Geordielass44

Community too!!!! My husband is community in the UK - hopefully he will definitely secure something before we leave but if not it may be easier on the ground. Wow that's slow re houses!! I think I may try to get some lined up before we get there then! Loads of the houses have been on for ages so turnaround doesn't seem to be rapid! Or perhaps demand! I have booked an aparthotel for 17 days so want something in that timescale ideally! will get hubby onto the car hire ? Cheers ?

Did you book the car on arrival as thats what we might just do. We are quite flexible with the rental but prefer it to be near work for one of us so we can get away with one car if possible! Sounds great! Did you just call the rental agencies up regarding rentals? I have seen a few I like but too early to do anything really! Prices seem reasonable too. Hope you find something soon! My husband has an interview this week so fingers crossed!! Are you working at the hospital? :-)

Hi he is a community nurse but happy working in aged care too. Have you arrived yet? Did you hire a car? Looking for companies at the moment. Hope it is going well! Can't believe we will be there next month!

Thanks Eera - any idea on a timescale to secure a rental? We have a short-term let but would like to secure a rental asap after we arrive. I like the look of Burcasia and had read that about some areas. I will drop you a pm re specific areas too :-)

Ooooooh exciting!!! Have you secured a rental or are you looking when you arrive? Will be really interested to know how it goes! My husband asks what area of nursing do you work in? We arrive the 16th August :-)

There are loads of flights from Brisbane to Mackay so we will fly when time is limited. Quite a few of my friends like the idea of hiring a camper van and doing the drive!

Cheers Bobj looks great! Hopefully we will get something relatively quickly :-)

Thanks Bobj - will tell other half to check those links out. Going to stay in a holiday rental for 2 weeks and have a look at what is available when we arrive. Thats great re commute time for that distance! I am looking at Bucasia as a possible area so assuming that won't take me too long to get to work (south of the river) Cheers

I have accepted a job in Mackay and will be relocating in August. I have read a lot of the threads about the city but they seem to be a few years old so I have a few questions to those living in or around! 1. How easy/hard are rentals to get? I read a few years ago it was quite a challenge but not sure that is the situation at present? Have my eye on Burcasia and Rural View. 2. My husband is a nurse (community for the past 3 years) so would prefer to continue with that area - any community nurses in Mackay? Is the hospital a possibility for a job too? Salary is in the region of $100K all in for me - is that liveable until my husband gets work (I have calculated we should be ok but just checking - there is only the 2 of us plus dog) Cheers PS it looks like a stunning area!!

hi Leah it was a few years ago i am afraid but it did take 10 weeks justabout to the day. I also applied for the visa in the days before you needed an invite. We have had the visa 3 yrs but only heading over next year! Good luck hope your response is positive and arrives quickly, tracy

Hi Leah I successfully applied for the visa as a secondary school teacher rather then through the SEN route. The additional 45 days of teaching practice for SEN meant I couldn't qualify for the SEN teacher visa, Tracy

That's fantastic thanks for sharing, my husband qualified last year and I have been following your story. We have had the visa for a while but hopefully be heading to Queensland next year. So glad everything is working out. Keep us up to date please. Tracy

Congratulations! We already have PR but we have had to wait until my husband qualified as a nurse (last Sept) to start planning the move. We are hoping to head for the Sunshine Coast but not until the end of October next year.. ....Deciding exactly when to apply to Ahpra is proving diffciult! As i will finish at end of school year in July 2016 we want at least a few months to get to Australia - as much as possible overland (daughter will be at Uni in UK so we can take our time) so based on your timescales looks like July this year would be good. Do you have until a specific date in March next year to present or anytime during that month?

yes it looks like the criteria have changed and there is now no need for the additional 45 days supervised teaching practice which is great news! It was over three years ago i applied to AITSL though!

Hi to be honest i think they didn't know and had to do a lot of finding out - but they did a lot of work! I also went with them as my original BA degree was from a university in South Africa and they are a company who deal with a lot of South Africans and had secured visas for other friends in SA. i will PM you their details if you want though.

My agent was very good and did a lot of talking to relevant people before concluding I wouldn't get a positive assessment from AITSL - I was a bit surprised as i have a lot of experience/qualifications but in Australia teachers must do more supervised teaching practice to be qualified SEN teachers (may explain the shortage???!!) I have a friend in Melbourne who is teaching in a special school and she has to get qualified within 5 years (even though she has experience/quals in SEN from UK) I am happy to do whatever is needed in Australia - just hope to stay in SEN teaching as its what i enjoy. i'm not sure about the primary PGCE making you eligible for assessment as an Early Childhood Teacher. I know getting an agent is costly but i am glad we did as they really helped (we had to get it right first time as i was a few months off turning 45) i hope someone can give you further advice.

