Australian Security Clearance

[IamInACT]

I really can’t wait to get to Australia and Canberra but finding a job is proving to be challenging!!! Most of the ICT vacancies advertise in Canberra involve government agencies and therefore you need security clearance … whilst the government agency can sponsor your security clearance, it appears to be very involved and maybe too time consuming for them to do for a non Australian citizen… with that said …

I applied for a vacancy and was the only applicant plus the company liked my CV( so they say) but could not offer it to me because I'm not an Australian, they said they can maybe look at doing it as a contractor for 12 months… so hopefully I will hear soon…

So the downer is that you go to sooo much effort and research to get your visa and in the nick of time (17/09/2009) … That you have these additional challenges … Canberra is my only hope and I so wanna be ACT… And what makes it more frustrating is that the ACT government sponsored you because they need your skills but then they can’t/won’t employ you for those very skills.

Who ever said immigrating was not challenging and testing!!

[Voortrekker]

Who ever said immigrating was not challenging and testing!!

I'll be interested to know the outcome of your ASC, as I have always wanted to work in Canberra, had I been able to convince my wife.

I have never applied for ASC, but we have just returned to Australia after living in Canada for 5 years.

In Canada, Federal Security Clearance was a deal-breaker for us in Ottawa (Canada's Canberra). Just could not get (an IT) job without it.

We were on Australian passport then, they initially told us it would take 3 weeks to get Security Clearance. But it turned out that 3 weeks was how long it took someone who had lived inside Canada for the previous 5 years.

It ended up taking us 1 year (yes 12 months) to get clearance - we were told we were lucky (on Aussie passport), if you have a "funny" passport like South Africa, China, or Iraq, it could take up to 5 years.

1 Year is a long time to wait before you can even apply for a job. We ended up moving to Toronto in order to get jobs without Security Clearance.

While I don't claim that Aussies or the Fed Govt are nearly as paranoid as the post-9/11 North Americans, I would still not underestimate it if I'm you. It would be good to hear from people who've done it, both new and long-time immigrants.

[Cramer]

Wannabe - Gonnabe, I am also in ICT heading for Canberra so thanks for the heads up!

[IamInACT]

No Worries Mate.... Will keep you posted...

[Lyn]

Sending you lotsa good luck from Canberra. It does sound awefully frustrating - stay positive and you're GonnabeACT !!

Glad to see some people think Canberra is worthy of calling home.

[IamInACT]

Thi is from the ACT Government:

"Many ICT vacancies are directly related to Federal Government departments and therefore require citizenship, many, but not all. There are a small number of vacancies available that do not require citizenship. Most of my new arrivals in the ICT occupations have been able to secure employment either in the ACT Government (our local government, which will employ permanent residents without citizenship), or other local private ICT companies. I have to be honest and say that my ICT people have, on average, taken longer to secure employment in their occupation and you will need to be prepared for this eventuality.

The Federal Government agencies are very strict on the citizenship issue and in most cases will not waive this condition.

I can understand your apprehension or nervousness regarding this issue and ultimately the decision to move to Australia must rest with you. I hope I have been of some help."

[PieterK]

They sent me something similar when I applied for my SS, but I guess they are aware of this problem, if they are still prepared to sponsor you there must really be a demand for our skills. I'm actually figuring that I'll secure employment quicker as a technician then as a professional, there are always little "mom&pop" computer shops that sorts out people's home PC's and such, they won't need security clearance.

[IamInACT]

I have been doing research around the Australian Security Clearance and have found the following:

From the Australian Public Service Commission’s website

According to Chapter 3 of the Australian Public Service Commission’s Conditions of employment, the key points to note are that an agency head can:

1. impose Australian citizenship as a condition of engagement in the APS (Australian Public Service)
   
2. waive citizenship as a condition of engagement if they consider it appropriate to do so
   
3. conditionally engage a non-citizen who intends applying for citizenship
   
4. advertise/recruit overseas if they consider it appropriate to do so
   
5. delegate their employer power to waive citizenship (usually to SES employees in their agency but this power can be delegated below the SES level)
   
6. waive citizenship without requiring approval from the Public Service Commissioner
   
7. engage non-citizens with work entitlements if they consider it appropriate to do so.
   

And from a Senior Assessing Officer at Australian Security Vetting Service:

To be granted a security clearance you must also be an Australian citizen; agencies may waive this requirement though. It really is a case by case scenario and dependant on the agency itself. One condition may include you cannot access certain information. The waiver would be up to the agency's discretion so it could be at the highest level or lowest level.

Unfortunately agencies differ with their requirements and it would also depend on what work you're looking at. Clearances are granted and last for five years so you can always transfer that clearance between agencies.

My observations:

In terms of the points above 2, 3,4, 6 and 7 there would be grounds to consider a PR on a permanent basis but again this would depend on that Agencies willingness to to waiver the citizen requirement.

[LeeInOz]

This is interesting. I work for a government agency and was required to get an ASIC card. (Aviation Security Identification Card) There was no issue about being a citizen, I was here less than 3 months and they applied for one for me. Several people from South Africa have been brought over and work on 457 visa while the PR thing is completed. They also have to have ASIC cards.

[IamInACT]

This is interesting. I work for a government agency and was required to get an ASIC card. (Aviation Security Identification Card) There was no issue about being a citizen, I was here less than 3 months and they applied for one for me. Several people from South Africa have been brought over and work on 457 visa while the PR thing is completed. They also have to have ASIC cards.

Most IT jobs require security clearance... especially in gov departments. Quasi gov institutions are not as strict.

[Biker]

I was also offered work in IT at the dept of education and they mentioned that I would have to get a security check. From what I could gather is to check that I'm not a pedophile or something!

On the lighter side, I also had to go through this working at the CIA version of South Africa. This was just before moving to Oz and I knew they'd not approve of it for this very reason. I ended up finishing my contract there without going through the excercise, cause the work was done before they could even get to process my security clearance (4 months).

[Sparrow]

There are various security clearances each with different vetting processes and requirements... I work in the Defence/Aerospace industry and had to obtain various security clearances in Australia.

In terns of getting a job in Federal Government or the Defence Department you need to be a citizen. There is no way of getting around this. Only under exceptional circumstances would a citizenship waiver be granted. In such case the waiver is specific to a project or Federal government program. For me to obtain my Defence Security Clearance, I had to wait to get my citizenship first. The fact that I previously had a waiver to work on a Federal government program (non-Defence) did not count much towards my Defence security clearance.

LeeinOZ mentioned the Aviation Security Identification Card (ASIC). This is completely different to a Federal/Defence Security clearance. The ASIC is a CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) requirement and does not require you to be an Australian citizen. It is a security requirement for persons working/training in the aviation industry and basically entails a background police check. As a pilot and Aero-engineer I have an ASIC. This allows me to gain access to the airside of controlled airfields and should be renewed every two years or so.

The police check Biker mentions is another sort of police criminal history check. It is basically only a criminal history check to see that you do not have a history in sexual offences. This is required if you are going to work with children or in the vicinity of children. I had to apply for this in order to present CRE at our local school... 'Hardly a big deal and nothing like the Federal/Defence security clearance...