meharvey1

Hello all I am looking for advice on where to do my PADI Divemaster course for 2 months in late September this year. For context I am a qualified PADI Rescue Diver and have all the requirements needed to do my Divemaster course. I am also a Marine Biologist, so any advice on dive organisations that have a science/conservation focus would be a huge bonus! I am looking for advice on: 1. Location and 2. Dive Course 1. Location - all my previous dive experiences have been actually on the reef, rather than in cities which take out dive boats to the reef every day. I would like to find a location in Aus that is an island-diving community, rather than that city-living feel (such as in Cairns or Brisbane) which take a boat out to the reef every day which can take ages. 2. Dive Course - once I know of a good location, I can find dive shops myself. However I would love some recommendations on specific diveshops/courses that also match my location requirements above. I am looking for a 6-8 week course which combines me working for free, full time in the diveshop with a cheaper dive course package. Rather than a 3 week intensive course which has a $$$$ price tag to match. I dont want to go over the 2 months as I will be moving to Melbourne mid/late November At this stage any advice or help on my request will be helpful Many thanks Meg

Thanks guys! Medicare doesn't cover repatriation and ambulance cover, which was my main concern. So it might be worth getting a combined travel/medical insurance by the sounds of it, rather than just relying on Medicare (which I can sign up for anyway). Any more recommendations for cheap insurance is welcome. Also, if anyone else has done a WHV and bought insurance it would be really useful to know what kinda ballpark figure I can expect to pay for 1 years medical and travel insurance (if they dont mind sharing) Thanks again

Hi all, My partner and I are moving to Oz Feb 19th 2018 with our WHVs and are looking for advice on travel and health insurance. We've been looking at the Medicare Reciprocal Health Care Programme and wondered if anyone has had experience using it, and if it is adequate enough as health insurance cover for the year? We've also been looking at combined travel/health care with colombus direct (recommended by the visa bureau), which is priced at £495. If the Medicare cover is enough, do people recommend a basic 'gadget' travel insurance for our cash etc, rather than getting the combined insurance (which has rather large figures!) Thanks Megan

Well I'm a Science Communicator, which is a job description that hasnt actually left the UK (and maybe US) yet. Basically, its working in media (radio/tv), journalism, museums, aquariums etc. in any capacity that relates to science. He is a product designer, as well as doing freelance jobs on the side for graphic design jobs. Neither of us are expecting anything significant in our sectors (we know that Oz has their own professionals etc!), but if I could get a desk job in a museum or something, and him in retail in a design shop, that would be great for keeping in touch with our interests. Is this realistic?

Hey! Thanks for getting back to us. I think that the houseshare option sounds like the most appropriate. Given we earn enough! At the moment, we dont want a 2 year visa. We are interested in finding some basic work (6 months obviously) in our own industries, just to get some experience. Rather than doing the 3 months of farming etc Thanks

Hi, My partner and I are planning on starting a WHV at the end of September, likely beginning in Sydney. Has anyone got any experience/advice for travelling with a partner to Oz on a WHV? Particularly in regards to accommodation or jobs. We are not keen on staying in hostels, at least, not with other people. Is it common for WHV people to rent? Is it affordable in Sydney, or other places? What sort of pricing can we expect? We have yet to send out CVs and find jobs, and I predict that where we will want to live will depend on where we are working. But any advice now would help! Thanks

Hi! My partner and I recently applied separately for WHVs (in the last week of February roughly), I'm from the UK, he is from the Rep. of Ireland. I got my approval through within 48 hours. However, after a week they asked him to supply a copy of his old passport (from when he was previously in Australia when he was 2yo). He did so, and they thanked him and said they can continue to process his application. Its now been 4 weeks, and the only time frame the bureau gave us was "weeks to months', before he gets a response. Additionally, I have also been to Oz before when I was younger, but was never asked for my old passport. Has anyone (from Ireland or otherwise) ever been in this position, and know when I can expect to hear back from them, or why his application has taken such a different route? They said they have no reason to reject his application, but theres some nervousness that makes me wonder why they are taking so long! We are very keen to book tickets, look for accommodation and start sending off CVs etc, but the wait means that everything is getting delayed (and more expensive) as we are planning on going in September. Thanks

Hi! So I was under the impression that you can get sponsored by anyone, if they offer you a sponsered job whilst you are out there on a WHV? Most of my contacts out there went out to Australia on a WHV and dropped CVs into companies (whose areas are not necessarily on the lists) and then were offered sponsered jobs. Are you saying that if you are not on the lists, you are not eligible for any kind of sponsership full stop? Because that doesnt explain why my contacts got sponsered jobs My occupation is in "science communication" which can be anything from working in media, museums, journalism, and it wasnt on any list. Thanks!

Hi Everyone, My boyfriend and I are looking to go to Australia on a WHV (with the potential of finding a job out there that might sponcer us) But we were wondering how much money we should bring with us before the trip as a "float" for accommodation and food etc. Where do people doing a similar thing normally stay during their time out there? Thanks

Hi everyone, thanks so much for the feedback, its been super useful. I have also spoken to people who are currently out in Australia with sponsorships who told me how they got out there. Most of them went out on a WHV and then spent the following months dropping in CVs to companies related to their field, in hopes of finding a sponsor, and networking. They all make it sound so easy! But has anyone else had experience like this? Thanks!

Hello Everyone! My boyfriend and I are looking to move to Australia to get some experience in our relative fields. He is currently finishing his undergraduate degree in Product Design and Technology at the in Ireland (where he’s from) and I have completed my undergraduate in Biological Sciences in the UK (where I’m from) and finishing my MSc in Science Communication in September. We are looking to find work in Australia within our relevant fields (product design and science communication) at around September, but I’m having some difficulties navigating the world of Australian visas, job market, and order of events (what comes first, the job or the visa!) We are both aware of the 24 month working visa which restricts jobs to 6 months maximum, and the opportunity for sponsorship visas (which appear to be uncommon and rarely in our fields. The 24 month working visas also appear to limit people to small job which are also rarely in our fields. The advice I am looking for is how Irish and British people have previously got to Australia and managed to find jobs in their relative fields? What sort of visa is best for what we both want, how likely are we to get those kinds of visas, and how likely are we to get what we are looking for. Please tell me your stories of how you got where you are, I’m feeling rather clueless! I applied to a few jobs in Australia just for the sake of it, some of which don’t offer visa sponsorship, so I am aware that I wont get them since I have no visa plans at the moment.