I think the major problem is the need for an additional 45 days supervised teaching practice for the SEN qualification...to calrify you need 1. A minimum of 45 days supervised teaching practice for your PGCE AND 2. a further 45 days supervised teaching practice relating to your SEN qualification. I don't think this is something that happens in the UK as once you are qualified you are qualified as it were! No need for more supervised teaching practice as you are already qualified to teach all children. I have a PGCE in Secondary History then I studied for a Post-Graduate Certificate in the co-ordination of SEN, an Advanced Diploma in SEN and a Masters in SEN/inclusion but i didn't meet the criteria as there was no supervised teaching practice in those qualifications. We had to go back to the drawing board and go down the secondary teacher route. I am still planning to look for SEN jobs when in Australia as have plenty of qualifications/experience but needed to go the secondary route to secure the visa. good luck - hope this is helpful.

I am also an SEN teacher and at first went down that route but my agent,after speaking to numerous people ,said i wouldn't qualify - the main issue was that although I had a MA in SEN and other post-graduate qualifications I did not have a further 45 days of supervised teaching practice further to the 45 minimum I had had during my PGCE qualification. I then applied at a secondary school teacher and that was fine. They recognised my advisory work which at that point constituted about 8/10 of the previous 10 year's work. Please feel free to PM me, Tracy

Thanks - the dilemma is whether to apply now or wait until this time next year. Just wondering what the timeframes are at the moment with Ahpra? Anyone?? Thanks!

Hoping someone can answer this question! My husband is a degree qualified nurse. We have PR and plan to sell up and move over next year. My husband wants to apply to Ahpra so he can relax about getting the registration (i know degree qualified nurses seem to have no problems but i don't want to sell our house before he has it) So our dilemma....ideally we want to be ready for the move August next year....however we want to take our time getting to Australia and do the trip overland for a few months aiming to get to Australia jan/feb 2016.... If my husband applies to Ahpra and is lucky enough to be registered quickly we believe he has to actually go when we arrive to 'activate' it - if that is the right term. if he doesn't actually arrive in the country within the 12 months can he renew it or does he have to apply all over again???? Hoping someone knows the answer to that question!!! Thanks

Sounds amazing! We are hoping to make the move in the next 18 months to the Brisbane area. Just wondering if you know what the situation is for teachers who are specialised in SEN? I have been a SENCo at a secondary school (for 8 years) and have MA in SEN, taught in an enhanced resource for children with ASD and for the past 10 years worked as a behaviour support teacher for the local authority working with schools/teachers/children from nursery to secondary. Not sure if i should register with a supply agency to start with? We have PR already just been waiting for my husband to qualify as a nurse. Any advice welcome!! thanks Tracy

Thanks for the info we were having a panic - it must be so awful for you guys with Diplomas :-( We already have PR (through me) but he wants some experience before we arrive hopefully by the end of 2015.

My husband is about to qualify with a BSc (Hons) in Adult Nursing and he is unsure that he will meet all the criteria Ahpra are asking for - particularly 8. Are all/any degree nurses getting registered by Ahpra? We aren't planning to go until he has at least 12 months experience so hadn't planned to apply until he had worked for 3 months but unsure whether he should apply to see if ,even with a degree , there is a problem :-(

Thanks everyone for your replies - thanks Andy sorry if posted in the wrong section. I will have 20 years paid into the State pension (i can access this at age 67 - at the moment but they do keep moving the goal posts!!) and 17 years in the teachers pension which i can get fully at 60(The teacher's one will be frozen but continue to increase as it is index linked. I understand that the state pension is frozen and doesnt increase if we stay in Oz but will increase in Malta... My husband works for the NHS (carer soon qualified nurse) but has opted out of the pension. He has a frozen railways pension - index linked so increasing in value) as he worked for them for 25 years and he can access this at 60. He will have paid 27 years towards his state pension(can access this at 68 years of age now)but again this will be frozen if we stay in oz. We are hoping to have 10 years plus paid into Australian superannuation scheme so not a huge amount but still something... We are going to have bits of pension everywhere! I think we will be leaving our UK Pensions here and assess the situation nearer pension age though i think i would like some sort of forecast of what we would have at 60/65 from all the pots! I have a breakdown of our UK pensions (both state and private) but its difficult to gauge what we will manage to put into the Australian superannuation by then... Its scary worrying that we won't have enough to live off and i dont want to be paying tax all over the place! i think getting advice regarding Maltese tax/pension agreements with Uk/Oz may be helpful. Lets hope the UK doesn't leave the EU and muddy the waters in the next 15 years or so!! Tracy :-)

Hi thanks for the reply - my husband does work for the NHS but has opted out of the pension. Pensions = headache! :-)