Manicmum

Hi I have started looking into a move to Oz and my brain is already fried I have 23 years experience working with children, young people and families. Starting off gaining an NNEB Diploma when I went to college( 1992) Other qualifications I have are an NVQ Level 3 Promoting Independence ( Care qualification), NVQ Level 3 Management (2000), NVQ 4 Care and NVQ 4 Management( 2003) In the last 10 years I have worked as a School based family resource worker so this involved direct work with children, young people and families ( 2007-2010) and have then worked in Local Government roles managing services from 2010-2011 I co-ordinated a community and learning partnership which worked with various agencies developing community services and activities for Families with children from 0-19 years and managed staff who offered Parenting Support. 2011-2015 I managed a team of staff offering Family Support again 0-19 year age group for children within these families. I managed Education Welfare Officers,Youth Workers, Family Support Workers including those with specialisms working with children under the age of 5., Parent Support staff. 2015-2016 - I managed a multi- agency team of staff including PCSO, Youth Worker, Family Worker, Housing Worker. 2016-present working as an Area Manager having set up and run a service offering support to families where the parental/ carer substance misuse is of significant concern. During this time I covered the Service manager role for the Drug and Alcohol Treatment side of the service for 9 months. All of the roles I have held over recent years have required a degree or relevant work experience and I have got by on relevant work experience. My issue is the kind of roles this recent experience would align to the most is a Welfare Worker or Welfare Centre Manager but I don't have a degree and therefore won't get a positive skills assessment. The only other role it might fit with is a Community Worker. The aim was to try and move to Queensland but Community Worker is not on their list for off shore although it is on the CSOL. Am I right in thinking to get employer sponsorship the role has to be on the SOL for the state you want to work in? Has anyone had experience of having Care and Management related NVQ's mapped to diploma level?. As I have not worked specifically in Early Years my NNEB won't count. ACWA site is somewhat confusing. They have confirmed I would not be eligible for welfare worker as I don't have a degree. Their website states recognised overseas qualifications are all at degree level but in an email re: Community Worker they have advised community work requires a qualification at diploma level or above. It also appears I can't have my qualification assessed without submitting a skills application! I don't have time to undertake a degree course due to my age as I won't finish before I lose more points on the scoring system and I already need to get academic IELTS to gain the max points if I go down the points route. It's all very confusing! I am going to arrange a consultation with a migration agent but would welcome any thoughts or experiences. Any help would be appreciated. Apologies for the long post. Thanks in advance

Thanks ABG. It looks like speaking to an agent is the way to go.I'm not sure they will take the work experience into account this as the ACWA seem to have stringent requirements.

Thank you for your reply. I will look into speaking with a migration agent. It is disheartening to find you can't apply for skills to be assessed against roles you can do. There has to be another way so will see what happens. Thanks Manicmum

Hi All I am hoping someone may be able to share any experiences or offer suggestions around skills assessment for Welfare work type roles. I am looking to move to Queensland area and have 2 dependent children. I have 20 plus years experience working with children and families with the majority of my work over recent years being at managerial level. Unfortunately most roles in Australia seem to want a bachelors degree which i don't have. I have a NVQ Level 4 Care and Management qualification which I achieved in 2003. Age wise I am 43 so now don't have time to complete a degree course at Bachelors level and be able to apply for a work visa in time before I am 45 years old. Looking at available roles in Australia my most recent roles would fit a Welfare Centre Manager however I don't have a degree so would not meet assessment requirements and I then looked to Welfare Worker but ACWA who undertake skills assessments confirmed my NVQ Level 4 would not meet the overseas qualification requirements. It also looks like for a Community Worker role the overseas qualification that is recognised is a degree so I can't apply for this either. There is a Youth Worker post but not sure I would meet the specialism requirement for this I have emailed ACWA to ask if they may be able to clarify what this means exactly so i can see if my work experiences fit this. VETASSESS undertake the assessment for a Family Support Worker which I have previously undertaken this role but left the post in 2010 and since then have managed teams providing family support so my contact with families has not been at the same level. I am at a loss as to what to try next. Even if I could secure sponsorship via an employer I need to be able to evidence I meet skills assessment requirements. VETASSESS offer consultation service which they charge $220 for. Has anyone used this service and what was their experience like? I would appreciate any suggestions/ information anyone can offer. Thanks in advance

Oops meant occupation not qualification in that last sentence.

Hi All I'm thinking I might already know the answer to this question but thought I'd ask in case I'm wrong. I have looked at the skilled occupation list and figure the closest occupation to what I do is a welfare centre manager however I don't have a degree I am completing an NVQ level 7 but don't think this is accepted as an alternative qualification. I have many years experience as a manager working in children and family services but think my lack of degree will mean I won't pass the skills assessment for this qualification. Any thoughts please?