funkft Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Hello, I am in the process of applying to migrate to Perth and was wondering if anybody could advise on the opportunities for workers in the Drug and Alcohol services? Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest trasi Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Hi Ya I can only share my experience....... ive worked in the Drug and Alcohol field in the NHS for over 12 years, recently having visited Perth, and contacted what feels like hundreds of people (in various states) i have been told by them all, that sponsorships are not available in this field, as this area is mainly employed by the criminal justice system. I did find one 'private' detox centre that was offering sponsorship, but they had no vacancies at the time. Everyone i approached were brill and all said, if i could get myself out there, they would give me a job, but i wanted sponsorship. Ive now got a sponsored 457 for a job in Sydney, but this is not for a DAT, its going back to general nursing. If your not looking for sponsorship, you should be ok, and hopefully will be given a job once your out there...... i would google 'drug & alcohol jobs in australia'...... this will give you the vacancies in each state, and then you can contact the employer via email to test the waters...... I was also informed that like the UK, DAT comes under the mental health system in Oz, and i know from the manager i spoke to at Perth hospital, that its hard to get into this field there without RMN status....... But where theres a will, theres a way.....:wink: Good luck xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waitingawhile Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Hi http://www.dao.health.wa.gov.au/ this is a decent link on which you will find reference to various community services which you can also find by googling. The specific drug and alcohol jobs are not always that well paid and are often part time initially. Having knowledge of the needs of people of indigenous backgrounds is a must. There is lots of info to be found and once over there they will be very interested-in fact this is the way for most community jobs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Ropey HOFF Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 I am a prison officer, but for the last 3 years i have trained to be an Offender Supervisor, working alongside Probation - who are also offender supervisors in the prison like me, but in the community they are offender managers. In September we are getting promoted to become Offender Managers as well, we deal with sentence planning, drink, drug and mental health issues and help them address all their lifestyle and offending related issues, including housing and education. Does anyone know if Drug workers employment would be an area i could work in. I have a PR 175 visa, do you think they would be interested in me, it sure beats walking the landings at a high security prison ..... i think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perthbum Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Drugs is a massive problem in oz, should be plenty of work for you over there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waitingawhile Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 You could find work in lots of areas -think about community job settings/housing projects etc- however what agencies will be looking for is direct knowledge of the relevant contemporary therapeutic skills and underpinning knowledge around drug/alcohol work-it really depends what your educational background is too- and what your experience of working within community settings away from the controlled estates is. I know there is a cert iv you can do via tafe, and you can even start it on line but would need to gain practice experience. I found that in Oz they always want you to undertake their training first. Although they are going to call prison officers offender managers here the training is very different from that which community probation officers receive and the work in prisons is such a different type of specialism not least because of the tensions of working within a compulsory and restricted setting. I have a background in CJS and still had to do the OZ course, although I was sponsored because I already had the skills which are at a higher level than their training. If you chose to work within the prisons over there you would find it quite a different culture which is not necessarily bad just different and you would probs have to do their course so now could definitely be the time to look at your choices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Ropey HOFF Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Cheers for that, it's given me food for thought, just another area of work to look into. And by the way, the UK is swamped with drugs, the border agencies have almost given up, the cost of drugs on the street is at an all time low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest trasi Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 It sure is Hoff...... i managed home and in-patient detoxs (god you need thick skin to survive the shift & be ready to take one on the chin !) The NTA are folding, the government (clueless) have brought in payment by results etc etc......as a country we are no where near tackling the problem and its gettin worse........ drugs and guns...... thats the sad life of many inner london teenagers :sad: The government needs to wake up and plough more money into the NHS detox services and DAT's......... instead of taxing fookin hot pasties !! :realmad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkft Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 Thank you for the replies - particulary like your profile pic trasi!!!! I'm going for state sponsorship so will be looking for employment once I get there, I've had a look at a few job sites and a lot of them take you to "Mission Australia" - which looks like it may be a Service promoting recovery through "god's love"? I have worked in the young persons field for 8 years now and would be looking to continue in this area waitingawhile - thanks for the link, I have been checking that site and it looks really useful Fingers crossed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perthbum Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Thought this was about oz, not another oz v uk drug thread please, you know who you are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkft Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 Certainly dont want this to be about Australia V UK, but I don't think it has gone down that route I am interested to find out more about the Services and what they offer I come from a young persons substance misuse background, where the focus of the work was a person centred ethos. However, like in the UK I imagine there are different models of practice and service ethos in Oz too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest littlesarah Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 a lot of them take you to "Mission Australia" - which looks like it may be a