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LIVING AND WORKING IN AUSTRALIA

Australia is a fantastic place to live and to work. There is a great range of work available in most specialties in most locations!

Australia is well known for its great outdoors. The hot weather and amazing golden beaches mean you can swim and surf all year round, without even wearing a wetsuit! The large cities are full of life and you will experience some of the most vibrant and lively cultural attractions anywhere.

Australia is huge and has the lowest population density in the world so if you want a break from the lively cities, you won’t have to go far! Australians love getting out and experiencing their vast country and they’ll be more than happily to include you.

The cost of living in Australia is much lower than in the Northern Hemisphere, so you will experience a very high standard of living.

So if you want hot beautiful sunny weather all year round, and to work in a fun and accommodating medical system then Australia could be for you.

It’s a new way of life and it’s ready for you to experience!

WORK VISAS AND IMMIGRATION IN AUSTRALIA

As everyone loves doctors, once you have a job offer it is generally not a problem gaining a visa to work in Australia.

To work in Australia there are a few visa options. You will need a ‘Permanent migration visas’,’ Temporary Business (Long Stay) – Standard Business Sponsorship visa’ or a’ Special occupational trainee visa’.

Immigration and visas

Doctors can enter Australia to work on either a temporary or permanent visa.

If you intend to bring family members who will live, work or study in Australia, you will need to ensure that they are included on your visa application. Comprehensive information about visas and immigration issues can be found on the Department of Immigration and Citizenship website, or we can help run you through it.

Eligible family members may apply with you or separately. If your family members apply separately, they must complete a separate application form and pay a separate application charge. Your sponsor will also need to complete a separate sponsorship application for any accompanying dependent family members not included in your initial application.

You should include all dependants who will be accompanying you, or intend to join you in Australia, or who intend to remain with you if you are already in Australia.

Permanent migration visas

Permanent entry to Australia for overseas trained doctors (OTDs) is available through the General Skilled Migration Program, the Employer Nomination Scheme and the Regional Sponsored Migration Program. Doctors can also enter Australia to work temporarily.

In addition to the other requirements for permanent entry to Australia, a doctor needs to provide evidence of full (unconditional or general) medical registration or, evidence of completion of the standard pathway for specialist assessment or standard pathway for general practitioner assessment for independent/unsupervised specialist practice. Doctors may choose to initially enter Australia as a temporary resident and work with conditional medical registration before completing the requirements for full medical registration or specialist recognition.

Temporary visas

If a doctor is not able to meet the requirements for permanent migration or prefers to enter Australia as a temporary resident, then entry on the Temporary Medical Practitioner visa or the Temporary Business (Long Stay) visa may be possible. Temporary visas for Postgraduate or Occupational trainees are also available. Such a visa is for doctors seeking to upgrade their skills for their return to their home country and is not from work in Australia.

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship suggests that the Temporary Business (Long Stay) visa is the preferred temporary visa pathway for doctors entering Australia. It allows applicants to take advantage of streamlined visa processing arrangements, including the ability to lodge applications over the internet using a special online application form.

To obtain a temporary visa, we will first find a position for which a doctor is considered a suitable candidate by the employer or sponsor. Doctors applying for temporary visas must provide evidence from the relevant Australian Medical Board that they are eligible for medical registration in Australia. Doctors with such evidence may be eligible for a temporary visa for periods up to four years.

Temporary visas are generally used by doctors who:

• Wish to work in Australia temporarily (conditions still apply, so check the requirements under Registering and qualifying);
• Wish to migrate permanently to Australia but are not yet able to satisfy immigration requirements for permanent residency until they achieve full medical registration in Australia by completing the standard pathway for general practitioner assessment or the standard pathway for specialist assessment;
• Intend to undertake supervised training as a Postgraduate or Occupational Trainee, in a designated short-term training position.

More information on the requirements for entry through these permanent and temporary visa programs are available from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship website.

Special occupational trainee visa

A postgraduate or occupational trainee position must be designed specifically to add to or enhance the overseas trained doctor’s (OTD’s) level of skill in their present occupation or area of expertise. These positions are only for doctors seeking to upgrade their skills for use on return to their home or another country on completion of training and are not intended for doctors seeking work in Australia. These training programs are workplace-based and are available in some Australian hospitals.

Entry to Australia to take up one of these training positions should be on a special occupational trainee visa.

The main requirement for postgraduate or occupational trainee visa approval is that

• The position is a genuine approved postgraduate or occupational trainee position
• The organisation who will be providing the training (i.e. the hospital) formally nominates you for the position
• You pass the required health checks (including HIV and hepatitis B tests)
• You meet the character requirements
• Evidence of adequate health insurance arrangements for the duration of your stay in Australia must be provided

As applicants must meet a number of requirements for entry to Australia for postgraduate or occupational training, you are advised not to make travel arrangements until your visa application has been approved. You can find more about the specific immigration requirements and application process from the website of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs.

