A few discussions around the house here lately made me ponder going back to Australia sometime. The DW is getting sick of cold Canadian winters and thinks it would be great if we could start spending a month or three down there each winter. Fine, I say, but I would need to work. I am Australian by birth but have lived in Canada for 15 years. I did the change of career thing and took my carpentry apprenticeship here in Canada and don’t know anything about the trade in Australia. So I’m wondering if my qualifications would be accepted down there. Any Aussie readers on this board who could help me out? I would most likely be working in NSW if this was to happen.
Thanks in advance
Wally
Lignum est bonum.
Replies
I'm a canuck, but when I took my apprenticeship it was accepted
down under. As long as you went the full way with your apprenticeship
and have a certificate of apprenticeship,and not just a certificate of -
qualification (also called a "TQ").
Wally
hopefully other Aussies will chime in ...
I think the core questions are:
what work are you thinking of doing and
will you be a contractor or an employee?
The building industry in Sydney is fairly strong at the moment brickies are still laying bricks for about $800 per 1000 (down from a peak of $2000 per 1000 about 4 years ago). I don't know current rates for carpenters.
Contractors are doing it tuff. Apart from needing to be licenced, insurance rates have gone through the roof affecting margins.
You'll need to contact the Aussie consul to check what type of visa you'll need — the good news is you may be classed as having dual Canadian and Australian citizenship.
the following re licience requirements is to get you started, it is copied from the Government's web site: http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/building/builderstradespeople/licencescertificates.html '
Who needs a licence?
Before you do any residential building, plumbing, gasfitting, electrical wiring or air-conditioning and refrigeration work in NSW, you must be licensed with the Office of Fair Trading. If you work without the proper licence, you will be breaking the law.
Caution. Doing residential building work without the proper licence is against the law and carries heavy penalties.
You must have a contractor licence before you contract, sub-contract or advertise to do:
You will also need a licence if you want to supply kit homes, garages, carports and sheds where the contract price for the building materials used is $1,000 or more.
Caution. By law, your licence number must be shown on all advertising, stationery and signage.
Thanks for the replies. I took the full apprenticeship program here, and I am a dual citizen so visa should not be an issue. I don't think I want to be contractor if I can avoid it, just pick up some finish and trim work for a few weeks where possible. Would have to acquire tools all over again for contracting; this is supposed to be a holiday not an expense. Probably would look around the Wollongong or Blure Mountains area as I have family in both those places. Just a notion and a bit of thinking out loud.
Wally
Lignum est bonum.
Wally
you may want to consider some cordless tools. That way once you had an Aussie battery charger you could use your Canadian tools in Australia.
Ian