Mental health nurse

[Lara40]

Hi all.

My husband is going for a 482 visa and I’ll be going as his spouse. He is a DR and has a sponsorship. We are hoping to move out to WA next year from the UK and are really excited and grateful to be able to take this opportunity.

I am a mental health nurse and wondered if I will be able to find work once out there on the visa as my husbands spouse? Or does Australia just want people on a 189/PR visa?

The visa will be under him as the main person but I’ll obviously be moving out with him to and will want to work as a nurse. I would hate not to be able to find work. I love my job and trained and worked in UK as a nurse for years now. I can’t see myself wanting to do anything else.

Would it be better for me to try and secure a job before we move? Or should I wait until we see there? Can anyone recommend any mental health nursing job recruitment agencies?

Does anyone have any recommendations whether inpatient work or community mental health is better?

[shaunfreo]

Are you registered with AHPRA yet? If not that would be the first step as it can take a while to do. You can look at the career website for health jobs in WA health.wa.gov.au 

[Quoll]

I agree, get yourself sorted with AHPRA first. As a nurse you should be OK to find work as a temporary dependent especially post Covid. You won't have much luck until you're registered though, but after that, you should be OK to pick up something. So the crucial question will be do you meet the AHPRA criteria for registration. 

[Marisawright]

I agree, I wouldn't put yourself through the stress of finding a job before you go.  You'll have enough on your plate getting ready for the move.  

[Lara40]

Thanks everyone. I have just submitted for my APHRA but not heard anything yet. Would you advise moving over there first and looking once I am there?

My husband will have his sponsorship so I could start to apply for work once we are there and settled. What’s peoples thoughts?

[Quoll]

Not much point applying if you can't start next week, nobody is going to want to hang around waiting for you - you're already a bit precarious being a dependent on a temporary visa so better to get your AHPRA registration in your hand and your boots on the groundready to start immediately. 

[RubyMonday]

Hi fellow mental health nurse, I'm looking to go over next year on 189 so in a similar boat to you re when to register/apply for jobs.

The only issue is with applying for AHPRA in advance is having to "present in person" in Australia within 3 months of them granting the provisional registration and you won't know when that is. If they are processing it now it could be they grant the approval in October/November say and then you have to go to Australia within 3 months of that date to one of their offices with ID and validate it. They were offering extensions during covid but last I checked not any more and have gone back to 3 months. There is no option to do it remotely from the UK so could be an expensive trip if you'd have no other reason to go at that point although could use the chance to interview. I'm considering going in through the back door and registering with NZ council first which can be done fully remotely then register with AUS under the trans tasman agreement so won't have to present in person. NZ seem to be quicker with their registrations then only a couple weeks to get the AUS registration after that. It will mean paying a little more but I think worth it. Having the registration in advance means I can get a job before I move and not have to worry about it when I'm there. Happy to be corrected if the above is not correct now since it would make my life easier. 

The other issue for you is being a dependent on a temporary visa you won't be able to apply for permanent jobs. I've seen some gov health departments including WA health specifically offering fixed term contracts to match the length of your visa though. You might not be eligible for some incentives/work schemes etc that are only open to those taking up permanent jobs. 

[RubyMonday]

On 16/09/2023 at 08:35, Quoll said:

Not much point applying if you can't start next week, nobody is going to want to hang around waiting for you - you're already a bit precarious being a dependent on a temporary visa so better to get your AHPRA registration in your hand and your boots on the groundready to start immediately. 

This isn't true at all, health departments are happy to wait if you're the right person for the job and they are struggling to recruit. SA gives a potential time line of up to a year for starting a job once successful at interview but that was starting from scratch with no visa first and them sponsoring. Getting set up for a healthcare job always takes time as there are lots of checks to be done prior and gov departments are well aware of the issues with registration/visas/police checks etc. Even in the UK it was the same, earlier this year it took 3 months for me to move from one job to another and that was with the same employer and that was quicker than I expected. Most states on the job adverts I've seen mention they are happy to support with registration for foreign workers new to Australia and can offer posts on temporary fixed term basis to match visa length. 

If you get the visa approved and it's just a matter of registration then start looking at jobs. Sign up for job alerts with WA health and see what kinds of jobs are available and what they are looking for. I'm registered with WA, QLD and SA and there are a lot of jobs coming up every day. I don't know what area you are working in now but a lot seem to be based around drug and alcohol if you'd be interested in that. 