Service promoting recovery through "god's love"? I don't work in this sector, so I may have misunderstood (in which case I will happily stand corrected), but I have found that a number of religion-based organisations provide a significant amount of social care and support services that are not targeted at believers, and that do not include religious conversion as an objective (e.g. Salvos run retirement villages, as do Anglicare). I suspect that this type of non-government organisation has now become a mainstay (because some of what they do is paid for by donations, so the costs the government nothing). I don't think the expectation is that all it takes is 'God's love' to deal with the complex issues around substance abuse (or gambling, homelessness, child abuse, etc). It's just that the organisation has faith as the driver behind the desire to make a difference. I believe that these organisations work with the government, and in some cases receive government funding, so they're trying to provide services in conjunction with State organisations. What I can say is that, in some areas, such services are clearly desperately needed, and I hope you're able to come and help people turn their lives around. I had the privilege of working with people who managed to do just that, and some of the stories they told were incredible. It saddens me greatly that so many people become lost and turn to drugs and alcohol, which only seem to lead to a whole other set of problems. I wish you every success in your endeavours. Sarah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkft Posted June 20, 2012 Author Share Posted June 20, 2012 Thanks littlesarah, That pretty much answers my question - its hard to get a clear picture of a services driver from their website alone. It certainly looks like Mission Australia are doing invaluable work either way. I just wanted to pose the question as unfortunatly I have seen some organisations work in a way that seems to proritise their own objectives/views over that of the Service users. Which sector are you currently working in? - you obviously have great experience of working with complex issues Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest littlesarah Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Like I said, that's just my impression. I'm a podiatrist by profession, and worked in the NHS for years, latterly in a 'deprived' area. I think my upbringing (Anglican with a social conscience & a reluctance to judge, or at least reserve judgement until the situation has been evaluated carefully) and education helped me to look at things from many different angles and to question assumption and opinion; which I think shaped my world view. I've always been interested in how people come to make choices with adverse outcomes, and being the sort of person who asks lots of questions, I've learned a lot from people who have made choices that resulted in less than successful outcomes. So, my opinions re the role of religious organisations in Australian society has the potential to be biased, but I would actually hate to think that social services would carry a conversion agenda (that would be unethical, I feel). Please, let's not get into any debate about religion, that is not my intention (just felt I should disclose my interests, as it were!) Like I said before, Australia needs you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkft Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 Like I said, that's just my impression. I'm a podiatrist by profession, and worked in the NHS for years, latterly in a 'deprived' area. I think my upbringing (Anglican with a social conscience & a reluctance to judge, or at least reserve judgement until the situation has been evaluated carefully) and education helped me to look at things from many different angles and to question assumption and opinion; which I think shaped my world view. I've always been interested in how people come to make choices with adverse outcomes, and being the sort of person who asks lots of questions, I've learned a lot from people who have made choices that resulted in less than successful outcomes. So, my opinions re the role of religious organisations in Australian society has the potential to be biased, but I would actually hate to think that social services would carry a conversion agenda (that would be unethical, I feel). Please, let's not get into any debate about religion, that is not my intention (just felt I should disclose my interests, as it were!) Like I said before, Australia needs you! I won't debate with you, I was just interested in your opinion. I would certainly agree with you re: conversion, in terms of a service agenda, being unethical and I also feel that many faith based services are doing a fantastic job I would always want to look further into a service's ethos prior to applying, hence my original question (although it may have come across as flipant) - just because I would have to believe in the driver of the service in order to be honest in my own practice Thank you for your reply and your well wishes, Fingers crossed we will be over soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mongrel Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 No probs ,thyeres **** loads of drug labs all over WA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest littlesarah Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 I won't debate with you, I was just interested in your opinion. I would certainly agree with you re: conversion, in terms of a service agenda, being unethical and I also feel that many faith based services are doing a fantastic jobI would always want to look further into a service's ethos prior to applying, hence my original question (although it may have come across as flipant) - just because I would have to believe in the driver of the service in order to be honest in my own practice Thank you for your reply and your well wishes, Fingers crossed we will be over soon I wasn't anticipating debate from you, it's just that in the past threads that mention the 'r word' have ended up with all & sundry chipping in to criticise anything & anyone that has religious belief. I really, really didn't want anyone reading this to become inflamed & get into the rights and wrongs of organised religion. :frown: I know what you mean about wanting to know an organisation's ethos - it has to be a 'right fit' to be effective, I feel that about what I do and I think it would be even more so when it comes to working in your line. I think it would be horrible to have to turn up every day and face the choice of fighting against an organisation or else working in a way that compromises one's integrity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkft Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share Posted June 25, 2012 It does always have the potential for a heated debate doesnt it - but, I think we've got away with that! Thank you for your input to my thread, Hopefully I will get the opportunity to work first hand in the drugs field in Australia! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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