cordanuk

Your options are also limited as to where you can walk your pets especialy in summer beaches are a no go area for dogs. During the winter they must be on a leash at all time unless in leash free zones.. Shocking I know But Elwood and Brighton are nice but exspensive but then again so is Richmond but for me Richmond would have the edge because of the accessabilityof most place in the CBD where Elwood and Brighton are good for St Kilda and the night life there.

Oh btw starlight the concrete boots dont worry me. If someone bullies or attempts to bully me I go at them head on! I wont back down to the point that they would be the one wearing the boots

Hi every one thanks for the advise. My biggest problem is I made it known that the reason I was leaving was over saftey reasons. Also they misled me into thinking that I would be able to become registered through them. LIES. So if I was to drop them in it with Vic Safe they would know imediatly where it came from. That said I rang energy safe Vic and guess what they passed me around that many departments I didnt know who I ended up talking to but they gave me the impression that they could care less... Shocked wasnt the word for it. I now have to go through the process of documenting it for them and hand them the information. As far as the visa thing goes.... well I get the feeling they are subcontracting part of the work out to a guy from germany who then subcontracts workers from Poland! This is then dealt with with some sort of business visa..... So not too sure about the legality of it all or if they are doing anything wrong? Well going to get as much info down on paper and then send it to Vic Safe .... along with trying to get another job that might go towards getting my A grade .... and telling prospective employers that you resigned because of ........

I have a dilema in which I dont what to do. Let me start by explaining that I came to Aus on a 176PR visa and found a job with a company as a service manager. During which time as I got more involved with the running of the company (Only small less than 20 employees but more than 10million turnover) I started to discover certain things about the company that didnt ring true. They were installing electrical equipment with out licensed elecricians or being registered electrical contractors. They then win a contract to install machinery so instead of employing local labourers and mechanics they then plan to use european labour on temp 457 visas. When I challenged them to their behaviour I was told they were not doing anything against the law and not to bring up the subject again. Being an Electrician I knew they were breaking the law and said so. That same night I thought about what the conseques could be and resigned the following day. Now my dilema is do I report them? 1) for not working with licensed electricians and being rwgistered electrical contractors. 2) for abusing the TEmp visa scheme using foreign labour to do work that Aus people could do. When resigning the Directors made a point of saying that they were sad to see me go and that I could write my own reference for future work. Also if I encountered dificulty in finding work to give them a call and they would look at helping me out...... this went on to the point of they are trying to bribe me either to keep their business affairs secret either to their competitors. My moral barometer say report them and to hell with the consequeses. But my personal one says keep them on side as you dont want to make enemies espesially when you dont know when you might need them. Thanks

Martin, life in mornington is good. The only downside is on the weekends the traffic lights by maccers is always camped out by charity collectors. Not that its a bad thing but if you go through them a couple of time a weekend it starts to bind. We live behind Bunnings in that small estate and its nice. People are friendly and always welcoming. I've only been working in Caufied for 4 months, so is not too much of a drag at the moment. But I could see it could be for somepeople. If we could we would like to move down further to Safety Beach or Dromana, but thats pushing it a bit it would add an extra 20mins each way. Mornington itself is nice in the summer and beaches are great. We get the tourists down from the city and further afield but its kind of funny seeing all the weekend sailors coming down from the city. At one point we thought it was take your boat to work week! The racecourse has lots going for it and has lots events all year round. Guys at work tell me they call it Little London. You hear a lot of English accents in the supermarket. Justin

Lol M62 ..... honestly its not that bad

Hi Martin We're in Mornington and I commute up everyday. It sometimes becomes a bind but my jobs a bit different. I work out of an office in Caufield and have to attend sites from anywhere from Dandernong to Moonee Ponds. But more often if I'm starting in the office I use the Nepean but I start at 7 and finish at 3:30 if my boss lets me get away. Traffic is a nightmare comming home if I leave anywhere between 4 and 5:30, it can take up to and hour and half. But normaly a hour to the city is normal. Supprisingly I started late on friday and my first appointment was at 8am in Richmond. Thinking it would be bad at that time I set off about 6:45 and traveled via the Eastlink then Monash Freeway. I still arrived there about 7:30. The biggest problems tend to be on wet days when people forget how to drive in the rain and tailagte their way to work. I hope this answers you questions... oh BTW I have company car so dont have to pay for fuel and dont use the train. But I have heard the train is free before 7:00. Justin

Sorry to tell you this but he wouldnt be able to apply for a visa given that he has no Certs. Tough as it sounds he would have to complete the VETASSES procedure and they would require his City and Guilds. The unfortunate fact of the matter is it's tough trying to get reognised as an electrician here as it is with out saying I have no certs etc. IS there any chance you have any skills that are on th Skills in Demand list? Sorry for the bad news. But if anyone else knows a way round I'm sure they'll pop their head up here. Justin

Nothing, The comapny pays for the fringe benefits.. Thats what they're called here. As far as I understand. Justin

Ambulance Insurance its only about $70 ish for the whole family

Just an option for you. I sent 3 boxes of 30kg by parcel monkey and was charged about £120 each box. Find them at http://www.parcelmonkey.co.uk the only problem was we had some hairdressers scissors removed from the boxes and cans of deoderant which they say wernt allowed. All in all took just over a week to arrrive but they were also a couple of days late collecting. Wasnt a problem because they were being collected from family. But for door to door delivery was as cheep as hell Justin

Hi Jim Unfortunatly because you have already completed a OTSR you wont be allowed to apply for an ARTC. And because of that you will have to do 12 months gap training. You will have to apply for an L grade Licence. Depending on where you want to live that is. Justin

Hi Matilda, Make your way down to Pomminton, opps sorry Mornington theres a great atmosphere down on the peninsular and lots of fellow brits here also not so far from Blackburn. But sorry my kids are a bit old for playdates 19 and 17 now but they maybe in for a spot of babysitting once they get their P's. Justin

I'm sorry Paul I have to disagree with you there. You dont need top dollar to survive here! You just need to adjust and budget appropriatley. I'm struggling to find work as an L Grade and am trying allsorts of devious ways round getting my 12 months gap training in. But at the end of the day everyone is in the same boat now. ARTC holder are going to be told now or very shortly that they need to complete the 12 month gap and log, especialy when the national licence comes online. Unfortunatly Australia has suffered with very poor migrants calling themselves electricians, I have seen them when we got agency sparks in the UK they turn up with a carrier bag with a couple of screwdrivers and a rusted up pair of pliers "that used to be his Dads" and thinks that he could do the job. As it stands I dont know if I'll be going back into being a spark again. Trying to find jobs in project managment or sales instead. Good Luck

Hi Any chance ayone could bump me a set... Hoping to get my "L Plates" soon should be this week