Ah . . this week it's an entire department. The Department of Immigration (round of applause please!)
She was born in Birmingham, educated in Bristol, speaks fluent English and holds a British passport – but Julie Dutton has been told she will have to sit an English language test if she wants to work in Australia.Shame she doesn't have to do a test in stryne . . .she'd be able to understand what these two are on about:
Three weeks ago the registered nurse, who moved from London to Sydney with her Australian husband Dale Mervin last year, applied to transfer her British nursing qualifications to New South Wales so that she could work in Australian hospitals.
Ms Dutton, 33, who specialises in cardiothoracic intensive care, was told that she would have to sit an English language test for her application to be processed – the standard procedure for any immigrant applying to be registered or enrolled with the NSW Nurses and Midwives Board, according to a new policy introduced on January 1.
The written and spoken tests will cost £131 ($280), and Ms Dutton was told that she will have to wait until June to sit them because there are no available places before then.
She was told that despite her obvious proficiency in the English language there were no exemptions.
“I think it’s just ridiculous,” Ms Dutton told The Times. “I am English, I was born in England, I speak English, I have a British passport, I was educated in Britain and I got my nursing degree in Britain, so I just couldn’t believe it when they told me. I think it’s just a joke – this is just a mad, stupid policy.”
Ms Dutton is desperate to go back to work to support her husband and four-month old son, because Mr Mervin works in finance and has been unable to get a job due to the economic downturn.
The plight of the British nurse caught the attention of Nathan Rees, the Premier of New South Wales, who said today that her situation was absurd. John Della Bosca, the state Health Minister, said that he would review the Nurses and Midwives Board policy and help to streamline Ms Dutton’s case so that she could undergo the test and start work sooner.
30 comments:
This is one of the issues with civil servants in general, someone makes a rule, and it's probably a reasonably sensible rule, but then after that they have to operate strictly within the confines of that rule with no re-evaluation, despite the obvious misapplication in many cases.
Argh...more retarded laws that block progress and insult the average persons intelligence. So many laws made up by stupid people. There should be a law made for stupid people making stupid laws.
Hope your eye gets better, sounds nasty and owie.
Imagine life without stupid people...
Time for a super hero eye patch for you. Take care & best wishes
How could there possibly be three comments already?
Argh. Fuckwits. (Not the commenters.)
Enjoy your weekend and hope your eye is better and raise your glass to bureaucocracy (I spelled that wrong) and then throw your glass in the fire and then don't cut your feet going to get another glass...
Jeez I'm getting ahead of myself I still have to work today...
Totally idiotic. Presumably she has exam passes in English which the Aussies won't accept? Not to mention any number of documents she's written in perfect English?
A 3-month waiting list for the test is absurd. Surely if the test costs £131 they could afford some extra staff to hand out the exam paper or whatever they do?
And I always thought Oz was more of a can-do country than the UK. Not in this respect obviously.
Nonsense,poor woman!
And great conclusion ;)
The video was so funny!Yeah what are they on about?
Great post Baino,have a nice weekend!
Roy and HG should be assigned all sport commentary gigs they would make it much more watchable and less painful for moi's viewing.
Bloody political correctness - everyone has to be treat the same, the madness is spreading down under from Brussels EU and the UK ... put Roy and HG in charge of the country ;)
Wait I thought you all spoke Australian down there. I mean we speak American so you must speak Australian. My hubby speaks Canadian, eh. Maybe that is why I never understand him, eh. Aren't the English the ones who speak english?
It really is absurd that our taxes pay for this stupidity. Yes, we might have different sayings in our different countries, but it is still English that we all speak. At least the last time I checked.
Heck here in the US, we have different sayings and talk with different accents in different parts of the country but we understand each other. Well sorta, although lately every where I go there are so many who speak other languages, that I am not sure what country I am living in anymore.
But when english is all written down it looks the same to me. This was a great Friday Fuckwit, and they sure are screwing with this lady. Hopefully they will make an exception for her. But then they will have to do it for others. Why does this test cost so much? Do they rent out a suite for the person to take it in? Do they serve a 7 course meal with it?
Those "Tea Parties" they are having here, are starting to make more sense each day. We are getting screwed and not having any fun.
God bless.
wtf? some heads need serious shaking! GRRRRRRRRRR
Sitting that test would be such fun! (Except paying the stupid fee...)
On one hand, it does sound stupid... on the other hand, I *wish* Ireland would make immigrants here take a proficiency test before allowing them to work in customer service. I nearly lost my mind trying to order a hamburger for my son the other day: the Latvian girl behind the counter got it wrong three times in a row.
It's like GrowUp is saying: the rule itself makes some sense, but rules work *so much better* when they can be applied sensibly, and not be slavishly or blindly followed when they get in the way, as in this case. They could at least let her sit the test in a reasonable time, if nothing else.
Good luck with the eye, and have a wonderful weekend!
please give us a break beaurocracy geeze
hope your eye feels better! :(
Hoops...jump through the hoops ladies and gentlemen...might as well join the circus while we are at it.
That's interesting. Maybe it is needed because she is a nurse so there are lives in her hands.
When I think of all the inane laws round here...oh forget it! We have people at work that can't speak English What now I have to learn another langauge? This poor lass shouldn't have to go through this!! Wouldn't it be great if we actually got to VOTE on all the laws that are passed? 'Tis absurdity!
Hope your eye stops giving you trouble!
I can't believe that bureaucratic idiocy!
