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