Engineers Australia Membership?

[pimenton]

Hi there, I am currently processing my permanent residence (Independent/class 175) and was wondering if it’s worth registering with Engineers Australia (i.e. Membership. Initial assessment for immigration already approved!) before moving there? Any real advantage from a job prospect standpoint (Telecom, High tech sector)? Any other Canadian P.Eng. with experience on this?

Thanks!

[comet555]

I can't really answer your question but I can say that it wasn't really an issue when my husband was job hunting here. He's a mining engineer and I don't think anyone asked him if he was a member of Engineers Australia. As far as I know no one has even mentioned it to him in the 2.5 years he's worked here. That's not to say it's not important but it hasn't seemed to matter to anyone in his company so far. He's since been promoted to a senior mining engineer so it's not as those he's doing an entry level job. It might be worthwhile contacted a few prospective employers and seeing if it's important to them. Alternatively ask a few recruiters and they could probably tell you. I did have a look though and my husband P.Eng should more or less equate to the higher membership in Engineers Australia. It just doesn't seem necessary though (for him) so we never bothered. I'm pretty sure it's not required to have a membership with them. Unlike Canada where you have to registered with the relevent governing body in order to practice engineering. If it's important to the companies it could certainly be obtained after you've got the job.

[jcreyb]

Hi, I am not 100% sure, but from my brief research, here is what I have found:

An agreement exists between Engineers Canada and Engineers Aus, and this agreement was signed in 1997. It is called the Washington Accord, and from what I can understand, it allows for reciprocity between the signature countries, mostly commonwealth, but obviously the US also.

However I am also looking at how I can get registered with the Professional Engineers Association in Aus. I have emailed them as of about 6 weeks ago, but have not heard back from them which tells me either; my request is so bizarre they have never heard of it, or, that it is so easy all I need to do is apply. I truly hope it is the latter.

As I am a petroleum engineer, I will obtain entrance probably in the same way as Comet555's family: by taking advantage of a mining "working away from home" clause. This should simplify things appropriately for all concerned.

I hope this helps in some small way.

[Doug]

Hi,
I'm an aus environmental engineer. Been working in the industry for 10 years. Membership to the institute of engineers is not compulsary like the provinces of Canada. I was a member of I.e.aust and apesma when starting my job but my memberships lapsed over 8 years ago. On my case it was find because I worked for a group of 20+ engineers and all engineering work was signed out by the manager who was a member of I.E.aust. Benefits of membership include access to salary survey information, financial services, magazines etc but non members can still subscribe to an attend ieaust meetings in their area.
I was looking on their website a few weeks ago for info on me getting registered in Ontario and I recall seeing a link for foreign membership applications. The site is down now so I can't check.
I'll be a temporary resident in Canada and it won't be that easy for me. Seems you have to be a permanent resident of Canada to be a licensed engineer. So much for reprocity!

[smw092]

I don't mean to hijack this thread or anything, but I have a quick question that is related to this and didn't think it would require a new thread.

I'll be graduating a Canadian university with a Bachelor's in Petroleum Engineering and my wife and I are planning to move to Australia. How do the educations received in Australia/Canada compare? Do one country's engineers graduate more prepared / qualified than the other's? Will it be difficult for a recently graduated Canadian Engineer to find work in Australia? (I will have 8 months of related work experience from summer positions, if it makes a difference)

Thanks so much for any thoughts on this.

[Doug]

This is only an opinion from my personal experience and observations (in the water resources area) but I feel that Canadian Universities provide a better technical education than their Australian counterparts. In the late 90's university courses in Australia placed a larger emphasis on practical day to day skills such as communication, writing and negotiation.