jdad84

13 hours ago, Vidya menon said:

Hi ,

would you also be able to advice on how you managed to get the supervised practice? Like were you already in Australia or did you apply for it from UK? I have just cleared my caop and awaiting provisional registration with AHPRA.

 

thank you

vidya

I found getting supervised practice hard - inner city Sydney pharmacies had too much choice to worry about an extra layer of hassle/delay to employing a pharmacist.

Looking outside of Sydney I found a pharmacy willing to take a punt - all supply and demand really. 

I had the easier time of being in Aus on a 4 yeaer visa (457) as my partner was sponsored. I reckon with enough determination and a rural/regional opportunity  reaching out on phone/Skype would increase chances significantly.

On 16/12/2019 at 04:18, TTWCHAN said:

Hi All, 

Not sure how active people are on here as this post is quite  old . 

I am planning to go to Perth on a spouse visa in 2021 and will plan on staying there for few years. 

I just started looking into what's like to work in Australia and the process of getting register there. 

I am currently hospital pharmacist in London and had 9 years of experience and currently working in the Bone Marrow Transplant setting. 

Its has been incredibly difficult to find first hand experience online about the transition from UK to Australia. 

Few questions 

1 with regards to the supervised period, if entering through stream B, is there a standard length of period? I understand that you can apply for a shorted one if that's correct?

Who would decide the length and how it is decided?

2  How do you go about looking for jobs in hospital?  Do they employ centrally or by individual hospital? How do you go about applying for supervised period?

3 I have seen a lot of comments about how bad the pay is and there is oversupply of pharmacists many years ago. Is it still the same? does it affect pharmacist of all sector?What are the pay like for a equivalent band 8a role in hospital in Australia?

I would be very grateful if anyone can shed some light on this. 

 

Many Thanks 

Derek 

Hey Derek,

If you're degree qualified in the UK you'd be stream B. I was 2 years post qualified, junior hospital pharmacist when I applied. My supervised period was 180 hours (4 weeks). I completed these in community.

Hospitals are state based - depending on rural/regional location supply of Pharmacists may be more favourable for you. I'd definitely recommend you looking up jobs and calling.

Pay and conditions relate more to community. As fault as I know hospital roles have a greater award rate (pay rate) if you compare to Metro locations for community.

I reckon a regional/rural position in either hospital or community could see you earning circa $100,000 though caveat being this could be 45-50 hours work in community and perhaps 38 hours hospital. This is a very liveable wage.

Bear in mind I've been in community now for 6 years in far north Queensland so my hospital knowledge is outdated...but the healthcare professional situation in regional areas is dire (shortages of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, allied health).

I forget how different things are now I've practised longer in Aus than the UK. For anyone starting out or looking to start out in Australia I thought I might note down some things which ought to help orientate the overseas pharmacist.

I should preface this by saying some states have slightly different rules. I've practised in NSW and Qld and so will present my experience in that context.


Medicine scheduling
https://www.tga.gov.au/scheduling-basics

Medicines are built around a scheduling system. Schedule 2 (S2) are pharmacy medicines (i.e. cannot be sold outside of a pharmacy), schedule 3 pharmacist only (S3), schedule 4 (S4) prescription only and schedule 8 (S8) controlled drugs. In Qld S2 must be behind a counter and inaccessible to the public for self selection (NSW can be anywhere in the pharmacy), S3 must be behind counter also, supplied by a pharmacist and labelled as such (no label needed in NSW)....S8 locked in a cd safe.


Regulation
https://www.tga.gov.au/how-therapeutic-goods-are-regulated-australia

Medicines are regulated by the TGA - the Therapeutic Goods Administration - akin to the MHRA.


The pharmaceutical benefit scheme (The PBS)
https://m.pbs.gov.au/home.html

Unlike the UK - for a medicine to be subsidised by the government it must be listed on the PBS.

If no PBS listing a TGA approved medicine can be purchased via a private prescription - no set price.

If PBS listed a TGA approved medicine when prescribed for a PBS listed indication attracts a copayment.

