Jobs in Australia/New Zealand

[EH75]

Just been having a wee look at the Australian and New Zealand immigration websites and was interested to see that "Ship's Officer" is on the skilled jobs list for both countries. Does anyone know anyone who has emigrated to either of these countries or is there anyone on here who works in the maritime industry down under? Just wondering what the job market is actually like down there?

My own situation is that I am due to do my orals in the summer and I have always toyed with the idea of emigrating. The fact that I have spent the last few months floating about tropical latitudes and have come home to the British winter has made me think about it more. That and the fact my mum keeps watching "wanted down under" and similar programmes on the telly!

I've not actually been to either of these countries yet, although I do plan to do a bit of travelling once I've qualified as that is something I've always wanted to do. Of course I will be trying to get a job as a 3/O for a couple of years first before to get a bit of experience before I entertain doing any travelling, emigrating etc. I think it would be pretty unwise to do qualify then disapear travelling for a year before trying to get a job, I would probably forget everything!

Did try to have a look on the wider internet but there doesn't really seem to be much information. I would've thought that with it being on the skilled jobs list there would be plenty positions available but I can't really find much. I know the tax system is different but no idea how salaries/time off etc would compare.

Any advice would be great!

[noworries182]

Hi,

a couple of weeks ago I had an Australian do an internal audit on my vessel and form what he was saying, there is a bit of a manning shortage down there, the Australian have pretty strict rules on employing mostly Australasian crew however, he has said that they have started to employee form further afield because they cant find enough qualified Australian, you can work onboard as long as you have the work visa. In fact he was pushing us to apply for visas over the internet like he was on commission. He also told me that when you work offshore Australia, you are entitled to the Australian wages and this is higher than the average wage or at least higher than a UK officer's wage. Apart from that I don't know much else about the Aussie sector, apart from that its expanding. I hope you find some better information than this

[EH75]

Interesting.

I've had a look on the Australian equivilent of the MCA's website and it would appear that if you are British and have a UK COC then you need to sit an oral exam then they will issue you with an Australian COC (If I've interpreted the page correctly). Regarding the visa you can get a skilled worker visa dependant on your age and experience. That just allows you to go out there though, you would then have to find a job when you got there. Obviously if you can find an employer who is willing to sponsor you through the visa procedure that makes things significantly easier, although I would imagine that would be fairly difficult without going to Australia first and doing the oral exam to get the COC.

Most of the job websites I found seemed to be either for cadetships or positions other than officers. There were a few other sites I found but they all wanted you to register with them, upload CVs etc to browse jobs.

Sure there is a guy on here who is a pilot down there? I guess he might know a bit more...

[HarmlessWeasel]

...Sure there is a guy on here who is a pilot down there? I guess he might know a bit more...

Pilot Chris is the guy you're thinking of.

[Pilot Chris]

Hi all

Happy to answer any questions, bear in mind that Australia is not in dire need of every man and his dog as is frequently peddled on some UK TV shows! But if you can get a visa and your CeC then a few jobs are knocking about and the pay is a lot better than the UK but bear in mind the cost of living is greater over here as well!.

In order to access most of the jobs you have to join the union (amou) which is about 2% of your salary per year (you can only join once you are here) and a couple of jobs can be found on seek.com but you must have a Visa first and unless you are applying for a specialist job at master level or Pilot then the employer won't be keen to sponsor because they have enough people in the local market.

Cheers

Chris

[EH75]

Thanks for that Chris. Yeah I suspected that they probably weren't quite as desperate for people as it sometimes appears but its good to know at least that there are jobs out there and the salary is good! Probably going to do the whole working holiday visa thing at some point anyway and take it from there. I appreciate that I am unlikely to be able to get work on a ship on a working holiday visa but just to get out there and see what it is like really...then see what happens.

Whats the sort of salary range for a third/second officer out there? I guess most of the work is offshore and it'll be a month on/off like here? what about tax rates?

Cheers

[bobofinga]

I was wondering about this before also EH75.

Read about changing your UK CoC to Aussie CeC and what not , seems quite a long drawn process.

I ended up talking to a guy in a pub in Aberdeen had had been working offshore in Australia I think for Mermaid Marine?

He was a second officer on supply and he was roughly making the equivalent of ?60k without DP. Not sure the tax system.

He was 6 weeks on 6 weeks off.

