MPs investigate streamlined IMG recruitment

An inquiry looking at how Australia can better attract international medical graduates (IMGs) has continued this week, with rural workforce agencies and doctors’ associations identifying potential areas of improvement.
 
The latest hearings, held on Monday, are part of a Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Migration investigation into the inflexibility, cost, and complexity of the existing system.
 
Healthcare in rural and remote communities was in sharp focus, with Committee Deputy Chair and Victorian Nationals MP Anne Webster saying the lack of local GP graduates is ‘creating havoc’ and leaving communities vulnerable.
 
‘We are in a crisis, and it is only about to get a whole lot worse,’ Ms Webster said.
 
But while IMGs are often seen as a solution to workforce maldistribution, Rural Workforce Agencies Chair Peter Barns told the Committee overseas doctors often find the experience of applying for work in Australia to be ‘awful’.
 
‘It can be somewhat bureaucratically traumatic for some of them as they try to navigate their way through,’ Mr Barns said.
 
‘It’s like a field of flaming hoops that people have to jump through … it can take 12–24 months.’
 
One solution proposed by Mr Barns is a ‘one stop shop’ case management model, which he said has proved successful at an individual level by helping not just the medical professional, but also their family transition to Australian life.
 
‘There’s scope there for what we’re calling a concierge service that is agnostic about where a person works and what profession they’re in,’ Mr Barns said.
 
‘But they’re on their side to say “if you come into Australia, what’s your plan? What’s your purpose?” and then they can work together on that’.
 
Earlier this month, the RACGP committed to simplifying processes for IMGs in response to an independent review of overseas health practitioner regulatory settings, widely known as ‘the Kruk report’.
 
The college committed to making its own assessment and accreditation processes simpler for applicants, and is now considering amending comparability assessments, reducing the training and skills comparability scores required, and widening the type of training considered applicable.
 
It is hoped these changes will create a more streamlined process for international graduates to live and work in Australia.
 
Rural Doctors Association of Australia President Dr Raymond Lewandowski, who was born in the United States and migrated in 2011, told the Committee he has firsthand knowledge of navigating the visa system.
 
But while he believes international graduates are critical to the current and future Australian workforce, Dr Lewandowski said there is a lack of support for both employers and employees.
 
‘We have to have a premium package if we’re going to attract premium doctors,’ he told the Committee.
 
‘There’s an enormous level of duplication of documentation and case management for healthcare professionals, their partners and family units.
 
‘There are significant upfront costs for healthcare professionals relocating, this has to be addressed.’
 
Currently, more than half of Australia’s GP workforce are IMGs, making up a critical proportion of the nation’s workforce.
 
RACGP Rural Chair Dr Michael Clements said significant work is already underway to speed up  the suggested changes.
 
‘There’s a healthy interest in doctors, nurses, pharmacists and everybody migrating into work in Australia for various reasons,’ he told newsGP.
 
‘But the paperwork and navigating the minefield of issues to go from being interested to actually working, which has taken some people up to 18 months, is a real barrier.
 
‘I do think that the RACGP in the last 12–18 months has worked hard to acknowledge and recognise the importance of this particular workforce group and that they need our support.’
 
Dr Clements said it is particularly important to ensure Australia is an attractive option among other countries which have already simplified their application processes.
 
‘We’re in a competitive environment, we know that New Zealand has got their processes down to between three and six months, [and] Canada’s streamlined their processes as well,’ he said.
 
‘A lot of these Westernised countries are trying to recruit these people, and those that do it safely but fastest will look best.’
 
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IMG international medical graduates Kruk Report migrant Parliament