Health Workforce Planning

This article discusses the impact of international health workforce migration in Australia and the government's policies on accepting foreign health workers. It explores the benefits of this migration and the need for safeguarding employment opportunities for domestic citizens. The article also discusses the sustainability of these policies and suggests ways to reduce the negative effects of health worker migration.

Running head: NURSING 1
Health workforce planning
Name
Professor
Institution

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Health workforce planning
Summary
The international health workforce migration into Australia has been of huge boost into
improving the health care in the country. This has been made possible through government
offering favorable environment of foreigners to get visas and be able to work in Australia. Also
the government ensuring it has regulated her policies on the immigrant workforce who have
applied to stay either permanently or temporary in the country.
Introduction
The magnitude of migration of health workers to Australia in the recent year has
developed toward a positive scale. This has been supported highly the government ensuring that
the immigrant health workforce is able to be warmly welcomed and also helped to settle within
various parts of the country(Jean et al.,2019). The bill that was passed by Australia parliament
that allocates palaces for people who want to migrate either permanently or just on a temporary
basis has been there since 2010 which allocate the number of population from another country
to settle and work in Australia.
The discussion on migration has evolved since 1945 where the first migration portfolio was
administered. Australia immigration policies have changed over a period of time. From only
focusing on immigrants from the United Kingdom to attracting workers in the hope of ensuring
that they meet a skilled need in health facilities (Daly et al., 2018). This paper has been written
to focus on Australia is able to accept international health workers to work in the Australia
health system.
Between 2009-2010 the migration target was sited to be 182 451 people the 59% of the
places located to skill labor intake which was 108100 33% dedicated to the family category
(60000) and about 8% to humanitarian workers (13000)( Vaughan et al., 2019). The qualified
migrants were allowed in the country between 2010 -2011 were 113650 skilled qualified
migrants were selected out of the population of 190000 people. This number raises to 218000
from2012-2013 places, where 127500 was allocated to the skilled immigrant which exceeded
the Australia intake between 1998and 1999 intake. As shown in the table below.

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Australia migration from1999 to 2013
Program
stream
1998-
1999
2001-
2002
2006-
2007
2008-
2009
2009-
2010
2010-
2011
2011-
2012
2012-
2013
Skilled 34000 52000 97900 114000 107
000
113400 125200 128200
Family 32040 37000 50000 55000 60000 53000 53000 6000
Special
eligibility
800 13000 250 170 500 440 550 570
humanitarian 11250 12300 13000 13500 13700 12800 11000 19000
In the years to comes, the government plans priorities skilled migration
purposely for health professions (Balasubramanian et al., 2108). The long-term
workforce will be attain by expansion of local training especially the youth where about
40% youth cohort is to become degree holders in the respected field.
The migration of health professional in Australia enters the country through
seven immigration route. Where the first five includes workers have been trained
overseas as demonstrated in the table below.
Top permanent migration source general
skilled migration total=13880
Temporary source total=34870
United Kingdom 4720 United Kingdom 9351
India 1305 India 6421
Malaysia 1200 Philippines 1855
China 950 South Africa 1756
Philippines 610 Malaysia 1445
South Africa 485 China 1343
Republic of Korea 400 Canada850S

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Australia level of reliance in migration work force supply
In recent years the reliance of Australia to immigration workforce has developed
whereby the year 2006 45% of the resident with qualification in medical was from overseas.
Data from Australian instate of health shows that by 2009, 25% of Australia 72739 medically
employed workforce was trained from overseas.
During 2011 census about 57% of immigrants were able to secure medical employment
in Australia. The market absorption occurred smoothly for from countries like Malaysia,
Singapore, and Sri Lanka did well as compared to the qualified workforce from China, Vietnam,
and eastern Europe most of this immigrant from this countries were categorized has not labor
force(Reid et al., 2018). The reliance on health workers varies from the different field has
demonstrated below.
Selected field 2010-
2011
2011-
2012
2012-
2013
total
Nursing 1375 1170 1409 3953
Medicine 500 1037 1286 2831
Pharmacy 156 222 244 631
Dentistry 113 170 206 489
Physiotherapy 95 80 80 255
Australia government policies on international health workforce
Some of the trends that have to enable international health workforce to work to have a
permit in Australia include privatization of the skilled migration were temporary and permanent.
They were allowed in the country based on terms of medicine to work in areas of needs for a
limit of about four years (Parr 2018). The sponsored migrant was assured priority their visa to
the country. This has been made even possible where the international health workers were
willing to work in remote and rural areas under some unfavorable condition.

