Reality of Applying to the Mines, Perth
This blog is going to be the honest process of how long it took and what we had to do to get into the mines in Perth. After speaking to some people who are currently in the mines, we knew coming into Perth that it could take up to a month if not longer to get accepted into the mines. We met a lovely guy in our hostel who spoke to us about what he did to get into the mines, and kindly sent us a PDF of things that we should try to get done.
Steps 1-3: Bank Account, Tax File Number & Medicare
As we were living in Sydney for 4 months prior to moving to Perth we already had our Bank Accounts and our Tax File Number (TFN).
If you have just moved to Australia or plan to move, make sure you sort both of these out as quickly as possible. We went with NAB Bank, but there are others such as ANZ or Commonwealth, which are both popular. When you receive your TFN Letter, I would recommend keeping it as well as taking a picture in case you lose it. You can also apply for Medicare, we haven’t applied for it and probably won’t but it is completely up to you!
Step 4: Get a White Card
You will need your White Card for the mines! We got ours in Sydney, which I believe is acknowledged in all states, but do your own research if you get your White Card in another state. We booked it with Training Aid Australia, it took the day to complete the course and it cost us $117. Make sure you read the confirmation email about what you need to bring. You most likely will need to bring your 100 points of ID (70 points for UK Passport & 25 points each for an Australian Bank Card & Statements, a Medicare Card, a Property Lease Agreement, Utility Bills issued within last 3 months or a Telephone Account within the last 3 months (Telstra)). Once you have finished the course, you will get a certificate and your card, which can take up to 3-4 weeks to arrive.
Step 5: Convert your UK Driving License to an Australian License
Next you need to convert your UK Driving License, we did this first because on the Police Check Forms they ask you for your Australian License Number. We went to the Department of Transport Western Australia, Government Office in Perth. I would recommend going as early as possible. If you don’t you will have to wait a couple of hours in the queue and if you are not called up before 4:30pm you will not be seen that day. We went at 11am and didn’t leave till 2pm.
When you go, make sure you take 5 documents and your Australian Visa with you, we took:
- UK Passport
- UK Driving License
- Australian Bank Card (we use NAB)
- Australian Bank Statement (it MUST have your Perth address on it)
- Original Tax File Number Letter (not sure how strict they are on it being the original letter as we had ours)
We also took with us an Australian Utility Bill, our booking confirmation for our Perth Accommodation and Australian pay slips as we heard sometimes they ask for these documents if you don’t have the above. If you have a Medicare Card, bring that as well just in case. Rather be over prepared then turned away after waiting hours in the queue.
We were nearly turned away because we had our Darwin address on our Bank Statements, which is where we opened our accounts. All the forms must prove that are living in Perth. You can change the address in the app, which is what did then and there.
Print all the documents out yourself, especially your Australian Visa! Someone was turned away for not having it printed out themselves and they aren’t allowed to print it for you there. We went to the Perth Library and used the printer there.
Step 6: Do a Police Check - https://cvcheck.com/
We noticed a lot of job applications wanted a Police Check within 6 months, so we completed this next. All you need to do is follow the forms and provide 4 documents: your Passport, Drivers License (can be UK one), your Australian bank card and your Australian Visa. It took 20 minutes for our Police Check to be completed and we were emailed a PDF certificate.
Step 7: Booking in Courses (optional) - https://www.licences4workperth.com.au/index.php
We decided to book two additional courses, Working at Heights, Confined Spaces and Gas Testing Combo, $365 as well as First Aid Course WA, $150. These courses were not cheap either, so our savings from Asia took a hit, but the money spent will be worth it once we get into the mines! We booked these courses with Licenses 4 Work and it cost us $857 all together for both courses for two of us. Normally it costs $515 for both courses, but because we booked them together and with the same company, we got a discount of $173. Both courses take a day to complete!
Once you have booked the course, you will be sent an email confirmation. Read the email on what you need to bring and do before the course, as it might change. For us we needed to bring a form of ID and to complete the online quiz. If you don’t do the quiz, you may have to pay extra on the day as it is a requirement to do before the course starts. For us it was 60 multiple choice questions and you have 15 tries to complete it to get full marks. The test for First Aid included two separate tests that we needed to complete as well.
The Working at Heights, Confined Spaces and Gas Testing combo course are three separate certificates. It was an all day thing and involved 3 open book tests and three practicals. They were pretty straight forward, they just involved a lot of writing!
Step 8: TBC
Disclaimer: “This blog will be constantly added to until we get into the Mines in Perth. I want to provide all the details on what we did to get in, with hopes that it helps others as well - let’s just hope we finally get accepted soon!”
