Australian Regulatory Requirements for Migration and Registration of Internationally Qualified Health Practitioners

Abstract

Internationally qualified health practitioners (IQHP) seeking to live and work in Australia are required to obtain the appropriate skilled migration visa through an assessment by the Department of Home Affairs and the approved assessing authority and registration by the relevant health practitioner board. Regulators create policy frameworks, standards and assessment models to meet the requirements of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (as in force in each state and territory) and the legislation governing Australia’s General Skilled Migration program. This research investigated the current policies and processes governing skilled migration and registration for internationally qualified nurses, midwives and doctors in Australia. The study was informed by rich qualitative data extracted from 28 in-depth semi-structured participant interviews. Shared experiences were mapped and examined for four key participant groups: assessors operationalising the current policies and processes governing skilled migration and registration; educators offering preparatory and training programs to IQHP; workforce agencies engaging with and recruiting IQHP; and internationally qualified doctors, nurses and midwives from across the globe. Key themes and points of intersection between the participants’ experiences and the regulatory frameworks were identified using theory and data-driven coding and thematic analysis via NVivo 12 plus software. The findings were presented in three papers. Paper one, a policy perspective, examined current views, regulatory reviews and overall governance of skilled migration and registration of IQHP in Australia. Paper two, a case study, presented key themes and points of intersection identified between regulatory frameworks and shared experiences of 28 research participants separated into four discrete groups. The final paper presented the lived experiences of the second participant group, 15 IQHP, who described their complex, culturally challenging and costly journeys seeking their shared dream of living and working in Australia. The research provides information and recommendations to assist regulators in ensuring that the standards, policy frameworks and organisational processes used to assess the suitability of IQHP for skilled migration and entry onto the Australian health practitioners register and ultimately into the health workforce are fair, transparent, consistent, equitable and robust, and assist in ensuring IQHP demonstrate the necessary qualifications and experience for protection of the Australian public. It is clear from the research that further exploration and more innovative and evidence-based solutions are required to support and reform the standards, guidelines and policy which are used to regulate and assess IQHP.