UK doctors to be affected by Australian work visa restrictions

UK doctors to be affected by Australian work visa restrictions https://www.workpermit.com/news/australian-work-visa-restrictions-affect-uk-doctors-20161214
Should doctors from the United Kingdom decide to move down under, they may face tighter restrictions brought about by the Australian work visa as the levels of immigration for foreign doctors are currently being reduced. The government of Australia is set to get rid of a number of medical professions from an approved list of occupations that allow foreign nationals to be granted work visas as well as permanent residency.
The Temporary Business 457 work visa and the Training and Research 402 visa are just 2 of the Australian visa categories that are often being used by overseas doctors. The Skilled Independent 189 visa and the Skilled Nominated 190 visa may also be worth looking into.
ITV News has published a report and according to them, the job roles that the government of Australia is planning to remove from the list include the following:

• Anaesthetists
• Cardiologists
• General practitioners
• Gynaecologists
• Intensive care specialists
• Paediatricians

It is being claimed by the Australian Medical Association that the country has access to a lot of home grown doctors who are well trained and certainly fit the role due to the ‘training boom.’ Because of the training boom, the number of medical graduates increased by as much as 50 per cent over the last 12 years.
The Australian Immigration Skilled occupations list
UK doctors to be affected by Australian work visa restrictions ”Because of the growth in medical workforce numbers in Australia, a number of medical occupations are proposed for removal from the skilled occupations list,” the president of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), Dr Michael Gannon, stated.
”We do not expect that this will have a big impact as there will still be other visa options available,” Dr Gannon continued on to say. ”However, it is the first sign that we are overcoming medical workforce shortages and are less reliant on international recruitment.”
In spite of the number of doctors being ‘in balance’, the way in which medical professionals are being dispersed all over the country has meant that certain specialities have become short of numbers.
”International medical graduates looking to come to Australia need to know that job opportunities are limited, often confined to short-term roles or areas of medical workforce shortage like rural locations,” Dr Gannon explained.
Number of doctors from the UK working in Australia on visas have significantly increased
The General Medical Council in Britain has already issued out a total of 5,494 certificates for the year 2016 alone, which shows that a doctor looking for work in another country is fit to practice. Around 1,829 of these 5,494 certificates were provided to doctors who were looking to work down under.
According to the most recent data that have just come out, for the year 2014, there were 7,528 UK doctors working in Australia, compared to 2013, that only had 6,721.
In October of last year, Mr Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary of the United Kingdom, has promised to ‘end the NHS’ dependence on foreign doctors by putting an increase in the number of individuals trained in medical schools by 25 per cent. Aside from that, he also stated that newly qualified doctors are going to have to be committed to working for the NHS for a four year minimum after graduations.
The history of United Kingdom doctors looking for work in Australia
It was reported by workpermit.com in November 2015 that more UK doctors were making their way down under on Australian skilled immigration visas such as the Australian 190 visa (whicb is employer sponsored), as well as the skilled independent 189 visa, and the temporary work 457 visa.
A report at the time published by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, found that the country was in need of around 26,500 new doctors. They also provided data showing that 47,700 new nurses were needed.
The AMA however, claims that there is no longer any need for that large number of overseas doctors which is why doctors from the UK may find it harder to benefit from the Australian salary rates in the future as it may be up to 50 per cent higher compared to the UK rates. It may also be possible that they may be given shorter hours of work in Australia.
Meanwhile, Mr Alexander Downer, the Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, said that the decision made by Britain to leave the European Union could possibly make Tier 2 immigration for Australians easier. Whether UK immigration requirements for Australians will be relaxed or not still remains unclear.