Hi everyone out there,
1st post so please be gentle.
We,(me, OH and 4 boys) are planning to move to Vic as soon as soon as possible after my OH qualifies as a psychiatric nurse. She has the golden ticket and I am being allowed to tag along.
The thing that I am trying to get straight is, can I drive a truck as a temporary visa holder using my UK class 1 licence?
The Vicroads website seems to suggest this, as it only mentions taking a new test to convert to a Vic licence as a permanent resident. I put this question to Vicroads themselves using their contact procedure and they helpfully sent me a link to their website without actually answering my question.
If I can drive straight away does any one have any experiences they would like to share with me concerning agencies and working conditions.
Good luck if you can ever get a straight answer via email from vicroads! After asking many people lots of questions when we arrived here we were told other half could not drive any hgv vehicles over here without taking a test. As he had already got his hgv class 1 he was able to take the heavy combination test and now has to hold this for a set length of time before he can take his multi combination (truck and multi trailers) test. He did this within the first month of us being in Australia so it would be possible to pretty much get off a plane, have an assessment with a driving company (vicroads themselves don't do the training) and get a test booked really quickly. TDT and DECA were recommended to OH and he used TDT.
Hope this helps a little bit,
Felicity
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Felicity + Michael - We're 'Pozzies' - Happy and Lovin' it!
Melbourne since September 07
Felicity, did you go over on a temp or perm visa? From what I could gather is that I cannot have an aussie licence unless I'm perm' but can only take a test for HC if I have a perm visa therefore as we will be on a temp visa initially I am stuffed. Looks like I will be working at macca's.
By the way we've had a couple of holidays on the penninsula, my brother in law used to live on Tanti Ave. Is Mornington as good to live in as we think it might be?
Hi everyone out there,
1st post so please be gentle.
We,(me, OH and 4 boys) are planning to move to Vic as soon as soon as possible after my OH qualifies as a psychiatric nurse. She has the golden ticket and I am being allowed to tag along.
The thing that I am trying to get straight is, can I drive a truck as a temporary visa holder using my UK class 1 licence?
The Vicroads website seems to suggest this, as it only mentions taking a new test to convert to a Vic licence as a permanent resident. I put this question to Vicroads themselves using their contact procedure and they helpfully sent me a link to their website without actually answering my question.
If I can drive straight away does any one have any experiences they would like to share with me concerning agencies and working conditions.
Thanks in advance.
Bottle Top posts on here we are in WA he used to drive hgvs for sainsburys but only drives drives 1 tonners i think the same your licence int valid here but when you see the driving they should give you the full monty.
Malx
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Here at last:jiggy:
SUFC life not a pastime I limit myself to 2 drinks a day, I`m now 10 years in front make that 15
Good luck if you can ever get a straight answer via email from vicroads! After asking many people lots of questions when we arrived here we were told other half could not drive any hgv vehicles over here without taking a test. As he had already got his hgv class 1 he was able to take the heavy combination test and now has to hold this for a set length of time before he can take his multi combination (truck and multi trailers) test. He did this within the first month of us being in Australia so it would be possible to pretty much get off a plane, have an assessment with a driving company (vicroads themselves don't do the training) and get a test booked really quickly. TDT and DECA were recommended to OH and he used TDT.
Hope this helps a little bit,
Felicity
Personally I think Decca are great out of Shepperton. Look after you really well.
Felicity, did you go over on a temp or perm visa? From what I could gather is that I cannot have an aussie licence unless I'm perm' but can only take a test for HC if I have a perm visa therefore as we will be on a temp visa initially I am stuffed. Looks like I will be working at macca's.
By the way we've had a couple of holidays on the penninsula, my brother in law used to live on Tanti Ave. Is Mornington as good to live in as we think it might be?
Hey there,
I'm not convinced that you are stuffed. I have just had a look through the vic roads website
If you are in Victoria on a temporary visa, you can drive on your overseas licence (provided it is a current, valid licence) for an indefinite period provided your overseas licence is in English (or you have an English translation), or you have an International Driving Permit.
You already knew this bit. The next bit states:
However, if your overseas licence includes a heavy vehicle category (eg. truck or bus licence), you must still complete a full heavy vehicle licence test to convert it to the equivalent heavy vehicle category in Victoria. Read more about what you need to do to get a Heavy vehicle licence. I know that this is if people are turning the UK licence into an aussie one but I couldn't find anything on there that said you can't take the test and hold an aussie licence. The wording seems to me that you don't have to change your licence if you don't want to. No-one takes away your UK licence from you when you go to get an aussie one so I think you coul do this if you wanted to.
I think it cost about $1000 in total for my OH, he had an assessment, 3 4 hour driving sessions - he was being tested in a Kenworth which meant he had to double de-clutch rather than driving what he used to. If he hadn't been tested in one of these, he would be restricted as to what he can actually drive. He now has no restrictions. As yet he hasn't done any driving work, he is a postie but is looking at an internal transfer and driving for Australia Post instead.
Mornington is a great place to live. Lots of poms choose it and are very happy here. We love the fact that there is a bit of everything, it isn't that hard to get to the city from here and we have plenty of access to the beaches and the rest of the peninsula is beautiful too.
Hope this helps,
Felicity
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Felicity + Michael - We're 'Pozzies' - Happy and Lovin' it!
Melbourne since September 07
Thank you Felicity for a very comprehensive answer.
I had read through the Vicroads web site but it just didn't make sense to me. Probably the more I read the more I confused myself. Thanks again.
gday hows it going....been in geelong for 4 weeks,i was a truckie in uk c+e for asda...
you can go to vic roads and change your car liecence no probs,as for your c+e you have to take a test, i have just taken mine,you can go straight onto a hc liecence which is the same as a c+e....and you have to take a k4 theory test...cost 750 dollers for a 1 day course or 900 for a 2 day....you pass a test with a road ranger gearbox its a bit like the old eaton twin split...need to double cluth all the time.....hope that helps
cheers ade
