Australia’s doctors are issuing a dire warning as political pressure grows to dramatically cut migration, saying any major reduction could have unintended consequences, particularly for hospitals and regional communities.
Dr Krish Sundararajan came to Australia 21 years ago, building a life and career here as an intensive care specialist.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Healthcare crisis looms as migration cuts threaten hospitals
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world,” he said, drawn by what he calls Australia’s fair go.
“It’s a great combination of a rewarding career and also a very supportive environment and more importantly, you know, wonderful people.”
Now doctors like Sundararajan are at the centre of a critical workforce debate.
Thirty per cent of Australia’s doctors trained overseas, more than 40 per cent of GPs, and more than half of intensive care specialists. Many more on student visas are at medical school here.
“Not just filling the edges. They’re actually holding up the health system,” SA AMA President Associate Professor Peter Subramaniam said.
For rural Australia, the reliance is far greater.
“The option is not a local doctor or a migrant doctor. It’s a migrant doctor or no doctor at all,” Subramaniam said.
And it’s not just doctors. Nurses and aged care workers too rely heavily on migration. Migrants make up more than 50 per cent of staff, with thousands more needed.
“When we say people from overseas should not be here, we are offending hundreds of thousands of aged care workers who came here because we asked them to,” Ageing Australia CEO Tom Symondson said.
There’s broad political support for bringing in overseas trained doctors and healthcare workers. But questions remain about Australia’s reliance on overseas talent and whether we should be training more of our own.
“We do also rely heavily on foreign trained doctors and health professionals. What we’re trying to do here is rebalance the system in a way which makes sure we still have those targeted skills we need,” Nationals Leader Matt Canavan said.
And if migrant healthcare workers are held back, experts warn the health system will not bend, it’ll break.