For a general patient they will pay up to $38.80 (if the cost of the medication is less than this the pharmacy can charge a dispensing fee...they cannot charge above the copayment).

For a concession patient (patients with a pension card, healthcare card etc) they pay $6.30.

If a medicine is PBS listed for a certain indication i.e. lamotrigine
https://m.pbs.gov.au/medicine/item/2851C.html

It's pbs listing will indicate:

Authority Required (STREAMLINED)

5138

Epileptic seizures

Clinical criteria:

The condition must have failed to be controlled satisfactorily by other anti-epileptic drugs.

Meaning if prescribed for the above condition it would meet the costs above otherwise if for instance the dr prescribed it for bipolar disorders it is then a private prescription.

Some PBS items have no restrictions i.e. simvastatin so the doctor can prescribe for whatever condition he chooses (not that he would)

If something is restricted. Like the lamotrigine example above it is deemed an 'authority prescription'.

Some authority scripts the doctor can choose from the approved indications and prescribe. The prescription will list an authority number and a streamline approval number.

For some authority prescriptions the doctor must call Medicare for approval by a pharmacist - they still have authority numbers generated on the prescription - but have a 'telephone authority code e.g. z1234567.

It's worth noting that the pbs formulary lists medicines in set quantities with set repeats, in some instances an authority increases one or the other, or both.

For a standard PBS entry like simvastatin it comes as a quantity of 30 and with 6 or 11 repeats depending on the PBS entry chosen.

PBS medications tend to be supplied in 4 week/1 month quantities with the exception of s8's which are generally lesser quantities to ensure quality use of medicines.

I'll leave this post here and pick up back tomorrow...didn't realise how involved it would get. I'll try organise things better and when I have time add some pictures of scripts for example so please trewlat this as a work in progress.

Jamie

















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APC need to assess you - if you're degree trained in the UK that's via stream B. Very much a formality. At the time I had qualified just under a year and my previous pharmacy work as a dispenser was counted as relevant. I'm not sure what your question meant by the APC commenting on your work exp...but there's the process. For an AMH you can buy online.

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Bit of a long overdue update...After registration I worked for 6 months in that post. I applied for a position in regional far north Queensland (FNQ) and gained sponsorship...which after a year my employer supported my application for permanent residency.

I've now been in FNQ for 2 years - my previous advice still stands... regional/rural positions provide well paid opportunities - where Australian pharmacists would rather not be.

City-based retail pharmacy has an oversupply...wages have deflated and I certainly would not choose to migrate here again if I were the sole breadwinner to support my family on a city pharmacist wage.

Hospital pharmacy on the other hand has better remuneration. I have hosted some uni pharmacy students at my pharmacy and the feedback I've heard is that competition is fierce. Again rural opportunities would be the place I'd look.

Overall I have no regrets for making the move or where my career is now and am very happy here in FNQ.

Jamie



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Whilst on a 457 the missus went to the local gp. They didn't bulk bill so she paid $70 and got something like $33 back - she had a follow up appt that was covered by the first appointment though which meant her $37 out of pocket covered 2 doctors visits - value for money!

I recently had a root canal treatment at the dentist which all in cost $1600 - this wasn't covered by the 457 visa insurance but happy with the result. If you need dental I'd say to shop around to get something that covers it....we simply went with the health insurance that met the visa requirements so got something cheap and not very useful heh.

I think to address your question - as a medicare holder (reciprocal - basically the same) that's enough for you needs, the health system is comparable to the UK so you can rely on it.

Jamie

Those of us who return to the UK and genuinely find that overall life here is less expensive, are we kidding ourselves ? Obviously I don't think we are as we see it virtually everyday but a recent thread made me for a second question whether it really is the case.

We find equivalent food be it supermarket or eating out to be generally cheaper. We have found food, electricity, gas, car insurance all cheaper here to a greater or lesser extent. Other things like council tax is more but our properties aren't equal so that's a fuzzy one. Beer is noticeably cheaper, wine is on a par. Running car even with more expensive fuel isn't actually anymore overall because of cheaper registration/road tax and only paying one lot of insurance.

