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Its not the ideal time to arrive I know as lots of accom is booked for Xmas and New Year hols but OH starts his job at beg of January in Eagle Farm Area of Brisbane and flights are cheapest if departing on 28 Dec. 9 yr old son has a place at John Paul College, Daisy Hill. We only plan on taking out one car on a rental we are looking for short term furnished accomm for 3/4 weeks and then a longer term rental after that ready for our furniture arriving. Whilst school does not start for 3/4 weeks after we arrive, I'm going to be limited to getting out and about during the day to view rentals so really need these to be in/around Daisy Hill/Springwood etc along with the short term rental. Can anyone help with with our dilemma please ? Thanks:chatterbox:

ACT has put up on their website that they will announce their State Migration Plans in October - Business and Industry Development - Skilled Migration " 2010/2011 ACT State Migration Plan (SMP) Skills List. It is expected that the 2010/2011 SMP Skills List will be published in October 2010 when the ACT State Migration Plan is announced." "

Government has already been Finalized. Now everybody is looking for the next step to have Immigration minister and approved SMP ASAP, as it was projected if Labor will come in to parliament SMP will be approved quickly. Let hope to have it in few months otherwise its same wait wait wait wait wait and wait. Lets put our information whatever we have when we will be expecting minister to approved SMP.

[img2=left]http://i1012.photobucket.com/albums/af245/rob_williams_photo/woman_presentation_lg_clr.gif[/img2]Well stats fans, the Bureau of Statistics has finished crunching the August figures and the results are in. Total number of posts in August: 22,706 (up 26% on Aug09) Number of unique visitors in August: 133,786 (up 35% on Aug09) Total number of 'visits' in August: 276,864 (up 50% on Aug09) Number of pages viewed/displayed in August: 5,772,644 (up 95% on Aug09) Number of new users in August: 945 In other shock news, July's top poster, Britchickx, failed to defend her title in August, when, in heartbreaking fashion, she was pushed into second place by the smallest of margins - 1 post. Other random stats. How do people find us? 70% - Seach engine such as Google 15% - Word of mouth 8% - Link from another website 2% - Magazine advertisement 1% - Facebook/Twitter 4% - 'Other'

Hi All I learned late last night that DIAC are planning to hold an Expo in London next month - September 2010. It would seem that Australia now (suddenly) claims that it needs to attract immigrants with certain skills. The official information about it is here: DIAC Newsroom Information for Australia Needs Skills Expos held overseas DIAC have even put an advert for their show on YouTube, it seems: YouTube - ‪ImmiTV's Channel‬‎ It seems like quite a hard sell. I learned about it from a Registered Migration Agent called Sheelagh Blanckenburg, who looks after the Migration Help forum. The thread is below: UK Skilled workers in hot demand down under - Migration Help Cheers Gill

Hi, im Martin, 25 from London. i will be travelling to Sydney on my own to work for 6 months at the end of Sep! dont really know anyone there, so will be great to meet some people here?? So if you any of you guys are in a similar situation, want an extra friend for drinks, clubs, activities, beaching or just to hang out and explore Sydney please private message me to swap facebooks if i can, i also want see as much of Australia as possible in the 6 months (outside of having to work full time!!). So if i have the time, possibly Melbourne, Gold Coast, Fraser island, Whitsundays etc. I've also booked a 2 week holiday in Thailand towards the end of Nov. Also plan to take surfing and diving courses! (havent done that before!) and any other ozzie stuff i discover while im there! Thanks!

NT - SMP will be late Septemper 2010 Sponsorship for GSM applications with occupations NOT on National SOL The Northern Territory will put in place a State Migration Plan and will publish a Northern Territory Occupation Shortage List with that plan. This list will contain a number of occupations that are not on the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) Skilled Occupation List (SOL). Due to the upcoming election, the target date for the Northern Territory's State Migration Plan is late September 2010. All applicants for Northern Territory sponsorship will be required to demonstrate that they have positive employment prospects in the Northern Territory even if their occupation is on the shortage list. check this link : Sponsorship for GSM applications with occupations NOT on National SOL

