louise7981

Agree with drumbeat - from what I've seen driving through the area there are some nice houses but the area itself seems a little rough. My friend is a teacher in the neighbouring suburb of Hillman and she tells me that's also pretty run down. If you're looking to rent initially you can get some great deals in Rockingham at the moment in much nicer areas. The areas to the south side of the foreshore are lovely, as are palm beach estate and the anchorage estate. You can pick up a nice modern unit which is a 5 minute walk to the beach for around 350 a week

Are you looking to rent or buy there? I live nearby. To be honest I'm not sure what it's like as never really venture there myself and don't know anyone else that lives in that area. It's close to the hospital and train station. What do you want to know and I can try to answer your questions. Also what are your circumstances? Where do u live now? What would be te ideal situation when u relocate? Close to work? Outdoors? Good schools? Beach? City life?

Thank you all - I am trying to submit it electronically so not sure if if will be difficult to omit these details. I will try again today and may need to give immigration a call if any issues. I will post again later to update. Hopefully we won't have any delays.

Should say passport details - I can provide all other details they are looking for.

Any ideas what happens if you're unable to provide details on parents - eg I can't provide my mothers details as she is deceased, as is my father in law.

Thank you - makes sense!

I have just started my citizenship application and wondered why they ask for details of my parents and their passport details? Not a problem to provide them but just curious why they want them?

Also could try contacting the registrar for a copy of her birth certificate?

Maybe contact immigration to discuss? Or the Australian embassy to see if they can provide a document to show at customs. Good luck

Would be interested in any information on this also. I did see that there are companies that specialise in expat mortgages - I've not gone as far as to look into it yet but might be somewhere to start. Anyone any experience using such companies? Would be interested to see if it would be worthwhile organising from Australia or better to just head back then get a mortgage organised once settled.

*st Kilda not kinda lol

There's an elephant and wheelbarrow in st kinda too. Charles dickens tavern in the cbd is also British style and shows football. Not British style but I would also recommend the European bier cafe if your mate was feeling adventurous lol.

It depends on how straightforward your application is. I done mine without an agent but mine was easy - only had to prove 3 years employment with the same employer, English test, skills assessment. You can start the ball rolling with the skills assessment - find out who would do your assessment (for me I used the AASW for social work - there's different ones - google it to see if you can find out). Have a look to see what you need to provide to have your skills assessed and see if you can get the info together. You can sit the IELTS test before applying but beware that it's then only valid for 2 years so check processing times. I would advise that you do some preparation for this to familiarise yourself with the tests before you sit it. As the previous poster indicates - 60 points is enough for an application but may mean it will take longer for them to process - worth checking this out to see if you need to aim for a higher score in the English test. You don't mention if you are applying for just you or a partner and/or children - you will also need to provide evidence of your relationship for each additional person on your application. Hope this helps a little - it's been a while since I done my application. At the time I applied with 65 points and was processed and completed within 5 months. Not sure of current processing times. Good luck!

Have a look at this website and see if you can find any meet ups in your local area https://www.meetup.com/en-AU/cities/au/sydney/?country=au&zipstatecity=sydney&state=&radius=25

We rented in balaclava when we were in Melbourne. There's a train station there to get to the city, 10 minute walk to St Kilda and 15mins walk to Chapel Street.

Hi Maria Try searching under Older Adults or Allied Health professionals, Case Manager, Counsellor etc. If you search Social Worker on Seek or Indeed you might yield more results than you would on government sites. Social workers don't necessarily work under the title Social Worker here and many roles are advertised looking for someone who is a qualified social worker, psychologist, community worker etc. They don't tend to have specifically social work departments here like they do in the uk.

I have recently travelled back to the uk unexpectedly to visit a sick relative. I was at the end of a period of extended maternity leave and savings were almost non-existent - luckily I had enough to cover it but left me with little savings/safety net until I was back at work and could put some savings aside again. This would be a great option for people in similar circumstances. Sent from my iPhone using PomsinOz

That sounds like it should cover the requirement. I submitted P60's, a letter from a previous employer confirming my dates of employment there, a job description to highlight the skills used. I think as long as you have some evidence for each job that covers the 10 year period and something that indicates what your role was there to prove it was a skilled job you will be fine. If you contact previous employers HR department they should be able to provide a job description. Or you could write a list of the skills used and ask a previous employer to endorse it for you. Sent from my iPhone using PomsinOz

