JULIE R asked:
I am thinking about going to Australia next year only for a month or two, to visit my friend who works there and is studying. In my mind i am also going to be looking at wheather i fit in there and if maybe once i am a qualified counsellor, i would be better off going out there again to work and maybe eventually live.
Just some advice pls on my thoughts?
I am thinking about going to Australia next year only for a month or two, to visit my friend who works there and is studying. In my mind i am also going to be looking at wheather i fit in there and if maybe once i am a qualified counsellor, i would be better off going out there again to work and maybe eventually live.
Just some advice pls on my thoughts?
Counsellor is listed as a profession in which Australia is short of workers but is not one of the most needed occupations. An application for a work visa as a counsellor would require that you have at least a couple of years experience and, under new immigration policies that were announced last week, would probably receive fairly low priority processing. The changes don’t even begin until the New Year so there is not way of knowing what effect they will have on processing times for skilled migration for lower priority occupations. None of this means that you shouldn’t consider coming here to work; just be aware that it may take a while to get through the system. (occupation lists) (policy change info.)
To add to the above answer, I’ve been through the system, as a counsellor, it used to take up to 18 months to process an application, again, not sure what’s going to happen now.
If you don’t need to live in one of the popular areas (Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and a few others), you could get a regionally sponsored visa, which can speed up the process. Or try finding a job first, and they will get the visa for you. Work experience is vital though.
If you are doing it yourself, I’d advise a migration service to help, there’s so much paperwork, and unless you are great with red-tape, it can get really messy.
The other thing to add to the information given by your other respondents is that in Australia, people can now access free services from a qualified, registered psychologist under medicare. I don’t know how many hundred thousand psychologists there are in Australia exactly, but there are an awful lot. That is what you would be competing with.
Poor time to move here for work as many aussies returning home having lost jobs overseas-come over and see if you like it – there are many psychotherapists here in cities and no doubt room for more – always a long haul setting up your own practise so suggest to research some of professional associations and go to their meetings when you visit and network and see what the insiders say