Hi
I am an electrician and have just started the VETASSESS application, but i have heard some worrying stories regarding VETASSESS once/if we arrive in Aus. Apparantly VETASSESS is not being recognised by the Aus Gov yet, and that electricians are being told to do extra courses (which cost both extra time and money!) before they are allowed to work. Does anyone know if this is true? if so what is the point in spending a huge amount of money on the practical assessment if it is not recognised in Aus? Does anyone else think that this is a worrying prospect?

I'm now wondering if it is worth getting a student visa to complete the courses in Aus, then applying for perminant residency from there. Is this a good idea? (less money?, less hassle? etc)

Please can someone let me in on the truth? and what exactly happens when i arrive in Aus etc

Thanks

Hi
Seems as if you have been given completely the wrong info.
Vetassess is the assessing body reccomended by TRA to conduct skills assessments on certain trades in the following countries,India, Sri Lanka, U.K, South Africa and Phillipines.
Visit www.workplace.gov.au click on the Individuals box, then click on migrants and you will be given all the info needed to apply for your ARTC.
The assessment is in 3 stages, self assessment, paper based assessment and application, it is far more costly than before( I belive in the region of $2200.
There are also links on the site for the Electrical licensing departments of each state as you will need to get your license after arrival.
Let me know if you need more info.
Andrea

Hello again
Just had another thought.
Visit www.saaustralia.com this is a forum for South Africans migrating to Australia, there are some Brits on there too.
Today a thread has started regarding any Electricians who have completed the vocational and educational assessment( vetassess) you are sure to get a wealth of information and most of the posts are in English.

Hi Andrea
Thanx for your reply, we have looked and looked into all of the formal sites that we possibly can, but it's just the actual personal experience forums that are slightly worrying reading.
Others are stating that VETASSESS is not being recognised yet and that after people have paid to have their skills assessed here, the oz States are still only accepting it as the old TRA version and making them pay for and undertake lengthy courses in Oz before they are given freedom to work unsupervised.
I understand that there are Regs tests to complete, but surely not these extra full courses that they are being made to do and then treated as apprentices after 20 years of experience, especially as they have already had their skills assessed in the UK (at great cost).

Any advice to help ease the worry is greatly accepted

Thanx again

Shell & Mike

Firstly VETASSESS is recognized, all that means is that they give you the same piece of paper at much greater cost than TRA did.
So there is some truth in what you have been told, different name but same procedure to follow.
Prior to August 2007 you would have arrived in Australia, sent all your docs to TRA, paid your $300 and been given an Australian Recognised Trade Certificate.
At this stage you would think, great now I can get my license only to discover that you would now have to either complete a trade test that can be booked out months in advance or many weeks of night school or a few weeks of full time study.
These courses were mostly for migrants with a lesser understanding of English, but many people chose to do it to brush up on skills.
We booked Mark to do his “trade test” at Balga Tafe in Perth in November2006.
He felt the same way, that after 13 years as an Electrician he was being told he was no good and felt like telling them to stick it, however we had been here for 11 months, the kids were settled and how silly would we look to give up now.
We joked about all the hoops we had to jump through and decided that if we had to do it naked whilst fire breathing, so be it.
We also looked at the info on forums and got more scared, Mark had extra pressure as his work basically said he had better pass, so he did the 4 hour practical and the theory on the same day.
Of the 6 guys that turned up 3 upped and left as they didn’t feel confident, they probably went on and went the course route.
Mark did fine, I still have a list of the jobs he had to do somewhere if you need it.
I want to add that this rigmarole doesn’t just apply to migrants, I have an Australian friend who let his Electrical license lapse, he now has to go to Perth and do 9 week course or there abouts.
My advice would be to contact the licensing board in the Sate you will be going to, ask them how one goes about the whole thing from start to finish( including if you need a permit to work under supervision whilst applying for your license) try and hook up with someone who has completed the VETASSESS, get advice from them and then just put your head down and do it.
Unfortunately there are countries where the standard of Electrician is not the same as you or Mark and that is probably the reason everything is so over regulated.
I hope that my advice is still up to date and relevant, double check with the official departments and give us a yell if there is anything we can do.
We are in Western Australia but will be moving to Queensland soon, so I will have to see if we have any hoops to jump through to make sure Mark’s license is good there.
p.m me if you need anything done from this side.
Andrea

Ah thanks Andrea, i think you might be right i need to stop reading all of the scary forums!! We're still not quite sure where bouts we wanna live, it's between Perth and Adelaide, although Brisbane is a very close 3rd, so we may have to get in touch with all 3 state departments to see what info they can give. Not sure Mike will be too pleased when i tell him he has to jump through burning hoops naked....hee hee but you are right giving up too early is a total cop out and we need to take whatever is thrown at us

Thanks once again

Shell