Depends on how straight forward your application is. We don't ours ourself as it was very straightforward after looking at the info on the immigration website. I also had a few friends who had recently completed their own applications with very similar circumstances to us. Sent from my iPhone using PomsinOz

Will save you quite a bit of cash doing it yourself - I applied for the 189 myself and found it reasonably straightforward to do. Your immigration agent (once allocated to process your visa) will advise if they need any more info and you can always call immigration for advice if needed. I have absolutely no idea what they might ask you for a child protection job - maybe you could do a google search to see if you can find anything. Have a look at Victoria's child protection website and see if you can find the policies they use. I'm in WA and over here they use signs of safety amongst others. I was working in the prison over here until I left on maternity leave and about to start work on a men's domestic violence programme. All of my previous experience is with offenders except for one job where I worked with asylum seekers. In WA I personally find the work quite behind the times compared to when I worked in the uk which is very frustrating. I have been retrained in things I learned 8 years ago as a student in the uk. They also tend to compartmentalise work here rather than having positions that encompass many skills e.g. An assessment team, an interventions team, a counselling team etc. Not for profit agencies receive pretty good funding so seem to provide greater support to clients here than those in the uk. So from my own experience corrective services is one area you could look into. Is all your prior experience in safeguarding adults? Do you mean e.g. Those with disabilities/mental health concerns? If so, there are numerous organisations you could look into. I registered with a number of agencies in Melbourne when I was there and ended up getting employment through them. Try having a look on SEEK and Indeed - please note though that jobs won't always be listed under the title of Social Worker - be sure to also check under case manager, mental health clinician, not for profit jobs or check out websites such as the Department of health, corrective services, Dept of communities etc for other roles you would be suitably qualified for. Ethical jobs is also a good website to check out. Sent from my iPhone using PomsinOz

Hi brendy - yes I am a social worker and my experience is also all with adults. What field is your interview in? From my own experience in government the interviews are pretty similar to those in the uk. I was given 10 mins to read the interview questions, make some notes then went in to a panel of three. The questions were mostly around the client group and working in a team environment. I just made sure I gave plenty of examples of my own work experiences. They usually throw in a culture question too since you will likely work with aboriginal clients - I was just honest with them that as a new migrant I had no experience of working with individuals from this background, but I done some background reading so was able to discuss that and then went on to talk about my experience with other cultures. Let me know if there's anything else I can help with. Are you doing your visa application with an agent or by yourself? Sent from my iPhone using PomsinOz

Ah I see! I'm sure for the years of work experience all I had to do was provide some evidence - eg. A letter from my employer confirming how long I worked there. I can't remember how many points I got for years of employment but I can't remember it being difficult to find on the visa application guidelines. If you're stuck you can always call immigration to enquire. Sent from my iPhone using PomsinOz

Depends what area you want to work in when you arrive over here. You can get some jobs without having the aasw assessment - usually case management positions where they would also accept someone with a basic social sciences degree. For more skilled positions that require specified callings (usually social workers or psychologists) they usually ask for evidence that you are eligible for membership with the AASW. It's pretty straight forward to have the assessment done and although it's pricey you only need to do it once. With the English test I wouldn't worry if you meet the points criteria. I done it to boost my points and have never been asked about it since. I have heard that they may process visas quicker with higher points so may be worthwhile if you want to speed things along. Sent from my iPhone using PomsinOz

Just another point - Please be sure to delete your internet history after posting on forums and checking out information on domestic violence. Stay safe. If you use google chrome you can switch to "incognito mode" to browse privately. Most other computer softwares have a private browsing mode - you will find on google - just be sure to delete your search history and browser history after looking this up. Sent from my iPhone using PomsinOz

You will be fine to renew your WHV. I came over on WHV which I applied for aged 30. After travelling for a while I got a 6 month contract in Melbourne. When I told them I was going to have to leave because of my visa restrictions (can only work for 6 months with same organisation) they offered to sponsor me. However, I worried that the organisation would have massive redundancies down the line and that my visa would be cancelled so I opted to apply for permanent residency whilst in Australia. We made our application, headed off travelling again and had it granted 4 months later. I'm glad that I opted to apply for PR myself as u have heard of a few people being sponsored then being paid off and having to leave. It has meant that we are a bit more secure and can live where the work is. We now own a house in Perth and have a baby and eligible to apply for citizenship in January 2018. Obtaining PR will very much depend on what skills/experience you have and whether you meet the criteria. Have a look at that on the immigration website and do remember that things can change pretty quickly. Sent from my iPhone using PomsinOz