electrical trade ! VETASSESS or TRA ?????

[the gormleys]

Can any one help !!!

i am a fully time served maintenance electrician ( jib grade )hoping to go to WA . but i am a bit stuck as to who to apply for my trade recognition before my visa application.

i have looked at the list of trades on workplace.gov.au eg general electrician 4311-11 and believe i can apply to either TRA or VETASSESS but don't know the advantages or disadvantages either way.

or electrician ( special class ) 4311-11 and i will have to apply to the TRA and not vetassess.

can some one tell me what type of electrician a will be in oz or where i can find out for myself and is there any advantage to vetassess or TRA.

THANKS CRAIG

craig ( 33) louise (32) spencer (3) hayden (2)

[ozzy81uk]

Hi,

As far as I know, all the electrical trades go through the TRA. I am an instrument and electrical maintenance technician (General Electrical Instrument Tradesperson 4314-11, in Australian!)
Got my skills assessment back positive! which I was pleased about.
Im afraid I only heard about vetassess yesterday on pomsinoz chat! so I cant tell you anything about it.
Best bet is to look at the TRA website and maybe send them an email or call them.
If you need info about putting your app together I can help you there too. Basically you have to write your entire working life down on paper to give yourself the best chance!
I spent 6 months just getting al´l my documents and stuff together, but maybe I went over the top. Main thing is, I got a positive skills assessment, which is don't forget, at least in my opinion, the most important part of the visa process!
Im just waiting for my state sponsorship letter from Queensland, and then im almost ready to apply for the visa itself.

Hope I've been of help.

Danny

[leeob77]

hi craig. TRA now only assess electrician special class, vetassess do general electrician. i work as a maintenance electrician and personally i found the electrician special class described my job better. i had my skills assessed by TRA (positive result) and then applied for visa. the assessment fee from tra is a hell of a lot cheaper than vetassess ($300 for tra) plus when you take the first step towards getting an electrical license in oz (artc certificate) you dont have to pay for your first application.
in australia the states have different licenses. most have either electrical mechanic or electrical fitter. an electrical mechanic was described to me as doing installation / contracting type work and the electrical fitter was working on machinery / maintenance etc. BUT the fitter endorsement can be restrictive in many peoples opinions. i personally am getting my license in south australia (easiest route for license ), then transferring it to western australia for the mechanics license. this will still allow me to work as a maintenance electrician but with no concerns over restrictions. a lot of it is down to personal choice to be honest. have a look on the britishexpats website. there is loads of info on the whole process.
lee.

[the gormleys]

thank Danny

i will drop them a email and wait for a reply.

i fault find and calibrate process control instrumentation on a regular basses to .but unfortunality don't have any paper qualifications to prove this just on the job training, and a large amount of site experience.
my job title for the last 3 years has been lead instrument and electrical maintenance technician and i can prove this via employment references

do you have recognised qualifications in both instruments and electrical as i would like to carry on in this type of work when in oz so i will look into this trade on my application and if possible apply on this 4314-11. in your experience do you think this "experience" alone could be enough to get accepted

thanks for the offer to help with the application.!

Craig






i am at the start of my application gathering all my information together

[the gormleys]

Hello leeob

great advise !
where can i find the job descriptions for general,special class electrician so i can
take a look.
if i go the TRA route, can i work as a sparky straight away when arriving in oz, i know i will have to be supervised until my licence is applied

Thanks craig

[leeob77]

have a search around on the DIAC website. Electrician (Special Class) 4311-13 - Australian Skills Recognition Information is for electrician special class. Electrician (General) 4311-11 - Australian Skills Recognition Information is for general electrician. whichever route you go down you will have to get a restricted license if you want to work supervised while you sort your full license out. you will have to have an artc certificate to get the restricted license or apply for full license.
just re read my post and i might be confusing things. these are the steps you have to take to get license:
1) apply to either vetassess or TRA for skills assessment (this is only to allow you to apply for skilled visa)
2) apply for visa, once visa is hopefully granted.
3) apply for ARTC certificate proving you have equivalent skills and qualifications as an australian trade. you can do this from the uk if you have an address in oz (friend / relative) to send it to.
4) you can either wait till you get to oz and apply for a restricted license (no exams) while you wait to do full license exams or just apply for full license and dont work for a few months, OR do what most electricians seem to be doing (including me) and get your license in south australia. it is the easiest and quickest route AND you can start the process from the uk. basically in SA the only requirements to get a license are ARTC certificate (can be done from uk) and proof of passing course / exam on australian wiring rules. this course can be done via distance learning (complete a workbook while still in uk) and then sit an exam in adelaide. you can get the exam result same day and apply for FULL license same day. takes a few weeks to come through then you can simply transfer it to the state you wil be living and working in.
lee.

