Hi there. Is there anyone from Oz that can assisst me in a possible transfer from England ?. I am a fulltime firefighter and i would like to know if any metropolitan depts do lateral transfers ?. I don't really want to do all the recruitment phases again as I am allready fully trained and competent, but obviously there would be a physical examination and interview etc, followed by training on your kit and practices etc. I just wondered if that is possible or would I have to go through the whole process again ?. My wife should qualify as a Lawyer in about 3 years so hopefully that should help the passage into your country. Thanks guys.
These are just 2 of the full time fire fighting agencies that im aware of in Australia. The SAMFS is South Australian and the MFB is victorian. Hope this helps!
I'm sure I've answered your query elsewhere? No matter. Lateral entry? It's a bit of a myth here from all I hear. There are career fire services in all States here (two in Victoria) that you can approach., but even here there appears to be no lateral entry between the two organisations!
Appraoch all the State organisations, but I think you can expect to have to do the full 16 week recruit course if accepted. It's possible that your training and experience in the UK will be accepted as an entry point, perhaps allowing you to 'jump' the queue for positions.
In Victoria the two services are the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) which is all career and covers the CBD and about 50% of the suburban area of Melbourne. The other service is the Country Fire Authority (CFA) which covers the remaining city suburbs and all the rest of the State (cities, towns, villages and farmsland) - the CFA is mainly volunteer with a number of the busier Stations being compined career/volunteer (around 60,000 vols and 600 career).
New South Wakes has one service, the NSWFB, that has full-time and retained members with somewhere over 300 stations I think. Tasmania has career fulltime and volunteers in the same service. South Australia has one service, perhaps some retained? All States have volunteer services for bushfire firefighting; some do structural work (as in Victoria) others don't. As you can see, I'm getting more unsure the further I get away from my State! Look up all the different fire services in the country and approach those that seem to meet what you want.
Perhaps your wife should approach each of the State law societies to check on acceptance of her UK law degree as well. Good luck, I'm sure we'd love to see you out here!