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Days
Everything we talked about on the call, in one place. Your visa, flights, getting the trade recognised, job leads, bank, phone and the lot. I'll keep adding to this as things land.
You and Richard fly out in September on Working Holiday visas, land in Brisbane, get set up, get the pipefitting tickets recognised and get into work — with intros to Irish-run trade firms over here if you want them. Everything below breaks down exactly how.
Targeting the week of 21 September 2026. Flexible until flights are booked, so no stress on the exact day yet.
Tommy Flynn and Richard Murphy (24), both freshly qualified pipefitters. Possibly two more of the boys following next year.
Brisbane is the target, city if we can. We'll let the job offers pull you wherever the work is best, too.
Everything that needs doing, split into before you fly, when you land, and your first few weeks. Tap to tick — it saves on this device so you can come back to it.
Each thing we talked about — what it is, what it costs, where to start. It's all doable yourself; anything marked Jack is simply an offer of help if you want it.
You're both on the Working Holiday visa, subclass 417 — the standard route for young Irish coming to Australia (Ireland uses the 417, not the 462). Applications already lodged. It gives you a 12-month stay with full work rights, and the real long-term plan is to stack the 2nd and 3rd year extensions to stay up to three years.
Rebuilt as a proper Australian-style trade CV — trade and tickets front and centre, a visa & availability block for employers, and your Irish tickets mapped to the local names. One clean page. Worth checking the qualification wording matches your cert (it's listed as SOLAS/QQI Level 6), and when Richard sends his details a matching one goes up here too.
There are a few Irish-run trade companies in Brisbane Jack knows well — steel fabrication, flood walls and a couple more — and the feelers are out. As names and leads come back, they'll be added right here. Intros are there if you want them; equally, the Wages section covers rates and where the work is, so you can just as easily run your own race.
Straight talk: Brisbane rentals are tight right now — vacancy is about 0.9% and 20–30 applications per listing is normal, so with no Aussie rental history a month-one lease is a big ask. One easy path, if you want it: land soft (Jack's room is open), start in a sharehouse, then take your own place once you've a few payslips behind you.
An eSIM-capable phone (iPhone 14-ish, unlocked) means you land with an Aussie number already live. Jack can have an eSIM ready before you fly — say the word.
CommBank is the easy pick — any branch, passport in hand, about 20 minutes, once you're here. Wise or Revolut covers spending until then; add your TFN once you have it.
Irish citizens get reciprocal Medicare: public hospital care plus cheaper scripts (not GP, ambulance or dental — that's the travel policy's job). Enrol with your passport in week one. Services Australia ↗
Your Irish licence is fine for the whole Working Holiday — no conversion, no permit, and it's left-hand driving like home. Only PR would change that. QLD TMR ↗
Worth doing in week one: without a TFN tax is withheld at 47%; with it, 15% on the first $45k. Apply online (official ATO site only) and give it to every employer. ATO apply ↗
Employers pay 12% on top of your wage into a fund you pick — choose one fund and give it to every employer. Claimable when you leave for good, though it's taxed at 65% on a WHV. ATO DASP ↗
Required before any construction site work, so it's a week-one job. Half a day with a WorkSafe QLD-approved RTO (in person or live virtual); never expires. WorkSafe QLD ↗
You hold the Irish SOLAS apprenticeship / QQI Level 6 Advanced Certificate in Craft – Pipefitting — a full four-year, time-served craft trade, not a short course. It broadly maps to an Australian Certificate III trade. Crucially it's a pipefitting trade (industrial/mechanical-services pipework), which is a different thing to plumbing here — and that actually works in your favour: pipefitting isn't a licensed trade in Queensland, so you can get straight to work.
Tommy Flynn is a fully qualified pipefitter, trade-certified in Ireland through a four-year SOLAS apprenticeship (QQI Level 6 Advanced Certificate in Craft – Pipefitting, broadly equivalent to an Australian Certificate III trade). His background is industrial and mechanical-services pipework — fabricating, welding, installing, bending, jointing, pressure-testing and maintaining piping systems from drawings, on sites such as construction, process/chemical plants, power generation and marine. He's arranging formal recognition through Trades Recognition Australia and will hold a Queensland White Card. He suits mechanical services pipefitter / pipe fabricator / pipe welder roles and works comfortably alongside boilermakers and fabricators.
Job titles he suits: Pipefitter · Mechanical Services Pipefitter · Industrial/Process Pipefitter · Pipe Fabricator · Industrial Pipe Welder (if welding tickets back it)
Sectors to target: mechanical services (HVAC/process) · mining & resources · oil, gas & LNG (Gladstone/Curtis Island) · pipe-spool fabrication shops · power & water treatment · food & beverage/breweries · marine
Here's the good bit — the trade pays well here, and it's in demand. Wages come in two tiers: solid money working around Brisbane, and a big step up in mining / FIFO / oil & gas. The usual path is metro first, building toward the FIFO money once there's Australian experience and welding tickets behind you.
| Brisbane / metro | Mining / FIFO / oil & gas | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical hourly | $45–$60/hr (casual $40–$52) | $60–$80/hr (coded welders $55–$71+) |
| Annual (realistic) | $90K–$135K+ with OT | $130K–$185K roster-dependent |
| New-arrival start | $85K–$115K casual + OT | Harder to land day one — needs tickets + local experience |
| Extras | Overtime, weekend penalties | Site/living-away allowances, camp + flights + meals covered, bonuses |
| Trade-offs | Home nightly, steadier | Remote, long swings, 12-hr shifts, time away |
There's no truly direct run from Ireland to Australia — every option is one stop through a hub. Book a return (cheaper than one-way, and usually required), set the return leg at the maximum ~12 months out, and put it on a changeable fare so you can move it later when you plan a trip home. The Emirates EK162 departing Dublin 14:20 that you spotted is the real, well-timed option.
| Routing | Journey | Return price (EUR)* |
|---|---|---|
| Emirates DUB–DXB–BNE | ~22–24h · Dubai stop · EK162 dep 14:20 | ~€1,300–1,600 |
| Qatar DUB–DOH–BNE | ~22–24h · Doha stop | ~€1,300–1,700 |
| Singapore Airlines DUB–SIN–BNE | ~24–26h · Singapore stop | ~€1,400–1,800 |
Because Ireland has that reciprocal deal, Medicare covers your big public-hospital risk — so you don't need expensive private hospital cover (OVHC). What you do want is a long-stay backpacker/working-holiday travel policy to plug the gaps Medicare leaves: repatriation, ambulance, dental, GP visits, baggage/gadgets and cancellation. The 417 visa doesn't legally require insurance, but going without would be daft.
| Provider | Best for | Rough price |
|---|---|---|
| True Traveller | Top pick — EU/Irish eligible, strong medical + repatriation, extend while abroad | ~£150–300 / 12 mths |
| BackpackerTravel Insurance.ie | Irish policy, bundles ambulance + repatriation, up to 2 years in one buy | from €257.50 / yr |
| SafetyWing | Budget, rolling monthly — good if the end date's unknown | ~US$45–60 / 4 wks |
| nib / Bupa (OVHC) | Mostly duplicates Medicare for you — skip it | ~AU$53–75 / mo |
Newly qualified pipefitter. Flying in from Ireland, up for wherever the work takes him.
Same qualification, travelling out with Tommy, looking for the same pipefitting work.
Nothing here is being taken out of your hands — the whole move is yours to run, and this page shows how. These are simply the bits already being researched or on offer, because the run's been done before for the other lads and Dan. Use what helps, skip what doesn't.