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Better Jobs, Better Hotels

There are big skills & labour shortages in the Australian Hospitality Industry:

The Australian Hotel Associations are looking for ways to address shortages in the industry. “Attracting and retaining staff is a challenge for businesses across the board – not just hotels. Hotels have recognised this and as a result, many of them are adapting their recruitment practices, work systems and training schemes to increase productivity and reduce the level of turnover in the industry.” said Australian Hotels Association Director National Affairs, Bill Healey.

Bill Healey also says: “The hotel industry isn’t unique when it comes to having difficulty recruiting workers and that demographic changes – both here and overseas – will mean that skill and labour shortages will be a business challenge for the next decade. Investment in new hotels remains low, despite recent occupancy and room rate increases, and projections by Tourism Australia that over 16,000 new hotel rooms will be required to cater for the projected growth in visitors over the next 10 years.”

“Investors are not silly,” Mr Healey said. “They realise that the returns on Australian hotels are still low compared to overseas destinations and other property classes. Quality service will be a key factor in attracting high yielding visitors. However, our high global wage-to-operating costs reduce a hotel’s ability to address people shortages solely by increasing wages.”

Riverfestival takes over Brisbane

A celebration of Brisbane’s beautiful people, culture and environment.

The festival runs for 10 days starting the 24th August.

Riverfestival has live music, art exhibitions, film screenings, talks, displays and demonstrations on the health, past and future of the Brisbane River.

The Brisbane Riverfestival is held in the city’s outdoor public spaces close to the river, as well the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Must sees are:

‘RegattaFest’ – 30 dragon boats begin the day’s racing, followed by 40 other craft competing from the Brisbane Yacht Club.

‘Riverfire’ : the city’s bridges, rooftops and skies light up with an amazing fireworks display.

Driving Licence: You Must Up-Date.

Within the first 3 months of being here it is necessary to get an Australian driving licence.

Depending on where you are from, (some countries licences are recognized as being similar) this may mean taking a theory driving test (a multiple choice test on the rules of the road) rather than a complete theory and practical re-test.

The prices and details are listed at http://www.transport.qld.gov.au/

Picasso comes to Town.

Healthcare starts with Medicare

Typically, upon arrival in Australia, new migrants are registered for a medicare card, as far as I can remember this happens automatically.

A medicare card is an important part of your Australian ID and it gives you access to public healthcare.

Once you are semi-settled with a roof over your heads, you then need to go to a medicare office and claim your card/give an address for your card to be sent to.

The Medicare office is where you go to get healthcare rebates (money back) and is not linked to Centerlink which is the social security office.

Hospital visits and emergency care is free at public hospitals. Private health care is a parallel system. A visit to the doctor or specialist can cost from 50$ upwards with a % given back as a rebate.

Fancy a Working Holiday in Australia?

Seeking an adventure….a wish to experience a different county…

This is often the first step to a new place to call home!

It is roughly ten years since I first ventured to Australia on a working holiday visa and like many, caught the migrate to Australia bug.

Working Holiday Visas which are the simplest of the simplest DIY online visas to apply for. A WHV is a first step, for sure, but you have to be under 30 to do it. General Skilled Migration visas (most of them) have an upper age limit for application of 45.

Australia is a Major Working Holiday Destination.

• The working holiday visa is frequently the first step to becoming hooked on the land down under.
• Legislation changes twice a year in Australia and the latest is that it is possible to stay for two years and the visa also now allows you to work for 6 months with one employer rather than three.
• Australian employers are realizing the change in the working holiday visa changes the commitment levels of overseas travellers, and are taking time to train and include temporary staff- no-doubt a great contributor to attachment.
• If after working in a great environment for 6 months, your question to an employer could well be: How can I stay on? At this point there is a need to seek advice relating to the possible pathways to migration.
• In the case of looking at immigration options, advice is as essential as services.
• When looking at short and long term plans, there are steps that can be taken in the short term that help you work toward the long term option of a skilled migration visa, for example.
• Starting with the end goal in mind is an essential part of the pathway to realising your dreams etc.

What’s Brisbane EkkA about?

Brisbane EkkA 2008 is from 7 – 16 August.

EkkA, not sure what Ekka stands for exactly and few people locally seem to know either! What I do know though is that it is ‘The Exhibition’ or ‘The Royal Queensland Show’.

