....once he gets his licence!!
All in all, we know that by the end of this year it will all be sorted. We came out here expecting the first 12 months to be difficult and because of that attitude none of this has been stressful. Richards working day is Mon - Fri 7:30 to 4pm, then he goes surfing! Not bad eh! It all comes out in the wash, eventually.
What have I learned from all of this? That there are things you have no control over or didn't anticipate. So instead of stressing about it or beating myself up for not having done better research, I just adopted the attitude of, "Oh well, we'll get there." Would I go back to england? No way! Life here is brilliant. I walk the dog on the beach every night, I body surf with the kids, we do outdoor activities.....The biggest thing we are learning is to be as laid back as the Aussies. No more English tight, stressed, stiff upper lip for me. We just go with the flow. Perfect.
I can honestly say it was the best move we have done and am looking forward to our new future after getting all the paperwork for allsorts out the way. We also said we realise that we must give it at least 12 months to 2 years to settle and learn about this way of life. John has an interview today as well as going to an employment agency.
Great thread and nice to see people in similar situations with similar thoughts
Lesleym
Mar 29th 2006, 11:46 pm
#3
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Re: 4 months in Oz as an Electrician
Thanks for reply. It really is wonderful to hear that we are not the only ones having unforseen problems. Genuinly does make me feel less alone in the world! Richard was talking to a builder the other day who said it was a shame he couldnt use Richard as he has been monitoring his work and he was surprised how quick and tidily Richard worked and it is the neatest electrical work he had ever seen. So it is so frustrating! But the good side is, is that at least Richard is learning all the differencesto England from the guy employing him. Wiring is done slightly different etc.
My son is 6 and had a relapse the other day, coming into our bed crying uncontrollably, saying he had dreamt of his friends in England and he missed them and wanted to go home! Nearly broke my heart! Time, time ,time. That's all we need to fix the problems!
My son is 6 and had a relapse the other day, coming into our bed crying uncontrollably, saying he had dreamt of his friends in England and he missed them and wanted to go home! Nearly broke my heart! Time, time ,time. That's all we need to fix the problems!
Mar 30th 2006, 12:59 am
#4
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Re: 4 months in Oz as an Electrician
Originally Posted by richard-elly
Thanks for reply. It really is wonderful to hear that we are not the only ones having unforseen problems. Genuinly does make me feel less alone in the world! Richard was talking to a builder the other day who said it was a shame he couldnt use Richard as he has been monitoring his work and he was surprised how quick and tidily Richard worked and it is the neatest electrical work he had ever seen. So it is so frustrating! But the good side is, is that at least Richard is learning all the differencesto England from the guy employing him. Wiring is done slightly different etc.
My son is 6 and had a relapse the other day, coming into our bed crying uncontrollably, saying he had dreamt of his friends in England and he missed them and wanted to go home! Nearly broke my heart! Time, time ,time. That's all we need to fix the problems!
My son is 6 and had a relapse the other day, coming into our bed crying uncontrollably, saying he had dreamt of his friends in England and he missed them and wanted to go home! Nearly broke my heart! Time, time ,time. That's all we need to fix the problems!
Mar 30th 2006, 5:56 am
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Re: 4 months in Oz as an Electrician
Lesley
Richard has just said that he was told that Victoria was the only state that electricians needed to get themselves registered to be self employed after they get their Class A certificate? Is this different in Brisbane?
Richard has just said that he was told that Victoria was the only state that electricians needed to get themselves registered to be self employed after they get their Class A certificate? Is this different in Brisbane?
Mar 30th 2006, 6:02 am
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Re: 4 months in Oz as an Electrician
Thanks for the warning on the elec. lic. !! I'll get started on a new TRA package before I leave now.
Mar 30th 2006, 6:28 am
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Re: 4 months in Oz as an Electrician
Glad to be of help. If you need to know anything else Richard said just ask.