I have to conclude that we are not kidding ourselves so how come others tell us the opposite ? It's a conundrum that's for sure lol

Why do you find yourself preoccupied with this? The answer to your question also answers the question of 'how long is a piece of string?'

At some point we stopped converting to pounds, started seeing the worth of materials in dollars and as a worth compared to take home wage.

It's 'cheaper' here than if we lived in London and I worked as a community pharmacist...

It's more expensive compared to me living and working as a pharmacist in newcastle upon time...

It's cheaper than Sydney...

We're in far north QLD - maybe it's cheaper.....but it's blood expensive going to the cinema (2 hr road trip +$18 each heh)

Not every utterance or written response needs to be an academic objective piece. Sometimes something from the heart or subjective can be far more revealing as to how things at ground level are found. Most would have the wisdom to realise it is from a personal insight.

Whilst I agree with your first comment I disagree with the second sentence - 'something from the heart' as I find this more often reveals a lot about the person and very little about how things really are at ground level.

Things I've seen written and have assimilated into some generic examples..

'The city is so expensive, it costs a bomb to do anything and there's traffic everywhere' - I didn't do research, otherwise I'd have expected the city, like many other cities to be expensive and decide to move there knowing this or choose elsewhere to live'

'I've found australians to be generally unfriendly' - I'm unhappy - help me validate my unhappiness and share this feeling by grouping a country of people together and label them all as if they were one person

I really love reading the posts where people are subjective, heart on the sleeve stuff, good or bad...whilst also being honest (objective)....these posts I find the most insightful.

I am not asking to be judged concerning my situation, I'm just looking for any information that can help. I am in Australia and in an online relationship with a man from the UK who has a criminal record. His situation is that over 10 years ago he was convicted of sex crimes, went through rehabilitation after a brief time in hospital and has since been in supervised accommodation where he has relative freedom but a curfew.

 

Currently he isn't working and is a drug user which if confirmed will see him go back to hospital permanently. He has been told he is due to be in his own place by the end of this year where he will be unsupervised aside from visits with his case worker. He has told me his social worker said to him he should come over to Australia and see me. We don't want to be in a situation where we meet but can't be together permanently. I don't know for sure that his social worker has said that to him or if it's what he wants me to believe. He is planning on getting work this year, giving up the party type drugs he takes but not stopping smoking weed. I am not currently working, not taking drugs and can get work. We want to be together and from the very basic research I have done it doesn't appear there is a way that can permanently happen.

 

Has anyone out there been in this situation and have they found a way they can be together. I don't know where to start. I'm assuming our situation is hopeless am hoping it isn't. Is it just wishful thinking? Please don't talk to me about the fact that he is unlikely to give up the drugs and reform after so long. I know this has turned into a co-dependent online relationship, and its going to be incredibly challenging. I would prefer him to come to Australia and he is prepared to do what it takes to make that happen. I don't want to be stranded over there if it all goes horribly wrong. I know the odds are against me but I have to ask. We have been talking for over a year and I really don't want to walk away from him any more than he does me.

Did you know of his history before you talked to him?

Why are you pursuing things with him given he is a sex offender and also a drug addict?

You say you know this is co-dependent, is that what you want in a relationship?

Do you trust him?

Do you see a healthy, happy, fulfilling relationship happening with him?

Why aren't you working?

Jamie

Hey Guys,

So, my husband and I came over in January on a 457 in my name.... we have recently moved to Far North Queensland as my husband was offered a great job and as a result we received a new 457 in his name.

His employer are happy to sponsor us for the 186 Direct entry and have already lodged the nomination which is in progress.

we've completed the 186 application (though have no yet submitted), we have both had our medical examinations and we've both had skills assessments and English tests completed.... we're just waiting for the police checks to come through from the UK.

The question I have is when is the best time to lodge the 186 application..... we're ready to do it now and have the funds, but just looking back over the immigration site I seem to have talked myself into some doubts about whether now is the best time, whether we should wait until the nomination has been approved and just generally having a mad last minute panic about whether we meet the visa requirements.... we do from what I've read from the immigration website for the 186 Direct Entry but it's $5k so I guess i'm looking to double/triple check with you guys to see if anyone else has lodged the 186 shortly after receiving the 457....

