emmigrating to Australia

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I am a 38 year old nursing student, wife and mother of four. I really wish to emmigrate from the UK with my family next year but am very unsure of the route to take. Some advice would indicate that it would be better to make all my own arrangements - job, visas, flights, etc but conflicting advice indicates that it would be much simpler to go through an agency. Victoria is the area in which my famjily and I are most interested, :rolleyes: so if any one has been through either process I would be really grateful to here how they did it and how long it took.

Specializes in Med/Surg/Ortho/HH/Radiology-Now Retired.
There are no "State licences" as you put it nor are there any 'granting of licences'

I think perhaps the poster is referring to.... State registration. Each state in Australia DOES have it's own registration. You need to register in the sate in which you wish to practise nursing. So .... in a way, it IS a license I guess.

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Specializes in Med/Surg/Ortho/HH/Radiology-Now Retired.

Thank you for the enlightenment

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Specializes in ICU.
There's nothing wrong with having your own interest at heart. Self-interest is what makes capitalism work, and it's a basic survival trait of any organism. (Except ants and honeybees. But I'm going off on a tangent here...)

My problem with recruitment agencies is that they have been flaky in my case. I'm an RN working on moving from the United States to Australia. Got my licence appo in to the NSW Nurses and Midwives Board. I thought an agency could smooth the way for setting up interviews with specific hospitals. Got in touch with two, (Eden Health and Acclaim) had nice e-mail exchanges with specific recruiters over a period of several months with each, filled out skills assessment forms and other agency documents, and they promised they were shopping me around to various workplaces.

And then both of my recruiters bailed out. One wrote me that she was exiting on maternity leave, and I got an e-mail from the other agency that the person with whom I had been dealing had abruptly left the agency. In both cases, I was assigned to another recruiter, and each of them sent me a e-mail stating how eager they were to help me. I replied, and then heard nothing from them. I think because I was another potential client added to their workload, someone who they didn't develop, I was surplus baggage.

I can't say all agencies are that fly-by-night. However, I've had the same experience with two out of two. I don't think they're rip-offs, because neither agency asked for up-front fees or anything that would make me pay for services before they deliver. I realize that recruiters get a cut of what I will earn Down Under, and I don't begrudge them that. They do something for me, it's fair that I do something for them. But they've been so screwy about actually doing anything that I am planning on doing my own job arrangements after I have an actual Australian state licence in hand.

Any other perspectives on nurse recruitment agencies? BTW, Oz offers a great Skilled Immigration Recruitment (SIR) program that leads to citizenship for nurses under age 45. For super-annuated staffers like me (age 46) there's a Form 1066 long-stay business visa that lets you live and work in Aus for four years if you can get an employer to sponsor you.

You might be better off directly approaching a hospital especially a goverment hospital or one of the larger private ones.

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Thank you for the warning. I must admit this is the way in which I am being to think. Of course it does mean that I have to wait until I am qualified before I start making arrangements, but the impression I get is that this can be done in the twelve month period I have allowed to fit in the the childrens' education

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Bukko, you make it sound as though capitalism works :chuckle

In addition, I respectfully suggest that it would serve you well to get yourself educated about working conditions in Australia as well as garnering some information on your rights and obligations as a worker. We might speak the same language (most of the time) but the system in Australia is very different to that in the US. US nurses have a much harder time immigrating than, say, UK and African nurses because of the education levels prescribed for nurses in those countries and because the US and Australia do not have a reciprocal labour agreement. In Australia, nurses must have a degree (not an associate diploma) recognisable by and deemed acceptable to the government and the relevant nursing board. You may be asked to sit conversion exams or return to tertiary education for further training. There are no "State licences" as you put it nor are there any 'granting of licences' for that matter. I note that you haven't approached any nursing boards either and it would seem to me you've just taken a stab online. In addition, should you only wish to stay for a while, it also states that it cannot sponsor those on a Long Stay Visa because the Australian Govt does not have an arrangement do so with the States. Eden Health is not an Australian company. They are part of Care Personnel Pty Ltd. (who also operate Twin Hills Agency, Nurses Worldwide and the Select group of companies) which forms part of the International Vedior Group and they actually specialise in placing nurses from NZ and UK which is probably why they dropped you like a hot scone. And according to the RSCA index, http://www.rcsa.com.au/memberindex/SearchMain.cfm

neither are members.

Forearmed is forewarned. Personally, I think you're better off without agencies. But rather than go it totally alone, ask your compatriots in here how they got to Australia and then suss it out for yourself. Better yet, approach the Australian consulate in your area.

Thank you for the information and perspectives. You seem to know a lot about agencies, particularly for someone listing themself as a "nail technician" among other things. You really have it "nailed" as the expression goes over here. So much new slang I have to learn, though. Dropped like a hot "scone" instead of a hot "potato" for instance. And I still think they didn't drop me deliberately; it was more like a careless fumble.

I have approached a nursing board. I've filled out and posted my application with the NSW board. The app didn't mention any limits based on my nursing education, which is an associate's (2-year) degree. I have a 4-year bachelor's (of science, believe it or not) in journalism from my previous career as a newspaper reporter, so I hope that will count for something if it comes to a crunch.

As you advise, I am sussing it out by reading posts and asking questions here. Everything has been a learning experience. I'm still hoping for agency assistance, rather than taking a blind leap as a stranger in a strange land, but if I have to go it alone, so be it.

And as far as capitalism working, it still beats fascism and feudalism, although my native land seems to be trying to revive those approaches... That's why my eyes are looking toward the Southern Cross!

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This site might help also: http://www.escapeartist.com/

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Specializes in ICU.

Thanks Randy :kiss: So when are we going to see you downunder?? We promise to turn on the surf for you:D

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Looking for work in Australia - usually easiest done by looking into public systems - ie each health area does their own recruiting. The Area Health Service I work for only in the last 2 years has started using agency nurses (shortages will make you do that). Prior top that they ran a casual pool and support roster inhouse to ensure any shortages where covered. (Last year they spent over 60,000 on agency fees so times have changed).

In a nutshell a lot of agencies will spend big dollars on telling you what they can give but it is a numbers game to them..... 100 nurses in means filling 50 available jobs and getting maximum fees from the employers. The nurses that don't get work - oops fumble!! or - we are still looking for something. If an agency has positions on their books it means that the health services are desperately short. I am unaware of any services that use agency as their perfered method of staff recruitment.

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Hi Sorry I haveN't been active on the forum for a good while but the final year of my training sort of took over. Finally, though I am qualified and currently employed in Wales, UK. I have also posted all the required documentation to the Nursing Board of South Australia and have a telephone interview arranged with 3 members of Staff from Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide. The interview is to take place on Thurday (th Feb 7.30 Australian time. Although I am nervous about the interview, my main concern is the time scal e it is projected that it will take for my registration to go through (5th May). Is this normal or is there any chance that it will be completed quicker than this:confused:

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