My wife and i have just emmigrated to Australia. Trying for a better way of life I thought I would get work easily. I had subbied out here back in 1999 and earnt a rather large barrel of cash.

Since then the industry has been tightened up tighter than the proverbial by the electrical trade unions.

You now are expected to be a grade a sparks to go near a panel containing 24vdc and be registered by the telecomms industry as a phone line may be connected to a monitoring bit of kit connected to the panel. I have dealt with the telecoms side and have my ACMA licence but cannot become a sparks unless i do a 4 year apprentiship.

In the Uk i ran large

I now cant even get a look in at chubb to stick test smoke in a head for

The average for more senior engineers is around

Thats a shitty position to be in now, bad luck mate!

Maybe you could read up on snakes and croc's, get yourself a video camera, act like a complete //.B.W.F.// and film it then get the results on TV.

I was just thinking of staying at home all day, drinking beer in a dirty vest beating the wife at ten minute intervals while watching the national sport Aussie rules footie. The sport that cant decide if it is football or rugby.

Sounds like a good life to me.

Seroiusly though mate i hope you get yourself sorted one way or another.

The trouble with the powers that be, they never seem to think in a logical manner.

G'day sport

Adi

Australia has always been a bit odd as regards what a person can and cannot do.

BAck when I was a boy (72/73) I lived and worked in Brisbane for a large TV company.

I applies for and got a "tradesman Radio" certificate.

this allowesd me to work on mains powered TV and other eqipment both in the workshops and out in the field.

HOWEVER.... This is the really silly part .. I was NOT allowed to fit a replacement mains plug....work that one out... I needed a different certificate to do that?

No I don't think so cos the aussies where in the same boat as us pomms. Even the wage rates are controlled see

http://www.airc.gov.au/looseleaf/looseleaf...816828_1_40.pdf

I wonder where alarm engineers fit in here?

I have dealt with the telecoms side and have my ACMA licence but cannot become a sparks unless i do a 4 year apprentiship.

Right what uk qualifications do they recognize for the aussie electric's??

...qualified sparks that wouldnt know a zener diode from a resistor (no offence sparks i am sure you do but i am in full ranting mode)....

quite rarely they even know what is zener or resistor..