Subject: Aus.ads FAQ (Please read before posting)
Date: 4 Apr 1996 04:46:57 GMT
Summary: This is an FAQ about how to use the aus.ads newsgroups.
        It should be read by anyone posting to those newsgroups.
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2]

Posting-Frequency: monthly
Version: $Revision: 1.15 $                                                     

CONTENTS
========

0) What's new in this FAQ
1) How to use the aus.ads newsgroups
2) Readers of the aus.ads newsgroups (Americans, please read!)
3) The aus.ads newsgroups
4) Subject lines
5) Complaints and spam
6) Followups
7) Obsolete Australian advertising newsgroups
|8) Working in Australia                                                        
|9) Miscellaneous                                                               


0) What's new in this FAQ
=========================

Changed lines of text are marked a vertical line at the left margin of
each line.  Deleted lines are marked by an asterisk at the left margin
of each line.


1) How to use the aus.ads newsgroups
====================================

This document describes how the aus.ads newsgroups are intended to be
used.  These are not rules - on Usenet, there are no rules - but if you
do not follow them, people can give you a hard time.  So, please take
the time to read this guide, and bear it in mind when you post to the
aus.ads groups.

Simple general `rules' to remember:

a) Choose the right newsgroup!
b) Don't crosspost!
c) Don't post the same article in multiple groups!
d) Read news.announce.newusers first!

This eliminates the possibility of being publicly castigated for being a
twit, and it will also ensure that your advertisement is read by people
who want to see it.  Not doing so will result in people getting annoyed
with you, putting you in their killfiles or posting derogatory follow-up
messages, thus reducing the effectiveness of your advertisement and any
future advertisements you might place.


2) Readers of the aus.ads newsgroups
====================================

The `aus' in aus.ads is an abbreviation of `Australia'.  The aus.ads
newsgroups are intended for residents in Australia, New Zealand and the
surrounding islands.  This means:

a) Readers assume prices quoted are in their local currency (usually
Australian or New Zealand dollars).

b) It is in bad taste to advertise goods or services unavailable to, or
illegal for, residents.

c) The `aus' in aus.ads does not mean `Austin, Texas'.

Use the misc.forsale.* newsgroups if you have an advertisement
intended for a world-wide audience.


3) The aus.ads newsgroups
=========================

Below is a description of all the newsgroups in this hierarchy:

aus.ads.commercial - Commercial advertisements, both wanted and for
------------------   sale.  Jobs go in aus.ads.jobs.

aus.ads.forsale - Miscellaneous items for sale (except computers) by
---------------   individuals.  Commercial advertisements go in
                  aus.ads.commercial.

aus.ads.forsale.computers - Computer hardware and software sold by
-------------------------   individuals.  Commercial advertisements go
                            in aus.ads.commercial.

aus.ads.jobs - Jobs wanted or available.
------------

aus.ads.wanted - All items wanted by individuals, including                    
--------------   computer hardware and software.  Commercial
                 advertisements go in aus.ads.commercial.


4) Subject lines
================

The subject line you use should be as informative as possible.  It
should look like this:

 Subject: Location:Item

For example:

 Subject: WOLLONGONG:1978 Datsun 200B, with excellent rust
 Subject: DARWIN:AS/400 Programmer/Analyst

There is no need to add `wanted', `WTB', `job available', `for sale' or
`FS', as that is usually implied by an appropriate choice of newsgroup
(see Section 3).

The LOCATION is necessary because your advertisement will go out to
the entire continent and half the planet.  It will help readers use
killfiles to highlight or ignore advertisements.


5) Complaints and spam
======================

If you object to an advertisement, please complain to the poster or
the poster's site administrator via e-mail.  The site administrator is
usually postmaster@site.name.

If you think an article is a spam, check news.admin.net-abuse.announce
first before announcing your discovery to the rest of the newsgroup.

Check the `Path:' field before sending your letter; forged `From:' and
`Reply-To:' addresses have been used to mail-bomb unsuspecting people.