Hold on to your breadth! Something new is coming out really soon. Hope it brings out the SMP and good luck to all those SS holders awaiting good news to be bumped up to Cat. 2! State Migration Centre ********** Pathways to Migrate - Currently being updated How to Apply for State Sponsorship - Currently being updated Skilled Sponsored Visa (SSV) - Currently being updated Skilled Regional Sponsored Visa (SRSV) - Currently being updated State Sponsorship Guidelines - Currently being updated Getting a Positive Skills Assessment English Language Requirements Online Application System Occupations in Demand - Currently being updated Information for Employers

Hi all Just got off the phone from my uncle In WA who is a Hairdresser. My OH is WA SS for this trade and we are effected by the new processing order. This Bill if passed will make current rules that Hairdressers In Wa need to be registered obsolete. One Interesting exert is listed below. I have highlighted a strange point. !! Why deregulate the hairdressing industry? Since the Hairdressers Registration Act 1946 was introduced, a range of consumer protection, education and training and occupational health and safety laws have been put in place that provide a sufficient regulatory framework for the hairdressing industry. The current regime in Western Australia is inequitable because it does not apply to all areas of the State. Western Australia is the only State or Territory that has a registration scheme for hairdressers and a statutory board to administer that scheme. The proposal would reduce red tape by removing barriers to entering the hairdressing industry, reduce costs to small business and assist in addressing skills shortages. So a Bill might be introduced to help with Skills Shortages in WA . Surely dealing with experienced applicants in the pipeline is a quicker way to address this skill shortage. This is telling DIAC what everybody knows and that is that WA need hairdressers. My uncle feels that this Bill would make skilled workers leave the Industry as wages would be driven down as a result of people with little knowledge getting a job in a salon. Maybe this is positive and proves the shortage in WA and therefore allowing the Trade on the SMP or is it a negative as Evasn will be thinking anyone can be a Hairdressers. Any advice from ALan Gill George et al would be welcome. This is the link www.parliament.wa.gov.au/web/newwebparl.nsf/iframewebpages/Bills+-+All You have to type in the above Named Bill. Fingers crossed Shane

For all those (any?) statistics fans out there, here are some site stats. Top poster in July: Britchickx- 726 posts Total number of posts in July: 26,961 (up 26% on July09) Number of unique visitors in July: 136,331 (up 46% on July09) Total number of 'visits' in July: 289,726 (up 56% on July09) Number of pages viewed/displayed in July: 6,468,607 (up 119% on July09) Number of new users in July: 917 and a random stat: Top 'Thanked' users: 1) gollywobbler: thanked 8788 times 2) proud2beaussie: thanked 6824 times 3) pablo: thanked 4860 times

Clarius Skills Index June 2010 Quarter Tue, Jul, 27 2010 The June quarter Clarius Skills Index shows that already there is an emerging skills shortage across several occupations and the availability of skilled workers may become an issue for Australia in the near future. The top 10.... 1 Chefs 2 Metal Tradespersons 3 Construction Tradespersons 4 Automotive Tradespersons 5 Building and Engineering Associate Professionals 6 Computing Professionals 7 Building and Engineering Professionals 8 Food Tradespersons 9 Science Professionals 10 Health Professionals

Thought some of you might want to read the link below. Shows what is on around Sydney each month. My Lin and Terri are going to the coffee and chocolate fair this coming weekend. Looks good, but I'll be at work, so no free coff and choc for me. July events in Sydney, whats on guide to Sydney

Tickets are now for sale......Its a fantastic night for a great cause. We are hoping to sell 300 tickets this year and we need your help. This is the 4th year of the event and we welcome new people. The charity website is www.schoolofstjude.co.tz. and if you need anymore information on the event or how to purchase tickets please pm me St Jude Charity Ball 2010 Winter Wonderland Theme Saturday 11th December 2010 Rendezvous Hotel Scarborough $145 p.p or a discount of $135 p.p when you book a table of 10 Ticket includes 4 course christmas dinner inc. wine, beer & soft drinks. Live band entertainment, dancing until midnight. Silent Auction/Raffle held on the night Buy your tickets now and then your christmas party is booked and paid off......we also welcome small businesses to hold their christmas party at the event !

