Hi Steve
Welcome to Poms in Oz.
I am a staunch supporter of truck drivers because I know some very nice ones. I don't know anything about driving trucks (being female, I struggle with a VW Golf!)
The last that I heard, 6-8 weeks ago, DIAC and whichever Unions reprepsent truckers in Oz were having their annual chinwag.
The gist seems to be that the hauliers want truck-driving added to the skills lists (preferably the MODL.) The Unions are implacably against the idea. They complain that the pay, perks and working conditions for long-distance truckers in Oz (especially) are allegedly appalling and say that this is why although there is no shortage of hown-grown Aussies with HGV licences, they won't drive trucks. The Unions argue passionately that allowing foreign drivers to migrate to Oz would make the pay etc worse than it allegedly is now.
A Registered Migration Agent told me recently that he does not see trucking coming onto the lists any time soon unless DIAC and the Unions can resolve their differences about the whole thing.
Very, very occasionally, though, hauliers do offer drivers from other countries the chance to migrate, with the sponsorship needed for that bit.
The next thing is that you would have to do some special training to drive trucks in Oz. You need a licence for the particular state, and I don't know how that works if the job requires you to go inter-state.
To be honest, it doesn't look that hopeful to me except that there is a thread running about it on Poms in Adelaide at the minute. Apparently a guy has been offered a job in Tasmania, but I do not know whether that is trucks or buses. Please see here:
PomsInAdelaide - Bus Driver/HGV Driver Query
Best wishes
Gill