Please do not follow-up to the Aus.ads newsgroups, since these are
intended for advertisements, not discussion.


6) Followups
============

Please direct discussion to appropriate newsgroups by modifying the
``Followup-To:'' line (eg. Followup-To: aus.computers).  Some suggested
newsgroups for followups are:

aus.bicycles         - human-powered vehicles
aus.books            - books
aus.cars             - motor vehicles
aus.comms            - modems
aus.computers        - computers in general
aus.computers.amiga  - Amiga computers
aus.computers.ibm-pc - IBM-PC computers
aus.computers.mac    - Macintosh computers
aus.computers.sun    - Sun computers
aus.net.aarnet       - Usenet for advertising
aus.net.news         - News on Usenet
aus.general          - everything else


7) Obsolete Australian advertising newsgroups
=============================================

The following newsgroups have been replaced by the aus.ads hierarchy:

aus.forsale
aus.jobs
aus.wanted

The newsgroup aus.ads.computers.forsale might have been created by
accident.


|8) Working in Australia                                                        
|=======================                                                        

|This section comes from David le Comte (davelec@extro.ucc.su.oz.au):           

|Many Australians and many Nth Americans are under the impression               
|that foreign workers can be sponsored here, as they can be in                  
|the US and Canada.  They often post in aus.ads.jobs, and                       
|soc.culture.australian, asking for sponsors.                                   

|Whilst it is true that companies can sponsor staff, the conditions             
|that apply are very onerous, and usually rigidly applied.                      

|There are many categories for sponsorship.  For examples entertainers          
|can be brought in for shows, movies, plays etc, quite easily.  Similarly       
|academics can be sponsored quite easily by Universities etc.  Similarly        
|foreign embassies can sponsor their staff easily.                              

|Out of the plethora of sponsorship categories, only three might apply          
|to corporations.  One category is reserved for executives.  This is            
|for foreign owned companies to bring in senior management for terms            
|of up to two years.  The positions must be management positions, and           
|some proof of that is required.                                                

|Another category is referred to as Exchange.  Whilst this usually applies      
|to government and/or academic institutions, there may be possibilities         
|for corporations to exchange staff with overseas branches.  The sponsor        
|has to provide all relevant details and an individual assessment is made.      

|The third category relevant to companies is to sponsor a "Specialist".  This   
|is exclusively to sponsor a staff member whose skills and specialties cannot   
|be found in Australia.  To prove this a company has to be able to show all     
|of the following, should they wish to sponsor someone for 4 to 12 months:      

|        1)      Proof that the job was advertised at the local CES and PES,    
|                within the last four months, with a letter from the local      
|                manager of such an office indicating that this had occured.    

|        2)      Proof that advertisements including salary and conditions,     
|                had been run in local, major metropolitan, and National        
|                newspapers, as well as at least one trade or professional      
|                journal within the last 6 months.                              

|Such proof is not required for appointments less than 4 months.  Such          
|sponsorships cannot be extended beyond 12 months.                              


|9) Miscellaneous                                                               
================

a) Nobody knows what your stuff is worth, but sometimes people ask for
ridiculous prices for computer equipment.  A sad, but true, fact is
that computer hardware depreciates at a huge rate.  Check classified
advertisements for gear like yours before setting a price.  You will
probably be shocked by how little your five-year-old PC is worth.  This
goes for anything, as much as computers.

b) If you include a phone number in your advertisements, remember to
include your area code and a contact name.
For example: `(0X) YYYY-ZZZZ, ask for Bruce'.

c) Use a `Distribution:' line if you know of an appropriate distribution
for your ad.  For example, `melb' means Melbourne, `aus' means Australia.

d) Further discussion on whether advertising is allowed is referred to
aus.net.aarnet, where people actually give a damn.

e) None of these newsgroups are moderated.  No one has volunteered.
This matter is being debated in aus.net.news.