[Quoll]

14 hours ago, RubyMonday said:

This isn't true at all, health departments are happy to wait if you're the right person for the job and they are struggling to recruit. SA gives a potential time line of up to a year for starting a job once successful at interview but that was starting from scratch with no visa first and them sponsoring. Getting set up for a healthcare job always takes time as there are lots of checks to be done prior and gov departments are well aware of the issues with registration/visas/police checks etc. Even in the UK it was the same, earlier this year it took 3 months for me to move from one job to another and that was with the same employer and that was quicker than I expected. Most states on the job adverts I've seen mention they are happy to support with registration for foreign workers new to Australia and can offer posts on temporary fixed term basis to match visa length. 

If you get the visa approved and it's just a matter of registration then start looking at jobs. Sign up for job alerts with WA health and see what kinds of jobs are available and what they are looking for. I'm registered with WA, QLD and SA and there are a lot of jobs coming up every day. I don't know what area you are working in now but a lot seem to be based around drug and alcohol if you'd be interested in that. 

If you are on a permanent visa and they can't find someone else to go the position then quite possibly. The OP is a dependent on a temporary visa and that is less appealing to an employer especially if they envisage longevity in a position. 

[RubyMonday]

7 hours ago, Quoll said:

If you are on a permanent visa and they can't find someone else to go the position then quite possibly. The OP is a dependent on a temporary visa and that is less appealing to an employer especially if they envisage longevity in a position. 

I’m basing my comment on having seen WA health specifically targeting UK nurses on working holiday visas as soon as the rules changed to allow for up to 3 years. A working holiday visa is even more casual than a 482, dependent or not. Given that she would be working as a registered nurse I don’t think they would be concerned about the visa running out since there would be multiple she would qualify for in her own right. They could offer sponsorship themselves for a visa for her to stay. Of course if they have plenty of Australian citizens/PR applying for the jobs then she might be at disadvantage but it doesn’t appear that they are swamped with too many nurses so there is decent chance.

[InnerVoice]

Back in the day I had a number of friends who came over on WHVs (including one who was a nurse), who were able to move on to substantive visas when their WHV ended through an offer of employment. The nurse worked up in Darwin for 3-4 years. I never asked any of them what visa they were on but in all cases they eventually returned to the UK and Ireland, so I assume they were temporary. I'm rather curious to know easy/difficult it is to get sponsorship from being on a WHV or tourist visa these days, and if there's a clear pathway that can eventually lead to PR.

Edited September 18, 2023 by InnerVoice

[ali]

14 hours ago, RubyMonday said:

I’m basing my comment on having seen WA health specifically targeting UK nurses on working holiday visas as soon as the rules changed to allow for up to 3 years. A working holiday visa is even more casual than a 482, dependent or not. Given that she would be working as a registered nurse I don’t think they would be concerned about the visa running out since there would be multiple she would qualify for in her own right. They could offer sponsorship themselves for a visa for her to stay. Of course if they have plenty of Australian citizens/PR applying for the jobs then she might be at disadvantage but it doesn’t appear that they are swamped with too many nurses so there is decent chance.

A lot of job adverts do say that preference is given to Citizens and PR holders - it doesn't exempt people from applying but do understand that the preferred candidate may be based on their visa status.

[RubyMonday]

5 hours ago, ali said:

A lot of job adverts do say that preference is given to Citizens and PR holders - it doesn't exempt people from applying but do understand that the preferred candidate may be based on their visa status.

Yes that's what I said. All job adverts will state preference will be given to citizens/PR first as all jobs in every industry have to be. I only mean that it's not hopeless and it's not correct to say that you have to be there with everything sorted and ready to start tomorrow and still not likely to have a chance if you're on 482 visa. I've known people to be offered jobs from abroad so at the very least it's not impossible and definitely worth making inquiries once the visa is confirmed. I'm getting the daily updates for job alerts but am not going to apply for my nursing registration until I have my visa then I'll apply for jobs.  

[ali]

On 19/09/2023 at 14:25, RubyMonday said:

Yes that's what I said. All job adverts will state preference will be given to citizens/PR first as all jobs in every industry have to be. I only mean that it's not hopeless and it's not correct to say that you have to be there with everything sorted and ready to start tomorrow and still not likely to have a chance if you're on 482 visa. I've known people to be offered jobs from abroad so at the very least it's not impossible and definitely worth making inquiries once the visa is confirmed. I'm getting the daily updates for job alerts but am not going to apply for my nursing registration until I have my visa then I'll apply for jobs.  

We've just offered a UK candidate a job, but they've worked in Aus before, have PR and registration.  Availability, does play a part in filling the vacancies if like for like candidates - the UK candidate had already planned to arrive in less than 8 weeks.