[EH75]

Yeah I've been on the mermaid marine website this afternoon and although the advertised positions were for Masters and C/O's there was a section for expressions of interest for officers of other ranks so looks like jobs are certainly available. ?60K sounds astonishingly good for a 2/O on offshore with no DP but then if you are paying tax and the cost of living is higher then maybe you won't actually be that much better off? And if he was sitting in a pub in Aberdeen then im guessing hes not working down under anymore? Grass is always greener and all that.

[Clanky]

A friend of mine contacted the Institute of Marine Engineers in New Zealand who put him in touch with a company who offered him a job, helped with the immigration process and helped his wife find a job, so if you are a member of the nautical institute then that might be a way to go.

[YoungMariner]

Long term we'd love to get down under, continue the adventure of life by living and working in different places. We're going through the process of the Australian Permanent Residency visa with the hope of using it in the future (some info on my website).

[EH75]

Just had a look at your blog. Good information on there but it does look like a bit of a long winded procedure! Once its done its done I suppose. How far along in your visa process are you at the moment?

[Pilot Chris]

Hi all

The 3rd/2nd Officers in the offshore sector over here earn about 1500,000AUD a year (aprox GBP100,000) but they pay tax and as mentioned previously the cost of living is very high over here.

As I have said there are not plenty of jobs over here and its not easy to get a Visa to work (especially now the public is having a bit of a backlash against foreign workers here at present) but it is possible and with a bit of determination it can be done - my situation is a bit different as I married an Australian.

For anyone considering NZ - the wages are significantly lower (with a high cost of living) and so most NZ mariners are trying to get into the Australian market and many are flying in / flying out of NZ to work in Oz.

Always happy to offer any advice

Cheers

Chris

[anglemoth]

Hi all

The 3rd/2nd Officers in the offshore sector over here earn about 1500,000AUD a year (aprox GBP100,000) but they pay tax and as mentioned previously the cost of living is very high over here.

As I have said there are not plenty of jobs over here and its not easy to get a Visa to work (especially now the public is having a bit of a backlash against foreign workers here at present) but it is possible and with a bit of determination it can be done - my situation is a bit different as I married an Australian.

For anyone considering NZ - the wages are significantly lower (with a high cost of living) and so most NZ mariners are trying to get into the Australian market and many are flying in / flying out of NZ to work in Oz.

Always happy to offer any advice

Cheers

Chris

How much of that ?100k would be going to the government?

[tlloyd1983]

Seafarers in Australia have to pay normal income tax on their earnings, so using their online calculator:

http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.aspx?doc=/content/23519.htm

It would appear that of that $100,000, you get taxed $24,950. So, in real money, that is about ?50,000. I don't know if there is a NI-like scheme you have to contribute to? It's quite interesting, I have an Aus passport, so maybe I should look into doing this... It is rather cold here...

[Pash87]

Thanks for that Chris. Yeah I suspected that they probably weren't quite as desperate for people as it sometimes appears but its good to know at least that there are jobs out there and the salary is good! Probably going to do the whole working holiday visa thing at some point anyway and take it from there. I appreciate that I am unlikely to be able to get work on a ship on a working holiday visa but just to get out there and see what it is like really...then see what happens.

Whats the sort of salary range for a third/second officer out there? I guess most of the work is offshore and it'll be a month on/off like here? what about tax rates?

Cheers

I am presently living In Fremantle on the West Coast and I have been down here for 7 months on a Working holiday Visa, fortunately the company I presently work for are allowing me to fly out of Perth every 5 weeks. I have been looking around for quite a while and haven't found any job where they are looking for any 2nd or 3rd mates from anywhere other than Australia, even though I have my Full DP unlimited I haven't managed to turn anything up.

My company has a vessel operating out Broome/ Dampier they have to have everyone from 2 officer and 3rd engineer down from Australia or a Australian Resident Seafarer.

I went to the Oil & Gas Expo and spoke with quite a few companies, it also turns out half of Aberdeen was there . The only positive response I have had is from DOF Subsea, who said they would like me to call the office and go from there, In any case I don't think Anyone down here is particularly Interested Unless you are in AMOU (Australian Maritime Officers Union) or have your Chiefs ticket as Pilot Chris has mentioned.

I do like the way of life down here and Pending my chief mates will be returning to try and find work in 2014.

Also note that you cannot work offshore In Australia with a WHV they really do not like that. If this was the case everyone would be doing it. Although I thorough recommend it if you want to try the life style and you employers allow you to live any where, the WHV is the best way to try the life down here and a Damn site cheaper than paying a lot of Money for a 457 to get residency.

All that said I am hoping that my Missus who is a Hydrographic Surveyor will land a Job and get me a Visa .