22 January 2008

Health service needs fly-in doctors for Australia

The recent trend of Australian employers looking to foreign countries to fill their demands for skilled workers was displayed recently as an area in the state of Victoria recently looked to foreign shores for a suitable candidate. The Greater Western Area Health Service has announced it will be relying on Australian immigration in order to employ a doctor for the area of Tottenham. This news comes after an unsuccessful national recruitment campaign to find a suitable candidate for the post resulted in the health service looking abroad for a health professional to fill the post.

George Cowan, the general manager of the Lachlan Shire council, said: "It doesn't matter where you recruit from, the doctors have got to go through a pretty extensive process with immigration and also with medical boards here to get approval to practise and that takes quite a long time." General medical practitioners are currently found on the Australia Migration Occupation in Demand List. The Australia Migration Occupation in Demand List is the occupations that are currently in short supply in Australia and people applying to work in these roles through Australian immigration are usually put on the Australian visa fast-track.

Official spokesperson for the Australian Visa Bureau, Tom W Blackett, commented further on the benefits of having your occupation MODL-listed: "As Australian immigration operates on a points system, the extra points awarded to any applicant with a MODL named occupation is a very positive sign that success can be achieved both quickly and easily. However, with a significant proportion of even these 'in-demand' candidates failing in their migration bids, the experience of a qualified migration consultant when making your visa application shouldn't be under-estimated."

Australia needs doctors and healthcare professionals: anyone interested in migrating to Australia should complete an online assessment to see if they qualify for skilled migration to Australia.