[no1spark]

go for the mechanics license as others have said its NOT restricting at all you can then do all work the fitters license may restrict you to "Supervised" work only thats the last thing you want.

have a look at britishexpats site then search for electrical, there are some great people on there if your going to S/A then contact wendy on B/E site she can tell you exactly what you have to do for the wiring rules in S/A.

best of luck mate, if you need assistance then just ask thats what we try to do on here after all we have all gone through it all.

arthur

[ozzy81uk]

thank Danny

i will drop them a email and wait for a reply.

i fault find and calibrate process control instrumentation on a regular basses to .but unfortunality don't have any paper qualifications to prove this just on the job training, and a large amount of site experience.
my job title for the last 3 years has been lead instrument and electrical maintenance technician and i can prove this via employment references

do you have recognised qualifications in both instruments and electrical as i would like to carry on in this type of work when in oz so i will look into this trade on my application and if possible apply on this 4314-11. in your experience do you think this "experience" alone could be enough to get accepted

thanks for the offer to help with the application.!

Craig






i am at the start of my application gathering all my information together

Yeah my apprenticeship was in Instrumetation and control, 4 years.
Im living in Germany with my girlfriend and have had to get work in the normal ectric trade (industrial electrician) commissioning automated conveyor and storage equipment.
I was actually hoping on getting a licenese so that I could continue this type of work in Oz. I would prefer to work with instruments, but it seems all those jobs are in the outback and not in civilisation. Dont want to be working away all the time.

Experience does count but without qualifications im not sure if they'll assess you under that trade??
But dont worry, whatever trade you get assessed for, it is ONLY used to get you a visa. Doesnt stop you working as an instrument tech.
The important thing is probably what your ARTC will be? and which license you can get. I think as an instrument tech you get a restricted license and from what Ive read, you dont have to sit a test or anything to get one. Its the electrical mechanic license where you can do any kind of electric work.

[ozzy81uk]

have a search around on the DIAC website. Electrician (Special Class) 4311-13 - Australian Skills Recognition Information is for electrician special class. Electrician (General) 4311-11 - Australian Skills Recognition Information is for general electrician. whichever route you go down you will have to get a restricted license if you want to work supervised while you sort your full license out. you will have to have an artc certificate to get the restricted license or apply for full license.
just re read my post and i might be confusing things. these are the steps you have to take to get license:
1) apply to either vetassess or TRA for skills assessment (this is only to allow you to apply for skilled visa)
2) apply for visa, once visa is hopefully granted.
3) apply for ARTC certificate proving you have equivalent skills and qualifications as an australian trade. you can do this from the uk if you have an address in oz (friend / relative) to send it to.
4) you can either wait till you get to oz and apply for a restricted license (no exams) while you wait to do full license exams or just apply for full license and dont work for a few months, OR do what most electricians seem to be doing (including me) and get your license in south australia. it is the easiest and quickest route AND you can start the process from the uk. basically in SA the only requirements to get a license are ARTC certificate (can be done from uk) and proof of passing course / exam on australian wiring rules. this course can be done via distance learning (complete a workbook while still in uk) and then sit an exam in adelaide. you can get the exam result same day and apply for FULL license same day. takes a few weeks to come through then you can simply transfer it to the state you wil be living and working in.
lee.

Hi Lee,

Hows it going? Sounds like a good idea going through SA to get a license, is that still legal and above board etc, or is it just a loophole in the system?
If i get queensland sponsorship, could I still fly to SA for a few weeks? and then go to queensland, how does it work? what do you think.
Do you know how I can complete the oz wiring rules from this side of the globe and if the resus safety course can be done here or does it have to be done in oz?
I'd like to get everything ready or at least prepared as far as possible so that I can start work ASAP. Already applied for my ARTC, apparently you can get your skills assessed and if its successful, they let you know but wont issue the certificate until you arrive in oz.

Danny

[leeob77]

hi danny. the route through SA is all above board. you can do most of the work from over here (as i am currently doing) and then sit the exam in oz (done in one day). the way it works is i signed up with PEER training in adelaide to do the wiring regs course via distance learning. you can enroll and pay for the course over the phone. about a week later you get a workbook, a copy of the regs, an a few other books that you use to complete the questions in the workbook (about 4 or 5 questions per page and about 140 pages).
you work through it at your own pace and once completed you contact PEER to arrange a date for your exam.
you can sit the exam and get your results on the same day i am told. once you have your certificate on the wiring rules and your artc certificate then you can apply for your license. im planning on spending only a couple of days in adelaide to do exams etc. once issued with license (a few weeks later) you can transfer to any state through mutual recognition.
in my opinion the SA route is the quickest and easiest route to a license.
i dont know about the resus course, not something i have looked into to be honest.
on the subject of the artc certificate you can have it posted to a friend or relatives address in oz if you want. their policy is they wont post to overseas but they will post to and address in oz for you.

i was originally going to do the exams in WA as it would have been a bit cheaper but they told me the waiting list for the first exam was about two months from the time of application then if successful you apply and wait to sit second exam. i didnt want to be waiting for months and months to get license. also i would have probably had to get fitters license then after twelve months apply to get mechanic endorsement (which i would prefer if im honest). because SA only have one type of license (electrical workers license) you can transfer it and get the mechanic endorsement straight away!

lee.