That's ridiculous! And I love how eventually the govt gets involved and finally figures out it might just be a bunch of rubbish. :D And that video ... ROFLMAO .... Hellooo boys, annnnd flat bag! :D
That is just crazy!
Great post Baino- hope you are feeling better:)
The sports commentators are funny!! BTW-'Private Eye' has some great 'Colemanballs' in it each week.
GrowUp I know, I used to be one, change and adaptation is not in their job description!
Mel absolutely. I mean I know why it's in place, we have lots of immigrants working in the medical industry but an English speaker from England? Daft.
Ribbon the eye's much better today, just a tear duct infection I think. Life without stupid people? Now there's a thought!
Hehe . .Thanks Meg. All well on the home front and I'm very adept at smashing glasses!
Nick, it's not just us. The Brits have the same rule. I'm not opposed to an English test per se but for English speakers it seems a little nutty.
Candie, they're a couple of comedic DJ/TV personalities who had a show during the 2000 Olympics. A good example of talking 'stryne' . . .that's what I am 'astryne' . .you need to understand the accent to 'get it'.
Bimbimbie, if I'm FORCED, I watch sport with them calling it in the background on TripleJ, makes the footy finals tolerable!
Mrsupole we're much the same, very multi cultural but if you want to be a citizen, you also have to take a citizenship test but it's so basic, it's a joke!
Hehe . .that they do Wuffa. They'll bump her up the list, we're desperate for nurses here.
You think Gleds? What if there were questions about apostrophes, I'd be stuffed.
The thing is Susan, many immigrants have a remarkable understanding of written English but find it very difficult to speak. I once met a Chinese doctor who could write perfect English but could not speak a word of it . .he ended up getting a job stacking chairs at a convention centre!
Seems to be endemic Sandy!
Indeed Brian . . .bureaucracy seems to have plenty of hoops availalble!
Ropi it's standard for anyone wishing to work here. But yes, especially important for people who care for others, nurses, doctors, teachers etc. I think it's actually in place because we have a lot of Indian and Chinese medico's emigrating here so understanding English is very important.
Subby, we're particularly highly regulated here which can be very annoying. The price we pay for a social democracy unfortunately. No libertarians on this side of the fence!
Thanks Tuts, yep, much better today. I think I spend too much time in front of PC screens!
Melissa you got it? Well done! Even those two are particularly good at comedic euphamisms. "Hello boys!"
Crazy? Yeh but I think it's catching Grannymar . .the world's going mad!
Ooh Cinnamon, I'll have to check it out. Yeh, that's an old vid but they're still around and still funny.
Be careful what you say!!! I am Latvian... plus a little bit of Lithuanian with a dash of Russian and German
obviously just one more scam to get money from 'captive' populations....
hope your eye gets better fast! happy weekend....and autumnal equinox
I am glad someone atleast had the good sense to finally see if there could be another solution to her problem.
hey baino, i'm thinking of you. i hope your eye is better.
:)
There really does need to be an investigation into many of our rules and laws, the older more inappropriate ones need to be revoked and others, such as the ones you've stated here need to be rewritten so that adjustments can be made for appropriate people. Does that make sense?
Baino, stop on over to pick up your card. And thanks( you'll know what this means, anon ) :)
Take the exam. Get it over and done and get to work. Pretty soon, another English speaking immigrant to Australia will also complain and will turn out to speak Ebonics or Spanglish. She will also be required to take the English test here in the US. It is part of a standardized exam to test graduates of foreign nursing schools. She is an immigrant right? A legal immigrant, so she is still a "foreigner". If she was in the US she will be treated as a foreigner. She has no rights until she receives her citizenship, she has to be an illegal immigrant, prefrerrably uneducated and a future Democrat voter, to have rights.
Well hello Vita, I wondered how long before you commented here . . yep, you're not to be crossed that's quite a combo! (Ah but you speak Engrish and your a nurse so . .)
As always Mouse, there should be 'exceptions' to the rule.
Hmm ..he's quite a pragmatic Premier Ronda but we'll probably never know whether his intervention is quicker than the 3 months this woman has to wait! The wheels of government move slowly.
Yes River,makes perfect sense, unlike some of the laws of the land.
Thanks Subby, very sweet of you.
Ah Ces, did you know that the fastest way to get US citizenship these days is to join the army? True story. If you join the Army, you will automatically be granted US citizenship, whether you speak English, Spanglish or Timbuktooish! Technically it should be a little different for the "English" as we're still part of the British Commonwealth.
Baino, your most welcome lass!
Herein lies the problem: Will the exemption be based on the fact that someone was born in England or any of its commonwealth states? Would an English-born offspring of East Indian or Nigerian immigrants who decide to immigrate to Australia be exempted from taking the exam or would this be purely based on race? What happens when immigrants to England give birth to children who are not assimilated and therefore may not have a good command of the English language or has England, unlike the US, declared English as the official language and therefore enforce English as the only spoken and written language in schools, government and businesses?
The socialist idea of a "global" society or countries without borders complicate the issue. I hope England is not as politically correct and flaky as the US when it comes to declaring a national or official language.
As for the military, I know several Filipino men who serve in the military. They are not automatically granted citizenship. They are granted permanent residency and their citizenship is dependent on honorable service or honorable discharge. There is a waiting period and they may die before the waiting period.
My advice, take the test. She's English so she should not worry about failing it. It's a standard for graduates of foreign nursing schools. She's foreign to Australia.
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