townsville

[smillie77]

Just a question, what are the posting options after you finishes at Townsville? and what do they your chance is of ever getting out of a country posting and into a major city.

[Ikari]

Smillie, the list of stations you could be posted to varies from intake to intake and is dependent on operational need. To give you some idea my intake was provided with the following selection:

Cairns
Whitsundays
Mt Isa
Townsville
Mackay
Rockhampton
Mareeba
Innisfail

You're pretty much restricted to a) NQ/North of Gladstone and b) A city/town with a fairly sizeable station- though once you've completed your first year you may be rotated through the remote stations in the district.

To give some indication I've been posted to Mt Isa and after completion of my FYC I may be eligible for rotation through Cloncurry and Doomagee.

Just be aware that if you put in for Townsville there is next to nil chance of being posted in SEQ for at least 4 years- or 2 if you're assigned to Mt Isa with a halved tenure.

[smillie77]

Thanks for that reply Ikari,

What is it like in Mt Isa, are you renting and are the rents high? do they give you any rental assistance or is it to bad so sad, also do they help you with your removels or is that all up to you aswell?

Did you ask to go to Townsville instead of Oxley and are you liking it up north.

[Ikari]

I should clarify, I'm still at the Townsville academy- I'm not inducted until the 6 May. Mt Isa is a posting that is notorious for ridiculously high rents and low vacancies- luckily I have been assigned a room at one of the barracks which is conveniently behind the police station. A few other cities up north have barrack accommodation- Rockhampton, Cairns and Whitsundays all spring to mind though traditionally demand is high.

Regarding transfer entitlements etc we actually received information about what reimbursements we'd be eligible for today though there is so much information concerning criteria and rates that it'd be difficult for me at best to make some semblance of it here. They do explain it all to you before you leave and as I understand it the entitlements especially concerning transport reimbursement is fairly generous- apparently its even more so when you're confirmed after FYC.

Regarding removals the QPS outsource to Toll and I know they do reimburse you for a certain number of kms- again my knowledge of this is scant.

I actually put down both Townsville and Oxley- Oxley being my first preference- to double my chances. It wasn't until after I was accepted into the NQPSA intake that I realised I would have received Oxley however there is traditionally less demand at Townsville so I fitted the bill. NQ is actually not a bad place to live at all- the people are fairly laid back, the climate is, for the most part, agreeable and there is the welcome absence of congestion and roadworks that seems to be the norm in Brissy now.

Having said that Brisbane will always be my home and I'll be putting in for transfer after my Mt Isa tenure is up