Any thoughts/advice welcomed.

Thank you very much for your quick reply. I will follow you advice and get an employer reference as soon as possible.

 

I take advantage of the occasion to ask you another question. How important is the birth certificate? I can´t see that document is mandatory in the Australian government website. However, I read somewhere that you need that to apply for a visa 457.

 

Cheers

It would very much depend on your personal history.... birth certificate isn't mandatory I didn't use one but I was a British citizen from birth and all of my other documentation supported this.

I would always say (and personal experience) that the more evidence and documentation you can provide the better.....

have you followed this list:

http://www.immi.gov.au/Visas/Pages/checklists/457-applicant.aspx

Hi,

 

I will soon apply for a visa 457. Most of my paperwork is done, but I still have one doubt. I am currently working in UK and I don´t want to quit my job till my visa is approved. Therefore, this make a bit complicated to get a reference from them because they can fire me. However, I have a copy of my contract where is included my position and dates of services but it is not included the position of the referee. Will be this good enough?

 

I am also considering to omit this job in my application because my previous PhD experience should be enough to do my job in Australia. Thus, I this case I do have a reference from my employer.

 

Thanks in advance,

I take it you already have a sponsor in Oz for your 457?

It's definitely best to wait until your visa is approved until you make any life changing decisions, but i'm not sure why you think your current employer would fire you if you are looking for other opportunities.... infact i'd say it's probably not something they could do. hiding it and losing something from your cv isn't in your best interest, if you get to the stage in the future where you are looking at permanent residency they will ask for your full employment history with an explanation for any gaps, so hiding something now isn't worth it.

Is there anyone in your current workplace you could approach to write you a reference, it doesn't have to be a direct manager, we used references from a few people we'd worked with.

If you are asked to submit an employer reference you have to submit one, you don't want to mess around with immigration, so a contract letter etc wouldn't be sufficient.

As long as you give your notice period after a visa is granted i wouldn't see what the issue would be to your current employer.

Hi guys,

 

I'm hoping someone can help me here. I'm utterly confused and can't seem to find the info anywhere.

So I'm 1 year 8 months into being sponsored on a 457 visa. I went yesterday to see HR to see about getting the ball rolling for PR after 2 years. She recommended that I do the visa myself as it'd be quicker. However my job (ICT Tech) is on the CSOL not the SOL, and I can't see any way of doing it myself. After doing some research I came across the Direct Entry Stream. However now I'm even more confused. What's the difference between DES and transition except for being able to do DES before 2 years?

I'd like to do the DES as I'd prefer to get PR sooner, but I have a co-worker who is going through transition at the moment and the employer has spent 4 months compiling the work for her nomination. Am I to expect the exact same thing with DES? Am I completely missing a way to do it myself?

 

Thanks

Hey....... you can do a direct entry on a 186, which still involves your employer doing the nomination (like they did for 457) but you also need to do a skills assessment. For the transition scheme you don't need to do a skills assessment as it's just a rollover for a job you've been in for 2 years. The direct entry option can be done at any time.... my husbands new employer are lodging the 457 and 186 at the same time on direct entry.

Hey, if you're happy with your employer and you think they'd support you the 186 direct entry is a great option, you said skills assessment wouldn't be a problem and the employer sponsored visas are prioritised. We're just moving off my 457 and my husbands new employer is lodging the 457 and the 186 at the same time, basically they are happy to do PR for him, but want him there sooner and the 457 takes weeks as opposed to months with the 186. Have a word with your employer as it seems like it's the security that's important, exactly the same for us. We want to start a family so want to get PR in order to settle down

Beauty of the process is that everything you've done for the 457 can be applied for the 186, so my husband has already done skills assessment and if we do it all now then we don't need to pay twice for checks etc down the line

Good luck, i'm sure you can work it out

Hey, I would contact the place you are due to start working again, when you process the nomination, regardless of how far you get in lodging it the TRN number is generated automatically, so if they've logged the nomination they will have the TRN already.