The county comes to the city and the city has a day off to see the best of the state’s produce.

It’s held in the RNA show grounds in Brisbane.

There are heaps of events and attractions at the RNA Showground: farm animals, horses, fashion shows, fireworks, concerts, prize-winning animals, craft and food. Plus there’s a fairground in ‘Sideshow Alley’ and showbags – filled with merchandise.

Different suburbs have different days off during Ekka week, which can be a bit confusing!

Useful Resources:

http://www.ekka.com.au/

Take a Gap Year Down-Under

This year approximately 29,000 students from across the UK are expected to defer their university places.

Tourism Australia is calling on these school-leavers to consider a working holiday gap year Down Under to help fund their travels and gain valuable life experience.

Last year, 7%1 of accepted applicants deferred their university place for a year and, judging from the statistics from the past five years, this number of ‘gappers’ is expected to continue.

For those who deferred their university place or who didn’t quite get the grades they expected this year, a 12-month gap year Down Under on a Working Holiday Visa gives school-leavers over 18 the opportunity to work and play in Australia.

Until June 30th this year, almost 11% of Australian Working Holiday Visa applicants from the UK were aged between 18 and 19, a figure that has remained constant for the past three years.

Tourism Australia is looking to build on this and has recently launched www.myspace.com/workinoz which is a dedicated site explaining how to apply for the visa, including tips on living the Aussie lifestyle.

The website also gives information on Australia’s Second Working Holiday Visa where Brits and Irish can extend their visa for a second year provided they spend at least three months doing ‘specified work’ (such as fruit-picking or construction) in a regional area.

Tourism Australia General Manager (UK and Europe), Rodney Harrex said the 12-month gap year to Australia is a popular choice because it offers the chance to live abroad before embarking on a career or starting university.

“The Australian Working Holiday Visa allows travellers to stay for up to 12 months and work in any job,” he said.

“Provided you’ve got a return airfare and some savings to prove you can support yourself when you arrive in Australia, anyone between the ages of 18-30 from the UK and Ireland can apply.

“I know a lot of parents worry that their children will run out of money on their gap years, but the reality is on a Working Holiday Visa you can begin employment from the first day you arrive on Australian soil.”

UCAS data – 28,863 students deferred their places out of a total 413,430 accepted applicants.

How Qualified Am I?

One of the surprises for many immigrants is that some jobs do require you study for further qualifications before you can practice in your field of work.

Even though the skilled migration board has said you have all the qualifications you need there may be a need to do more.

Two examples we’ve heard of are:

1. A Physio (from the UK) who needed to extend his formal qualifications, even though he had a degree and experience. The job of a physio here has a slightly different focus. It is very difficult to have an international match in terms of job focus and study areas.

2. A Swiss midwife nedeed to take a further language course locally even having passed the IELTS test.

It is worth being prepared for the extra cost and requirements.

Australia ~ Not So Cheap.

Our first three months in Australia were bliss. We were living in between two worlds; Switzerland and all the long hours commuting, expenses and past stress was behind us and Australia with the reality of integrating here and setting up our new life somewhere ‘out there’ in front.

These first few months were spent imagining all we could do now we were here. The reality of decreased salaries, real comprehension of the daily cost of living and value of the dollar hadn’t hit home. This is what’s known as the ‘honeymoon’ period.

Point to Consider: During the time of planning the move and applying for visas, having an idea of the day to day living costs can suddenly become essential. With all the talk of Australia being great for life style, it is still important to consider whether you can afford to enjoy the life style you want and to start to build realistic expectations.

Arriving with large lump sums of cash after selling up overseas can leave an inflated sense of wealth, until the bills start rolling in.

During the ‘honeymoon’ or before, is a good time to start drawing up a preliminary budget. It is of course difficult to get an overall feel of the change of the day to day expenses all at once. Prices are different; some items cost more and others a lot less.

In a World wide Survey carried out by http://www.finfacts.com/costofliving3.htm, comparing the Cost of living in over 100 countries, at number 20 (listed as the most expensive city in Australia) is Sydney, at 68 Melbourne, at 84 Brisbane, at 89 Adelaide and Perth is at 93 (Darwin didn’t feature in the top 144). Compare these results to your own city to get a general perspective.