Abstract
BackgroundProvide an up-to-date national picture of the medical, midwifery and nursing workforce distribution in Australia with a focus on overseas immigration and on production sustainability challenges.MethodsUsing 2006 and 2011 Australian census data, analysis was conducted on medical practitioners (doctors) and on midwifery and nursing professionals.ResultsOf the 70,231 medical practitioners in Australia in 2011, 32,919 (47.3%) were Australian-born, with the next largest groups bring born in South Asia and Southeast Asia. In 2006, 51.9% of medical practitioners were born in Australia. Of the 239,924 midwifery and nursing professionals in Australia, 127,911 (66.8%) were born in Australia, with the next largest groups being born in the United Kingdom and Ireland and in Southeast Asia. In 2006, 69.8% of midwifery and nursing professionals were born in Australia. Western Australia has the highest percentage of foreign-born health workers. There is a higher percentage of Australia-born health workers in rural areas than in urban areas (82% of midwifery and nursing professional in rural areas are Australian-born versus 59% in urban areas). Of the 15,168 additional medical practitioners in Australia between the 2006 and 2011 censuses, 10,452 (68.9%) were foreign-born, including large increases from such countries as India, Nepal, Philippines, and Zimbabwe. We estimate that Australia has saved US$1.7 billion in medical education costs through the arrival of foreign-born medical practitioners over the past five years.ConclusionsThe Australian health system is increasingly reliant on foreign-born health workers. This raises questions of medical education sustainability in Australia and on Australia’s recruitment from countries facing critical shortages of health workers.
Highlights
Provide an up-to-date national picture of the medical, midwifery and nursing workforce distribution in Australia with a focus on overseas immigration and on production sustainability challenges
Of the medical practitioners for whom country of birth is known, 32,919 (47.3%) were Australianborn, with the largest percentage being born in South Asia (11.7%) and Southeast Asia (9.4%) (Table 1)
There are relatively high percentages in Western Australia of medical practitioners born in the United Kingdom and, Ireland and in sub-Saharan Africa while doctors born in South Asia represent a high percentage in the Northern and Australian Capital Territories
Summary
Provide an up-to-date national picture of the medical, midwifery and nursing workforce distribution in Australia with a focus on overseas immigration and on production sustainability challenges. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there is a global shortfall of more than 2 million doctors, nurses and midwives to meet the minimum recommended density [1]. This shortage of human resources for health negatively impacts health outcomes [2] with local shortages worsened by the migration of health workers from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to high-income countries [3]. Even though health worker migration to high-income countries is occurring, countries such as Australia continue to face persistent shortages, in rural and outer-metropolitan areas [6]; a situation compounded by trends towards health workers’ decreased work-hours, increased demand due to an ageing population [7] and an ageing health workforce [8]. Australia has expanded the number of entry places for medical education but there are limitations on the availability of internships, leading some students to complete coursework requirements successfully but not the clinical requirements needed to progress to full medical registration [10]
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