I'm not sure about the working conditions for student visas but there are strict stipulations, assuming you have checked here: https://www.immi.gov.au/students/visa-conditions-students.htm

Also, for the 457 it's more common that your employer would actually process this application for you as I'm pretty sure that as it's a temporary visa your employer would pay for this, the nomination and the visa application itself can be applied for at the same time.

I wasn't aware of the option to do the health assessment before lodging visa, I guess in our instance we've never had any health concerns so we knew we wouldn't need to do one for the 457.

Hi Gang....

Wondering if anyone has had experience of moving interstate whilst in Oz, we've been in Sydney 10 months now and we are due to move to far north queensland at the end of November. I've had a look and logged a job on truckit.net but wondering if anyone has any other suggestions.

We're moving contents of a 2 bedroom house, its roughly 2300km and quotes so far are around $3200

Any suggestions welcomed.

Hmmmm.....

Just curious to know why you went ahead and got a medical already, with no visa application or nomination lodged?

Reason I ask is that when you lodge your application it asks you a series of questions, when you answer them and your CO begins to process your application they actually tell you very specifically what type of medical you need if any..... it would depend what area you are going to work in, previous health, age etc. The CO actually gives you a code to lodge for your medical, otherwise how would you know you've gotten the correct one?

My husband and I, both 30, husband is allowed to work in hospital neither of us had any pre-existing conditions and neither of us had to do a medical for our 457.

Why has your company not lodged nomination yet, if you say you are due to start in January? They probably wanna start looking at this, are they a sponsor already lodged with immigration? Just wondering as if they aren't they have to go through a process for that too so i'd be asking them to pull their finger out.

As 457 is only a temporary visa I don't think there are such heavy requirements regarding health, if you were going for PR though it would be a different matter i think

Thank you all for the prompt response.

 

Jdad84, hope you are doing fine. I am now worried after reading your response. Could you please throw some light on what you meant by " consider looking at sponsership". I dont think, that I could gain any sponsership, as I have no blood relation living in Australia. However, I have a few friends living in Australia and I am not sure if they could be of any help to me. And I have no offers letters from any employers. Firstly, I am not sure the ways to apply for the positions on the Aus. gov.websdite for openings. Do I need to first secure a PR/Visa to apply for positions?

 

Another quick question. Just in case, I get the PR for the occupation, Project administrator, Would I not be able to look out of for openings in any other occupations in Aus. like in accounty etc.?

 

I request to all the members in the group top help me wioth your valuable advices and help me in making my visa processing smoother.

 

Regards,

Krishna

Hey Krishna.....

- As one of the other posters confirmed, sponsorship is what you would require for a 457 and this means a company is willing to sponsor you to carry out a role for a maximum of a 4 year period, within this time you can then look to transition to a PR.

- I'm not sure what you mean by applying for jobs on the aus gov website, you can certainly log an EOI in Skillselect for your occupation for either employer or state nomination - for the particular job type though i think you'd struggle to get an offer in this way, you would spend your time better approaching companies directly and looking at jobs on seek.com.au contacting companies directly and asking if they would consider sponsoring you.

- If you get sponsorship for project/programme administrator you would need to work for the company who sponsors you and work within the role your visa stipulates..... you can work in different industries in the same role, if a company sponsors you for the role but you can't start working as an accountant or a different role type as the visa entitles you to work in your specified role only. If you are qualified in something else though, you could always get your skills assessed and look for sponsorship in that role.

Just to add to that, if you just type in google the name of a state in Oz and immigration it will bring up the website for the state, if you want to check if you are on the skills shortage for regional/state sponsorship that's all you need to do, its a quick 30min search for all the states (and you'll be more informed than relying on the agent to do this for you). Every state has their own immigration site as they all have different needs,

i just typed in 'immigration WA' and it took me to this site: http://www.migration.wa.gov.au/services/skilled-migration-wa

same applies for the other states..... it also means you can read about the different states to find out which one interests you most too

To tell you the truth I wouldn't be getting your current migration agent to check anything... Any more at all. They should have already looked into all this for you.

