Welcome to Australia Blog

The vision for an IT future

The Queensland state strategy for 2008-12 is empowered by the vision:

“knowledge, creativity and innovation drive economic growth to improve prosperity and quality of life,’

In order to do this, the IT industry is partnering with the government to enable effective industry growth.

The IT industry itself is addressing the need to integrate into the global market, raise the standards, respond to the skill shortage.

At present, Queensland’s IT industry is said to make a significant contribution to the strength and diversity of the national economy. 77,000 people are employed in this sector, revenues are of $23.6 billion and export products and services are worth $1.3 billion.

Destination: Central Outback Queensland

September, ‘tis the start of spring’ and a good month to head up north of Brisbane.

This year storms have rolled in early but with warmer weather, surf’s up, swimming is possible and Whale Watching is in full swing in Hervey Bay.

There’s a known road trip worth having a look at. It gives a taste of the outback, country and coastal towns, history and an opportunity to rejuvenate and explore.

The adventure takes anything up to two weeks… We thought this was going at a fast pace. See the journee.

Head toward Central Outback Queensland to experience:

• Gladstone’s harbour
• Rockhampton -the beef capital
• Emerald for a gem stone or two
• Typical local pubs
• Longreach – Qantas’ and the Stockman’s hall of fame
• Winton -discover the legend behind ‘Waltzing Matilda’
• Just beyond Winton is the famous Walk-About-Creek pub (home of Croc dundee) in one direction and the dinosaur stampede in another.
• Carnarvon Gorge – spot platypus and turtles, swim in fresh pools and take an Aboriginal walk to cave rock art.

Useful Resources:

See the photos

Job Focus: Primary School Teaching

Here goes, a few facts I’ve found out and one or two helpful addresses.

• Primary School Teachers are a skill in demand.
• As in many occupations you must be registered with, or obtain a license from, a local authority in the state or territory where you wish to teach here in Australia.
• You may require additional training in Australia before you can get your skills recognised, licensed or registered.

The assessment authority for your occupation is:

Teaching Australia
The primary aims of this association are to raise the status, quality and professionalism of teachers and school leaders throughout Australia.

Teaching Australia is designated by the department as the assessing authority for the recognition of teaching qualifications for the purposes of General Skilled Migration.

For more information contact:
Teaching Australia, 5 Liversidge Street, ACTON ACT 0200, AUSTRALIA
Telephone: 61 2 6125 1643 or 1800 337 872 – Fax: 61 2 6125 1644
Email: info@teachingaustralia.edu.au Website: http://www.teachingaustralia.edu.au/

What you can ask for:

• Statements of educational comparison for qualifications obtained overseas.
• Information on where and how to obtain specific occupational assessments and which occupations have licensing and/or regulatory requirements.
• Information about further training, including: English language training, bridging training and orientation programs if needed.
• They also provide employment related information and help to present information to assessors and assessing authorities.

Becoming a member of Australia Teaching association could help you with your employment prospects, networking, contact with industry and professional development and may provide you with important information and support.
www.immi.gov.au/asri/occupations/t/teacher-primary-school-teacher-2412-11.htm

Private and Public Healthcare

Medicare, Australia’s health care system, is funded through income tax and an income related levy.

Generally anyone earning over A$50,000 will have some form of private health insurance.

Medicare pays for free treatment as a public patient in a public hospital, and included doctors, specialists and some optometrists or dentists.

Medicare pays 85% of doctor fee and patient pays the difference.

However, each calender year, the amount between what Medicare pays and you pay is recorded. Once you have paid a total of $306.90 out of pocket, you are in the safety net zone which means Medicare picks up 100% of your doctor bills/ out-of-hospital services in that year.

Most medicines available on prescription are subsidised with a maximum end cost for the consumer of A$29.50.

Medicare does not cover:

• Dentistry
• Glasses or contact lenses
• Physiotherapy
• Chiropractic treatment.

There are many private health funds in Australia. MBF, HCF and Medibank Private are the most popular.

http://www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/

Importing your stuff!

The expense of moving with all your household items can be more expensive than simply re-buying here. When moving from Europe, we did one large garage sale with the majority of ours and bought minimum with us. However, for very special items it is worth bringing as originality can be rare here, especially in the furniture market.

You do not pay tax on items e.g. furniture which you own and are for your own use.

Customs: www.customs.gov.au

Cars & Motor Bikes

We’ve met immigrants here who have imported their Harleys and found it worth while.

However, the standard advice is that the total cost of importing a car to Australia, including compliance (ensuring the vehicle meets Australian standards) and re-registration is so high that unless your vehicle is very special it isn’t worth it.

Animals

• You’ll need a permit.
• Australia is very strict regarding animals.
• Import Permit must be made to the Principle Veterinary Officer (Quarantine) in the relevant State or Territory.
• Each animal needs a ‘certificate of inspection’ by an Official Veterinarian.
• Typically an animal will need an identification microchip or tattoo.
• Dogs and cats are required to undergo a period of quarantine, roughly 30 days, on arrival in Australia.

http://www.affa.gov.au/

Keep to the left ~ when driving

Each Australian state and territory is an authority responsible for the issuing of driver’s licences.

Australian licences are valid Australia wide.

The minimum age for driving is either 17 or 18 years, depending on the state or territory.

Driving licences are issued for a set period of time and a fee is payable for each renewal.

Useful Resources:
http://www.atsb.gov.au/

Australian Education in brief

It can suddenly become important, when immigrating to Australia, to know where your children will be in their school years, to see how different it will be for them, and what post school choices are available.

The School years are divided as follows:

• Preschool education starts when a child is 5 years old.
• Primary school begins at age 6 and is a general elementary programme and continues for 6-7 years.
• Secondary education starts in Year 7 or 8.
• Students sit a year 12 exam to continue into higher education.

The current leaving age for each state is 16 yrs for Western Australia, 15 yrs for the Northern Territory, 15 yrs for New South Wales, 16 yrs for Tasmania, 16 yrs for Victoria, 15 yrs for Queensland and 16 yrs for South Australia.

There are two main types of Tertiary education programmes:

1. Vocational Education and Training (VET).
2. Universities and other higher education institutions.

VET is competency-based and offers a programmes under the National Training Framework (NTF).

Registered training organisations include: TAFE institutes, private training and assessment organisations, enterprises, universities, schools and adult education providers throughout Australia. http://www.dest.gov.au/