Good afternoon everyone!

I have recently been accepted by a recruiter to start a Driver Assistant course.

I live in QLD but will be doing the training in NSW and I was advised that at the end of the course, the resulting privileges will allow me to only be employable in NSW due to the training being relevant to only that state's rules and regulations.  Fine with me.

Should I want to return to QLD at a later date and look for work here, what is required of me to essentially 'convert' what I already have, to use back home?


Cheers
Robbie

Might have changed recently but until a couple of years ago Queensland was a foreign country (or worse) in this regard.

So much for ozzy wide qualifications which was spruiked a few years ago .

To become a driver's assistant your basically going to get a cert II in train driving. This essentially gives you competencies in
- Safeworking rules ( NSW specific )
- Shunting and associated tasks ( Nationally recognised )
- Basic duties ( Nationallt recognised )

A certificate II is nationally recognised, even only a statement of attainment is. So while you might not qualified in QLD safeworking, it certainly does not reduce your employability. Indeed,it will put you above applicants who have no quals. Plus it means you wont need to do so much training if you do pick up a job as most will be considered recognition of prior learning ( RPL ).

So I wouldnt worry about it too much, and congrats in advance if you make it through all the way. Its a good job in the railways.

Thankyou, Seb, for your helpful response and well wishes.

Do you have the name of a company that can issue the QLD safe working? Or just a search term I can use to look for one.

Seb has pretty much nailed it, but if you wish to transfer to Qld at a later date, your employer (PN/QR/Aurizon) will put you through a Qld-specific safeworking induction, probably followed by a quick "differences here" type of training program covering rollingstock and local procedures.

Unless you [I]really[/I] want to transfer back to Queensland immediately, your lack of Qld Safeworking isn't worth worrying about.

A Cert-1/2/3/4 in Transport and Logistics (Rail Operations) is transferrable as that's a nationally-recognised qualification under the TLI competency matrix and is actually a mandatory requirement now for individual accreditation as a rail safety worker under the national rail safety law.

QLD has different SARC (Safely Access Rail Corridor) requirements due to the system(s) of safeworking used in QLD outside of the small part of standard gauge in the Defined Interstate Rail Network being different.

Plus the locomotives and rollingstock are different, and QLD locos have driving controls on the right side of the cab (like the USA/Canada and the Pilbara iron ore lines).

Only new people to the industry who've come through the ranks within the last 5 to 10 yrs have Cert-3 or 4 quals for rail. Most people who've been in the industry longer don't, which is an impediment to accurate RPL'ing but still doesn't stop people already in the industry from going after jobs that specify a Cert-4 is required.

Most rail companies will not bother with the time/expense of putting existing qualified staff through a Cert-3 or 4 process, but I imagine that eventually it'll be required. Currently, newer staff get those quals and in terms of qual portability actually have more demonstrable 'paper' quals than older more experienced staff that don't. Little bit of irony.