Mar 30th 2006, 7:41 am
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Re: 4 months in Oz as an Electrician
Originally Posted by richard-elly
Lesley
Richard has just said that he was told that Victoria was the only state that electricians needed to get themselves registered to be self employed after they get their Class A certificate? Is this different in Brisbane?
Richard has just said that he was told that Victoria was the only state that electricians needed to get themselves registered to be self employed after they get their Class A certificate? Is this different in Brisbane?
Here is a link that might be useful to some moving to the Queensland areas though http://www.trainandemploy.qld.gov.au...s/index.html#e
Elly I'll try to find out more info in the next few days. John has just applied for his Blue Card that is needed here too. Its a simple test that can be done on the internet or by phoning them and costs roughly 70 dollars.
Mar 30th 2006, 8:22 am
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Re: 4 months in Oz as an Electrician
My partner is an electrician, but doesn't really look into these things, so I found your post very helpful, thanks.
Do you have to have all the same information that you provided for first TRA? Do all the references have be within a certain date i.e no older than 12 months?
How did you change over the English qualitfications to Australian recognised qualifications?
Sorry for all the questions just want to make sure that if possible we can take everything with us.
Kate
Do you have to have all the same information that you provided for first TRA? Do all the references have be within a certain date i.e no older than 12 months?
How did you change over the English qualitfications to Australian recognised qualifications?
Sorry for all the questions just want to make sure that if possible we can take everything with us.
Kate
Mar 30th 2006, 8:38 am
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Re: 4 months in Oz as an Electrician
Richard is an electrician by trade and applying for his "licence to trade" is where all the trouble started! Boy were we unprepared for the saga that follows! In England we had all his qualifications transferred over to australian recognised qualifications. Then on arrival, we did nothing about his work for the first month, just concentrated on the above stuff. Then we inquired about how we get his licence. Richard was self employed, running his own successful business in England, but here that means nothing! Here he has to prove he is an electrician by the following process. First he needs to get a TRA certificate. We foolishly thought that the one we got in England whilst going through the emigration fiasco was the one they need. It's not! This TRA certificate we were told is for emigration purposes only and can not be used again! So we needed to apply for another one exactly the same, with exactly the same information, ie references etc. We thought this was stupid as we had already done it all so we got onto our local MP, who was just brilliant and got his secretary to look into it for us. Unfortunately, though he thought it was stupid himself, he said there was nothing he could do about it. So it took us another 6 weeks writing to people in England begging them to send us new references. It took this long because basically people are not interested and can't be bothered. Also we stupidly left all Richards Tax books from his business at his mums house thinking we would not need them. Eventually his mum posted them to us, as we needed to prove that he had been self employed. So we filled out the forms and sent it all off. The man we spoke to at the TRA office told us not to hold our breath as the committee only meet up once a month to view all applications for TRA certificates.....and we had just missed a meeting!!!! So this is the stage we are at. We are still waiting now for that meeting.
Hi all, welcome to my world! Have been here just under four weeks and have just sent off all the same cr*ppy stuff to the TRA. Spent two hours last night re-writing all the stuff from John's pre-migration application to get his TRA cert and posted it off today. Got told the same story about the monthly committee meeting. Hopefully we'll get in for the 14th April meet, otherwise it will be the 14th May. Just have to accept we have to go through this red tape nightmare. Hoping John can also get a job as a "trades assistant" as well, while he's waiting on all this paperwork to happen. My brother is here and has a buddy who's an electrician. We're meeting up with him on Sat night and John is going to pick his brains to see if he can get a job while he's waiting. Like you, we have some savings so we're not on the breadline, but we were hoping those savings would be put towards a new house rather than dwindling away on weekly outgoings like rent, food, etc. We should keep each other posted as to how we're getting on.