Hi Guys, I am doing some research on the best places to work in Australia and came across this web site. Thought I might share it. Great Place to Work™ Institute, Australia and published by BRW And here you can fine tune your search... Cheers B!k3R

You can download the list here. (click below link instead) (System Unavailable Thank you Dragsterwish for finding this for us! This is useful information, but raises some concerns for us as we eagerly wait for SMP! Skills assessed and visa lodged as welfare worker, (176 family sponsored) which does not appear on this list. However, OH skills/occupations can be related to occupations that are on the list (community worker or youth worker) So would this mean we'd need to get a new skills assessment done AND lodge a new visa application to be considered for the smp (IF these occupations are even on it!) I know its just speculating at this stage, but just want to be prepared in the event. It sure beats having to wait a further 2-3 years with the risk of being capped!

Intended for updates on SA SMP. Recent email i received. I don't think it's something new from email replies before to enquiry State Migration Plans (SMPs) DIAC have made the decision that each State/Territory is to have a State Migration Plan (SMP) which will be a formal signed agreement between the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship and each State and Territory Government. It is expected that the SMPs will identify and include occupations in which migration is required to supplement supply available from the local labour market. The number of or occupations to be included under the SMP is not yet known. It is expected that an SMP will be introduced around the middle of 2010, however no date has been set by or agreed to by South Australia and DIAC. Immigration SA is not accepting any applications for State Sponsorships until the new List has been published. The Online Application Form is currently shut down. A notice will be placed on our website when the SMP and Sponsorship Lists are published and the Online Application Form is reinstated. Please monitor the Immigration SA (www.migration.sa.gov.au) website for updates. If you are a (Migration Agent) member of the Migration Institute of Australia, you will be advised through your membership. Manager – General Skilled Migration Immigration South Australia DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Good Luck

I must be going thru lots of stress because of all the news about DIAC... I have found myself writing that I can't wait till the 1st of July. And I have bumped in many other users that have written the same... The fact is that I can't remember the reason why I have written that.. What is supposed to happen on the 1st of July? Is an new rule going to be introduced? Is the priority processing going to be changed? Is anything going to happen at all? Why is everyone waiting for the 1st of July? Sorry, I am confused and dazzled

What's New? Recent Changes in General Skilled Migration

I'm glad that the WC2010 is on from today. At least it'll take my mind away from worrying about the visa waiting time... So who are your team? or which one do you support, want, or predict to win?

Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) Overview About ANZSCO Transitional Arrangements ANZSCO Codes Frequently Asked Questions Overview ANZSCO is a system developed to collect, publish and analyse occupation statistics across government agencies, and is being introduced by the department as the new standard to capture occupation information in all visa, settlement and citizenship programs. ANZSCO will also be used within skilled visa programs, where it is a requirement for visa eligibility, as the standard by which a visa applicant's skills to undertake a specific occupation in Australia are assessed. About ANZSCO General information about the ANZSCO classification system. Introduction of ANZSCO – Transitional Arrangements Describes the transitional arrangements in place to enable, in certain circumstances, a mix of ASCO and ANZSCO information to be accepted for skilled visa program sponsorships, nominations and visa applications. List of ANZSCO Codes and Occupations A full list of all ANZSCO codes and their occupation titles. Frequently Asked Questions Frequently Asked Questions relating to the introduction of ANZSCO. For more information Please click here... DIAC introduces ANZSCO on 1 July 2010