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Migrants’ health workers accept to work under supervision for about four years where
after this they are allowed to apply for permanent residence. This practice has been working
from some years even though there is a need in increasing concern due to the risk of creating
what is referred as two-tier care (Jowsey 2018). Australia allows the influx of workers using
these policies even though there is little debate on the emergence of conditional registration that
will offer the immigrant health workers on a supervised basis. Furthermore, there is a pathway
that has been initiated to ensure registration that is led by the federal government and territory
support. The Australia ministry has set goals which will ensure in the years to come to the
country wills health sufficiently.
Historical Reason for international health workers policies in Australia
Australia was in the danger of having a shortage of workforce in health care. This was
due to a low number of medical student register in colleges and universities. This was caused
probably by federal government policies which allowed limited numbers of medical school
within the country (Zurn et al., 2018). Also, the workforce aging and retiring compared to
employment domestically there was discrepancy where a lot of aging people were retiring and
very low employment of medicals professional due to a limited number in them within the
country.
The number of the patient per one doctor was increasing significantly so the need to
allow international health workers immigrant was listed as a solution increases the number of
the workforce in the country (Hawthorne 2016). The policies international immigrant needed to
be revised to encourage health workforce to come and work in the country either on a
permanent or temporary basis. The government ensured that it breaks down immigration
barriers to ensure the area of need of any position is met to enable workforce to be eligible to
work in Australia. This policy ensures it facilitates an active employment workforce. Also the
need to ensure there is diversify of health workers from other where the domestic health works
are able to learn from other health workers from other countries to ensure there is an
improvement of health service in the country.
Sustainability of the current policies
The policies that allow the immigration of international worker to migrate and work in
Australia are sustainable. Considering the country can now allow an international student to
apply for a visa and come get a scholarship to study in Australia where after they have

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graduated, they are allowed to work in Australia either permanently or on a temporary basis. this
will encourage the increase of health workers across the country this will ensure one the goal of
sustainability developed goal has been met(Chok et al., 2018). The citizen across the country
will be able to get medical services within the shortest limit and increase the health of the nation
into world standard.
The health workforce 2025 objective was to calculate the possibility future health
workforce planning. It outlines that Australia health workforce has the possibility to meet the
future need for health care of the country (O'Callaghan et al., 2018). This project provides an
area for further discussion on the future of the Australia health care workforce policy and some
reform for projection. It ensures that there is a built sustainable health workforce for Australia.
Through encouraging of the international health workforce in Australia it enables
Australia to integrate with world health organization of enabling diversification of health
workers to work in different countries in order to meet the needed number for health workers in
the global wise. It also ensures different health workers can learn a skill from one another which
in the end improve the diversification of skills among the health workers and sharing of ideas.
Implement change to reduce the negative effect of health workers migration
The government can reduce the effect of international health workers through
encouraging domestic health professional education by providing employment opportunities to
domestic. Also, the government can encourage the domestic to undertake medical courses to
increase the workforce of the country.
The government can also prevent the negative effect of health workers immigration by
offering a scholarship to the country population and also ensuring they can be absorbed in the
workforce within the country. The government also can also ensure that they do not hire doctors
from countries with poor health workers population.
Also, the government can ensure the prioritizing of the local population first before
seeking health workforce from other countries. This will ensure they are able to meet the need
for countries of self-sustainability goal of encouraging a large number of the population have
been absorbed into the working force (Thamrin et al., 2018). Supervision of immigrant
international health workers whose term have been expired and are still working illegally

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without renewing their visas ought to seriously considered in order ensuring they are working
according to the law of the country. The medical student coming to study in the country will
have to return to their countries if they were to stay there on a temporary basis.
Conclusion
The immigration of health workers into the Australia has played major role in improving
healthcare services in the country and increasing the standard of our healthcare. There is also
need of safeguarding the employment welfare of the domestic citizen. The government should
ensure that it has met the need of domestic issue regarding to employment before seeking extra
workforce from other country.

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