Posted By Paul Gildernew 1 Hi all, I am considering emigrating to australia in 2 years time. I will be travelling out there in a few months time to check out things. Can anyone advise on the availability of jobs for a safety manager in the construction sector in melbourne or sydney regions Thanks in advance for any assitance you can offer. Paul

Posted By jason preston This post is very interesting as I have construction experience but seem to get nowhere in my quest to work in OZ. Unless you have a degree the search is fruitless

Posted By Paul Harrison Hi Ken & Paul Just a word of warning, if you intend to obtain a degree to fulfill the vetassess requirement make sure it is relevant to your job, as work exprience for you nominated occupation is also used for points. e.g. a degree in horticulture would not allow you entry for health & safety etc. The easiest route I could find was doing the MSc in OHS as it can be achieved quicker than the degree (in some cases 18 months) and also can be done by distance learning. It will also satisfy vetassess. Which ever route you take wish you the best of luck as Oz is a great place. Cheers Paul

Posted By Ken M Paul H Thanks for the heads up. I was hoping to do Psychology at degree level as I very interested in the Behavioural Safety side of subject - do you think I could link this to the safety job. Jason Thanks again for the information, I have seen many of your posts on here regarding Australia and can see your frustration. Rather than hijack Paul G's thread if you have any more advice for me please email me direct and I can add more to my planning. Ken

Posted By Paul Harrison Paul Having gone through the process and been successful my advice would be to forget your first degree as a possible route. As you don't intend to try for a couple of years, I would finish the MSc in Env Mgt and focus on getting 2 years experience in Env Mgt (you can obviously tie this into your OHS role) and then choosing the most relevant occupation on the nominated occupations list to this qualification (see www.immi.gov.uk). The easiest route if you are young enough and have enough funds (this can be v.expensive) is to study a relevant degree in Australia as on completion of your studies there are several routes to staying on permanently, it also makes finding potential sponsors and employers much easier. Regarding sponsorship there are quite onerous requirements that employers must attain before they can recruit abroad. The easiest way is to put your CV on the skill matching database at the above website (remember you still have to have your quals assessed!). I managed to obtain offers of state sponsorship from WA and Victoria and would suggest that visiting the state government sites and looking for occupations in demand is the best way of going forward. For you info I had a positive Vetassess for my Env. Health degree, but managed to secure sponsorship on the back of my experience and PgDip in OHS (OHS is in demand in WA). Although this contradicts what has been said earlier, WA agreed to put a letter together to the immigration service to get round me not having a positive vetassess in OHS (the PgDip is not recognised by vetassess!!. Quite convoluted but I hope makes sense. Please note that my application etc was over two years ago so the rules etc may have changed. Unfortunately I split with my wife and couldn't leave my kids behind so didn't go in the end. Gutting after trying to get in for over 15 years!! Feel free to to ask any further question and i'll try to give you an answer as long as you don't take my word as gospel :-) Paul