Summary from DIAC Exposition on Skilled Migration Changes Sydney 31 May Key presenters are Peter Speldewinde and Katherine Whitehead. General Skilled Migration Overall the framework will be relatively unchanged, ie on 1 July there will be a SOL and a new list of occupations sponsored by the states which will be as broad as the ENSOL but no broader and most likely half way between the old SOL and the new SOL. There will be no new points test until the end of the year, if at all, and equally no capping and ceasing if at all until then. The use of the capping and ceasing power will be more likely if there is another economic downturn. Future changes will most likely not be telegraphed - they explained that in the month before the September 2007 changes there were 32000 offshore applications instead of the usual 6500 - apparently most of them in unwanted occupations. Therefore the suspension of offshore GSM applications on 8 May was to avoid a "spike" in an otherwise bloated program. So best to apply when eligible as DIAC is capable of implementing a freeze without notice, particularly while they've got an oversupply of applications. The new SOL will have some minor alterations as Skills Australia used the unrevised version of ANZSCO - must have been some red faces over that one, but there will be no substantive changes to the new SOL as published on 17 May. All pre-September 2007 applications all about to be ceased as announced in February; such applicants, if they have valid skills assessments, are of course entitled to lodge a second application funded by the refunds they will receive. The cap and cease legislation is still a Bill - that is, an unenacted legislative proposal not yet with the force of law - and while it does sound as though the legislation will be enacted, and implementation will be determined according to occupation, English and age criteria, there was no indication that it would actually be applied to any particular category of existing applications unless there was some sort of economic downturn. No mention at all of cooks and hairdressers today. Clear that they're going to reduce overall GSM numbers anyway. Apparently the alternative - employer sponsored visas - require less verification because employers want to avoid the sanctions for misfeasance and are subject to other government controls in any event. Changes to the ENSOL and 457 occupation lists will be direct translations to ANZSCO at this stage with no substantive changes. The Department will issue a "convergence" or "concordance" list confirming ASCO equivalencies. Pre-July skills assessments will remain valid depending on the convergence/concordance list and relevant eligibility list, eg new SOL or ENSOL. There will be a revised Ministerial direction concerning the priorities to be applied in General Skilled Migration but no details were provided. ENS/RSMS. There is a current ENS/RSMS Review. Issues include English language, market salaries, exceptional circumstances, regional occupation list, Worker Protection Act framework etc. Timing currently not determined. Interesting 457 statistics were presented (being distributed separately) which will apparently inform planned ENS developments as well as future 457 reforms. Looking at sponsor accreditation, registered employment authorities (replacing regional certifying bodies) and training benchmarks (still unresolved - "some way off"). Labour Agreements Clear now that semi-skilled applicants (ASCO chapters 5-7) are only able to go through Labour Agreements. DIAC is now generating template industry agreements for the Labour Agreement visas - eg snow industry workers, bilingual tour guides, mining operations, meat industry - for employers to "sign up to". This, and other procedural reforms, should make the process of compliance easier. State Migration Plans Plans will specify the occupations and the number for each occupation. DIAC is verifying each state's methodology for determining occupations and numbers. Only occupations on the ENSOL can be on an SMP. And according to Katherine earlier, the ENSOL won't change yet. Says that the SMPs are not the solution to a state having negative demographic growth. Many states have higher language, experience and other requirements than DIAC requirements. Each state will have 100 "off-plan" places (but still no broader than ENSOL). The plans will be four-year rolling plans reviewed annually. Expecting a reasonable amount of stability. Answering questions Peter Speldewinde suggests that we may one day see the end of GSM for independent (unsponsored) applicants. ANZSCO Concordance Confirms that all DIAC systems now going to ANZSCO. Mentions that occupations in ANZSCO Major Groups 1-3 are "skilled". Will post the "convergence/concordance" on their website. Accepting ASCO skills assessments for GSM as long as the occupation is in the new SOL, according to the concordance". Cheers, George Lombard

Planned system maintenance To allow us to continually improve our systems, online services and products, there will be planned system maintenance on the following days: Thursday 17 June 2010 - Website Outage 7 am to 8 am on Thursday 17 June 2010 AEST (GMT + 10). During this time all DIAC websites will be unavailable. These include: Department of Immigration & Citizenship Australian Citizenship – Becoming an Australian Citizen Senator Chris Evans - Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Welcome to Diverse Australia Program Planned System Maintenance and Technical Issues Maybe for big updates? :biggrin:

Where are people watching the games? I have been out today and bought beer for tonight while I watch the England v Australia in the Rugby, then i have all the stuff i need for a slap up breakfast in the morning. Is anyone going to a club to watch the games, or are they going to watch it in the comfort of their own homes? Also if and I say a big if, England make it to the final then i am going to go up to Sydney to the fan zone up there. Anyone else got similar plans?

Hi everyone DIAC has confirmed that its previously announced changes affecting the GSM program will come into effect on 1 July 2010. The post on its website reads as follows: "Previously announced changes affecting the GSM program will come into effect on 1 July 2010. See: Changes to the General Skilled Migration Program If you are intending to apply online for a GSM visa before 1 July 2010, we recommend that you lodge your online application well before 6 pm AEST (GMT + 10) on Wednesday 30 June 2010 as the implementation of these and other departmental system changes is likely to cause a systems outage. See: Planned System Maintenance and Technical Issues Applicants are advised to note planned system maintenance times before commencing an eVisa application, as planned maintenance will prevent a commenced application from being lodged. The department is not able to accept and back-date applications which have been commenced but not finally submitted through eVisa as a result of planned system maintenance or an outage. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause." Best regards Susan

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