Medical Practitioner (Temporary) visa and Educational Visa Costs

All information provided on this website is correct at the time of publishing. Please contact MedRecruit for further information and guidance because we are here to help.

MEDICAL REGISTRATION IN AUSTRALIA

State and Territory Medical Boards are responsible for the registration of all doctors in Australia. Many Medical Boards will only grant actual registration once the overseas trained doctor (OTD) has the appropriate visa, but they can give a written indication that the OTD should be able to practise in Australia, subject to the granting of medical registration after they arrive onshore.

There are two types of medical registration in Australia, full medical registration and conditional medical registration. Most OTDs enter the Australian medical workforce with conditional medical registration.

Full medical registration

Full (general or unconditional) medical registration allows a doctor to work independently/unsupervised in Australia within their field of practice. Recognition of medical registration across Australian State and Territory borders is enabled by the Mutual Recognition provision.

Full medical registration is granted to:

• Graduates of medical schools in Australia or New Zealand that have been accredited by the Australian Medical Council (AMC), and who have completed the approved period of intern training
• Overseas trained doctors who have passed the AMC exams, including the English language proficiency requirement, and completed a period of approved supervised training in Australia as determined by the relevant Medical Board, and met all the requirements for character and health checks

Conditional medical registration

Doctors who are not eligible for full medical registration in Australia may be eligible for conditional medical registration. Categories for conditional registration include positions of postgraduate (occupational) training, supervised training, teaching or research, Public Interest/Areas of Need, disciplinary or health conditions, or an Overseas Trained Specialist (OTS) with qualifications deemed equivalent to an Australian trained specialist by one of the Australian Specialist Medical Colleges. The types of conditions of medical registration vary depending upon the category of registration and the individual doctor.

Most overseas trained doctors (OTDs) (including doctors from the UK or Ireland) have conditional medical registration when they begin working in Australia. This means that the OTD or OTS needs to work in an Area of Need (AON). Your medical registration in these circumstances is job specific. Once you have received registration for a particular position, you may not change jobs without reapplying for medical registration.

The category of medical registration available to a particular OTD will determine the level of supervision employers need to provide and training requirements for the OTD.

The first requirement that OTDs have to meet is the English language requirement. Following on from that, OTDs who have passed the Australian Medical Council (AMC) examination and have been issued with an AMC certificate, as well as OTDs with general practice or specialist qualifications recognised by the relevant Australian Specialist Medical College, usually meet medical registration requirements that allow for independent/unsupervised practice in Australia. In these circumstances, the OTD does not need to work in an Area of Need and employers are not required to obtain Area of Need approval. Occupational trainees are the other category of OTD who do not need to work in an Area of Need.

Alternatively, doctors may prefer to contact the relevant Medical Board, the Australian Medical Council and the relevant Specialist Medical College to review their requirements.

Doctors who have completed their primary medical degree and training outside New Zealand or Australia may be eligible for registration through one of the following pathways:

Competent Authority Pathway

If you have a primary degree from the UK, Canada, USA, Ireland or New Zealand or the equivalent licensing exams (such as the PLAB I and II, NZREX, USMLE) AND have completed a full year of supervised practice in this country so you eligible for full registration with that licensing authority, you will be eligible for "Advanced Standing" with the AMC and conditional registration.

Specialist Pathway

If you have completed a specialist training program in another country or are within two years of completion of an accredited specialist training program you are eligible to have your qualifications assessed by the equivalent Australian College. They will then determine what (if any) additional requirements they wish you to undertake to gain fellowship in Australia. You will be eligible for registration as a specialist, conditional (AON - Area Of Need)) specialist or specialist in training.

AMC standard pathway

If you do not fall into either of these categories you must complete the AMC part one exam (MCQ) in order to be eligible for registration in Australia. Once you have a position you may then be eligible for general registration following a workplace based assessment process (which varies between states and territories) or by completing the AMC Part II clinical exam.

Area of Need

An Area of Need (AON) is any location in which there is a lack of specific medical practitioners or where there are medical positions that remain unfilled even after recruitment efforts have taken place over a period of time. Area of Need applies to both public and private sector positions. They are determined by the State and Territory Governments. Methods of defining them vary.

All overseas trained doctors (OTDs) are required to work in an AON when they first come to Australia, so hospitals will need to apply for Area of Need approval before offering a position to an OTD. Applications for Area of Need approval should be made by the employer to the relevant State or Territory Health Department, not the OTD.

If the position requires the doctor to provide services that will attract Medicare benefits, then it must also be in a District of Workforce Shortage (DWS) for an OTD to be eligible to fill the vacancy.