Tracyb37

After some advice if possible. We moved to WA in 2009. Hubby got skills assessed through Vetassess for visa and when we arrived he did the two week sparky course and then got his A licence. He has worked at several companies since then. He has recently applied for a job with Downers on the Wheatstone project and they have asked him for a copy of his ARTC. Now we don't think he ever got that but they are saying that he has to have it before he can be mobilised. Has anyone else had this problem? I understand there were some issues with energy safety processing licences wrong but trying to find any concrete information is proving to be a nightmare!!

Wondering if anyone can advise me on this. We are planning on a holiday to Florida next year and it is looking like the flights are going to be pretty expensive. It is also my brothers 50th in the UK around the same time so thinking about an impromptu visit home too. Can I book return flights from Australia to UK from Oz and then return flights from UK to Florida from the UK? I think it might work out cheaper that way if I can do it. Advice please

Hi Nikki. I would look on Zuji or Skyscanner for price comparisons as the prices do vary. Also ask at your travel agent when prices are cheaper as the prices can drop drastically. Last September I priced up for a return to the UK in May. When I originally looked, the cheapest was Qatar coming in at $8500 for 4 of us and Singapore Airlines was over $11k. I kept any eye on the prices and they started to come down. Six weeks later I booked flights with Singapore for $6500, a huge saving.

I booked with Singapore for may next year - $6450 for 3 adults and 1 child. Same flights were coming in at almost $11k last week. Emirates have dropped theirs even cheaper and would have cost $5900 but I prefer Singapore. There are definitely some bargains out there at the moment

I looked up on Zuji and Skyscanner but then went into the travel agents to book. We are going at the end of May.

Just thought I would post this to let anyone who is planning a trip back to the UK next year, there are some really good deals out there at the moment. Last week, the cheapest flights I could find we're almost $9k for 3 adults and 1 child. This morning I just booked flights with Singapore for $6450. Looks like Qatar, Emirates and Cathay have all dropped their prices too

Hi all, after some advice re pensions. I transferred my UK Civil Service Pension over here a couple of years ago and have it in a BT superwrap account. I have been working for governement in WA for a couple of years now and someone suggested that I should put my super money into my GESB account, I have about $125k in my BT super at the moment. The question I have is, are the GESB accounts any good as I don't really understand all this superannuation stuff!!

We have some friends coming to stay with us over Xmas this year and would love to take them a bit further afield whilst they are here. We are hoping to take them down south to Margaret River/Pemberton area but after they have spent so much money getting here, we don't want to do anything too expensive. We have all the camping gear and are wondering whether or not that might be a good idea. Obviously, it will be very hot then and are wondering if it will be too hot to camp. Does anyone have any experience of camping at this time of year and if so, how did you find it?

Hi My eldest started in year 8 this year at Quinns Baptist and so far he loves it. It is not one of the best achieving private schools by a long shot but for him it is great. He isn't particularly academic and so it works for him. He gets a reasonable amount of homework and they seem to have good disicplinary procedures in place. We have just had his first interim report and it is one of the best school reports he has ever had, he has always been one of those kids that if there is trouble, he will find it, but so far he has managed to keep out of it. Whether that is down to him maturing or down to the school, who knows, but I am not complaining

Hi yes that is right re licence in WA, see my previous post on how my OH got his. Two week course anlthough there could be a waiting list for the course - and you pay more for the intensive course, about $800 plus $300 for books. Geoff did get a cheque back for $700 as a refund from his course fees, not sure why but hey $700 is $700!

Hi guys Trying to keep track of this thread so I thought I would post about my hubbys vetassess/otsr/artc experience in WA! Geoff was one of the first sparkys to go through the vetassess route and when we were still in England, trying to get info on how he would get his licence was a nightmare. Nobody seemed to have a clue what was going on. Once we had the OTSR we were originally told by Energy safety that he would still need to apply for ARTC via TRA. And we were also told that he would have to work for a year supervised before he could get his licence. We then wrote to TRA who told us no you don't have to apply for an ARTC if you are assessed under Vetassess. I then contacted Energy Safety again who told me TRA didn't know what they were talking about and without an ARTC Geoff couldn't apply for a restricted licence! Then shortly before we came out I was looking on energy safety website and the form for the restricted licence had changed to say you had to provide EITHER an ARTC OR OSTR!!! Confused - we were!! As soon as we arrived off we went to Energy Safety with the form filled out and the $37 fee. We were then given a list of colleges that Geoff needed to go to. Turns out he only needed to do the Electrical Trade Licence course to get his A licence and not have 12 months experience. Geoff was given the choice of a 10 week part time course or a two week intensive course to do. He opted for the two week course and after a stressful two weeks got the nod to say he had passed. So we went back to the Energy Safety with our $325 and they gave him his licence there and then. So in the end it was a lot more straightforward than what we had anticipated. Our only problem now is finding a job. A lot of companies seem to be laying people off so it seems things are starting to hit here. Keeping everything crossed that an opportunity comes along soon