I'd tend to agree with this..... What is it you think you need a migration agent for?....... in my experience they are only really necessary when you are struggling with actually getting your visa processed, and more from a place where if you aren't confident in doing this yourself you can lean on their experience.

A migration agent isn't someone who can aid with getting a job, nor would I trust their advice on where you should start looking for jobs, I think this needs to come from you, they can give you the general jist of what they've seen going on in certain industries but to be fair that's something you can get on this forum for free by using everyone elses experiences.

Maybe try a new thread with the title of 'Social Services worker looking for advice' and lay out your current experience, where abouts in oz you are looking to live (if you have a preference) what you've done so far, i.e. skills assessment, qualifications, IELTs or whatever else is useful and then maybe someone in asimilar occupation currently in Oz can help you out with more detail....

I've found the guys on here a great help, from helping me realise I can apply for more than one visa at a time, meeting new people in the local area and even where to look for places to live so just lay it on the table and i'm sure you'll get some good suggestions.

Hey,

If you are looking for employer sponsored visa first thing I'd do straight away is get on Linkedin, start joining australia groups related to your profession, see if there is anyone you know that can link you to people in the same profession in Oz, then start reaching out to people/companies individually.... be prepared though it's not easy, you may get little in terms of responses and it could take some time. It took me 9 months to find someone in a large company to give me a break and offer me 457 sponsorship... What I do know is that in a good number of professions the UK standards are really welcomed, but you need to make sure you've done your research so you can sell yourself and why you would be chosen for a role, often rural locations of such things help for sure.

I'm not sure about whether you do need skills assessment for 457 but I did mine anyway and it lasts for a good number of years, and within the 457 application form it does ask you to demonstrate your skill level, it just depends on your profession whether experience or proof of skills is required.

Honestly, you don't need a MA at this stage, in fact I wouldn't waste my money as if you do go down the 457 route your employer would sort this out for you in most instances (i've not known any that havent) and in terms of keeping you on the right track the guys on here will be able to give some great insights so you can keep moving along the way. Also MA's may hear of jobs coming up, but they can't sell you better than they can sell yourself

Also, if you are on Facebook there are a few groups - pomz wanting oz, pomz in oz and I'm always seeing employers on there offering 457 visas and jobs for different professions, some of them recruitment agents, so would be worth you keeping an eye on those too.

Hope this helps some

Hey,

Have you considered looking for sponsorship, I came over in January for the same project/programme administrator with a background in project management and secured a 457 visa..... it wasn't easy i'm not going to lie, as for about 9 months i just kept annoying some of the big companies for a role, talking up the uk experience as in the uk in a lot of ways we are miles ahead of the times.... eventually got a break in a major telco company over here and they were willing to do the 457 visa..... so if you've got some good experience you could really sell yourself to get over.

Otherwise, I think that you'd struggle if you are waiting for it to come up on the list to apply for an independent visa because there is a saturation of project type roles over here, and a great deal of people do contracting so they can earn a packet, I do know if i'd came over on a whv I would have struggled to get a role anywhere and speaking to recruitment agencies now it's a very tough area to get a role in unless you have some experience that stands you apart from the rest.

Hope this helps a bit

nomination applied on 2nd sept. still no news

Did you lodge just the nomination or the application for visa too?

My husband and I are currently on a 457 in my name, he has been offered a new role and they are applying to put the visa in his name, so we've gone through the process again. We originally applied for my visa and nomination on the 5th Dec 2013 and it was granted on the 7th January (not bad considering it was over the christmas period)

Currently we've:

Nomination lodged 15th Oct

Application lodged 17th Oct

So, back to being in the waiting game.

One thing I've learnt going through the process this time as we've not used an MA is just making sure you have all of the documentation, luckily as we've done this previously we were really hot on pulling everything together quickly, now it's just a wait and see

hope the timescales aren't too bad as we plan to move from NSW to Queensland in 6 weeks -- eek!

Hey great news, spoke to the employer today and they are going to lodge the 457 today too, and will still continue with the 186 for us, really chuffed as it means we are likely to move at the end of November as planned together.

that makes sense, do you have a link to any info on the immigration website... would be good to be able to share with the new employer and push for it.