All the best. Michelle xx
We thought this was stupid as we had already done it all so we got onto our local MP, who was just brilliant and got his secretary to look into it for us. Unfortunately, though he thought it was stupid himself, he said there was nothing he could do about it. So it took us another 6 weeks writing to people in England begging them to send us new references. It took this long because basically people are not interested and can't be bothered. Also we stupidly left all Richards Tax books from his business at his mums house thinking we would not need them. Eventually his mum posted them to us, as we needed to prove that he had been self employed. So we filled out the forms and sent it all off. The man we spoke to at the TRA office told us not to hold our breath as the committee only meet up once a month to view all applications for TRA certificates.....and we had just missed a meeting!!!! So this is the stage we are at. We are still waiting now for that meeting. Hi all, welcome to my world! Have been here just under four weeks and have just sent off all the same cr*ppy stuff to the TRA. Spent two hours last night re-writing all the stuff from John's pre-migration application to get his TRA cert and posted it off today. Got told the same story about the monthly committee meeting. Hopefully we'll get in for the 14th April meet, otherwise it will be the 14th May. Just have to accept we have to go through this red tape nightmare. Hoping John can also get a job as a "trades assistant" as well, while he's waiting on all this paperwork to happen. My brother is here and has a buddy who's an electrician. We're meeting up with him on Sat night and John is going to pick his brains to see if he can get a job while he's waiting. Like you, we have some savings so we're not on the breadline, but we were hoping those savings would be put towards a new house rather than dwindling away on weekly outgoings like rent, food, etc. We should keep each other posted as to how we're getting on.
All the best. Michelle xx
Mar 30th 2006, 8:55 am
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Re: 4 months in Oz as an Electrician
Hello. We are still learning about it ourselves and seem to be bumbling through it all with little knowledge on how we done it!! But I will try to answer your questions.
You can do the transfer of your qualifications into australian recognised ones whilst you are still in England to save on time. That I do know. We got here by using an agent who sorted it all out for us. Costs money but well worth it. How did they do it? Who knows!!!
You cannot apply for your TRA certificate or licence to trade until you enter Australia. That I know as well. To apply for it go to website
www.workplace.gov.au/tra
This website will tell you all you need to know about how to demonstrate you are a qualified electrician. You can even download a sample application form.
You can do the transfer of your qualifications into australian recognised ones whilst you are still in England to save on time. That I do know. We got here by using an agent who sorted it all out for us. Costs money but well worth it. How did they do it? Who knows!!!
You cannot apply for your TRA certificate or licence to trade until you enter Australia. That I know as well. To apply for it go to website
www.workplace.gov.au/tra
This website will tell you all you need to know about how to demonstrate you are a qualified electrician. You can even download a sample application form.
Mar 30th 2006, 9:03 am
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Re: 4 months in Oz as an Electrician
Originally Posted by richard-elly
Hello. We are still learning about it ourselves and seem to be bumbling through it all with little knowledge on how we done it!! But I will try to answer your questions.
You can do the transfer of your qualifications into australian recognised ones whilst you are still in England to save on time. That I do know. We got here by using an agent who sorted it all out for us. Costs money but well worth it. How did they do it? Who knows!!!
You cannot apply for your TRA certificate or licence to trade until you enter Australia. That I know as well. To apply for it go to website
www.workplace.gov.au/tra
This website will tell you all you need to know about how to demonstrate you are a qualified electrician. You can even download a sample application form.
You can do the transfer of your qualifications into australian recognised ones whilst you are still in England to save on time. That I do know. We got here by using an agent who sorted it all out for us. Costs money but well worth it. How did they do it? Who knows!!!
You cannot apply for your TRA certificate or licence to trade until you enter Australia. That I know as well. To apply for it go to website
www.workplace.gov.au/tra
This website will tell you all you need to know about how to demonstrate you are a qualified electrician. You can even download a sample application form.
We are using an agent but they have never mentioned anything about transfering the qualifications. Did you have to pay extra for them to do this?
Thanks for your help.
Kate
Mar 30th 2006, 9:07 am
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Re: 4 months in Oz as an Electrician
Hello Michelle,
Glad to know we are not alone. We are in the same boat in that we want our savings to buy a house and not to dwindle away on just surviving, so we just went out and bought a house!!!! AAghhh. We move in on June 5th when our mortgage payments will start. So Richard needs to get his licence before this date so he can increase his earnings from temporary labourer to qualified electrician!! Then we can afford to pay the mortgage! The race is on!! How crazy are we? It's just that we started to look casually at houses, to get familiar with aussie houses..... and this one came up .....what can I say.....it was lovely......and we did not want to miss the opportunity.... We have also been accepted for the first time home buyers grant. Even though we owned a house in England it is the first time we have bought one in this country. You have to have a permanent visa though. We got $10,000. No paying it back either!! Wish us luck!
Glad to know we are not alone. We are in the same boat in that we want our savings to buy a house and not to dwindle away on just surviving, so we just went out and bought a house!!!! AAghhh. We move in on June 5th when our mortgage payments will start. So Richard needs to get his licence before this date so he can increase his earnings from temporary labourer to qualified electrician!! Then we can afford to pay the mortgage! The race is on!! How crazy are we? It's just that we started to look casually at houses, to get familiar with aussie houses..... and this one came up .....what can I say.....it was lovely......and we did not want to miss the opportunity.... We have also been accepted for the first time home buyers grant. Even though we owned a house in England it is the first time we have bought one in this country. You have to have a permanent visa though. We got $10,000. No paying it back either!! Wish us luck!
Mar 30th 2006, 9:17 am
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Re: 4 months in Oz as an Electrician
Originally Posted by Katep
We are using an agent but they have never mentioned anything about transfering the qualifications. Did you have to pay extra for them to do this?
Thanks for your help.
Kate
Thanks for your help.
Kate
Yes yes yes! Our agents put us in contact with an aussie guy John Nye who spent months doing it all for us. He is excellent and yes it costs extra. Some 1,500 pounds extra. We had to borrow the money from Richards mum. It's a big form to fill out but he guides you through it step by step until the form is perfect. I have his details here but don't know how up to date they are. But call him and have a chat....
phone +61 8 9581 5512
mobile 0404 000 361
email [email protected]
It has been a couple of years since we were in contact with him....if the above does not work, post a thread here and ask people in general. I do know that others have used him and i'm sure someone would have an up to date number if the above is out of date.
Mar 30th 2006, 9:20 am
#15
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Joined: Apr 2005
Location: From Galway Ireland to Robina to Mudgeeraba, GC
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Re: 4 months in Oz as an Electrician
Originally Posted by richard-elly
Hello Michelle,
Glad to know we are not alone. We are in the same boat in that we want our savings to buy a house and not to dwindle away on just surviving, so we just went out and bought a house!!!! AAghhh. We move in on June 5th when our mortgage payments will start. So Richard needs to get his licence before this date so he can increase his earnings from temporary labourer to qualified electrician!! Then we can afford to pay the mortgage! The race is on!! How crazy are we? It's just that we started to look casually at houses, to get familiar with aussie houses..... and this one came up .....what can I say.....it was lovely......and we did not want to miss the opportunity.... We have also been accepted for the first time home buyers grant. Even though we owned a house in England it is the first time we have bought one in this country. You have to have a permanent visa though. We got $10,000. No paying it back either!! Wish us luck!
Glad to know we are not alone. We are in the same boat in that we want our savings to buy a house and not to dwindle away on just surviving, so we just went out and bought a house!!!! AAghhh. We move in on June 5th when our mortgage payments will start. So Richard needs to get his licence before this date so he can increase his earnings from temporary labourer to qualified electrician!! Then we can afford to pay the mortgage! The race is on!! How crazy are we? It's just that we started to look casually at houses, to get familiar with aussie houses..... and this one came up .....what can I say.....it was lovely......and we did not want to miss the opportunity.... We have also been accepted for the first time home buyers grant. Even though we owned a house in England it is the first time we have bought one in this country. You have to have a permanent visa though. We got $10,000. No paying it back either!! Wish us luck!