South Australia’s healthcare system will be reliant on migrant workers until at least the late 2030s. Roughly half of the state’s medical workforce were trained overseas, and current funding for domestic training is insufficient to meet current demands. (Image: Marion Brun)

By Bayley Fitzpatrick | @bayley.fitzpatrick

Roughly half of South Australia’s current clinical workforce were trained overseas, according to Dr Peter Subramaniam, president of the Australian Medical Association’s SA (AMA SA) branch.

When asked how South Australia’s healthcare system would manage without migrants, he told On The Record that “it wouldn’t, it’s arithmetically impossible at present.”

“Without overseas-trained doctors, our hospitals would grind to a halt.”

Dr Peter Subramaniam (Image: supplied)

The reliance on migrant workers is even greater in regional SA, where there is a major skills shortage.

“Remove them, and you cannot staff an emergency department overnight, run a rural hospital or fill a GP roster in most of regional South Australia,” Subramaniam says.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows more than half of general practitioners across SA are migrants.

Only 15 per cent of South Australian medical students are choosing general practice as their specialisation, according to the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.

Evidently, there is a shortage of local talent to fill these critical roles, but it’s not simply a lack of willing students.

“There is no shortage of Australians who want to study medicine or nursing. What limits domestic supply is the number of funded training positions, and critically, the funded supervisor time attached to them,” Subramaniam says.

To train a new doctor, funding for the trainee position and supervision by an experienced doctor are necessary.

“A registrar position without a supervisor is not a training position,” Subramaniam says.

It takes an Australian medical student at least 10 years to complete their degree and the required specialist training in their chosen field.

So, in its current state, South Australia’s medical workforce will be reliant on migrants until at least the late 2030s.

“Even if every government in the country decided tomorrow to substantially expand domestic training, you would still need overseas-trained doctors for at least the next decade,” Subramaniam says.

Data from the ABS also shows that roughly 40 per cent of nurses in SA were born overseas.

Sadhana Sharma (Image: supplied).

Sadhana Sharma, an intensive care nurse at Flinders Medical Centre, says “it would be extremely difficult for South Australia’s healthcare system to function without migrant healthcare workers.”

Sharma, who was born and raised in Nepal, moved to Australia seven years ago to pursue a career in nursing.

“From my experience, around 60 per cent of the nurses I work alongside come from overseas.”

On The Record cannot independently verify this figure.

“I spent a lot of my childhood caring for my great-grandparents, so I have always had a caring nature… It encouraged me to pursue nursing so I could continue helping others.”

Although migrant nurses demonstrate immense care and empathy for patients every single day, they often feel their efforts are underappreciated.

“I think the contribution migrants make should be recognised rather than dismissed,” Sharma says.

Subramaniam also detests the general dehumanisation of migrant workers in South Australia.

“These are not simply workforce numbers; they are our colleagues… They live in these communities and raise their children here. When we discuss them as a policy input, we should remember we’re discussing people,” Subramaniam says.

Sharma agrees.

“I know personally how much effort migrants put into building their lives here, studying, working and contributing to the community.”

So, is there a solution?

“What AMA SA has always asked for is achievable,” Subramaniam says.

Rather than “remov[ing] the workforce holding the system together before the replacement exists”, he says the registration process for overseas-trained healthcare professionals should be fast-tracked. 

More funding and support for these workers to move into struggling regional areas is also key to AMA SA.

“Cut the registration red tape and administrative duplication that leaves qualified doctors waiting months while communities go without,” Subramaniam says.

In a broader sense, a “nationally consistent registration process” should also be implemented to streamline the process.

Ultimately, AMA SA says this issue “sits with governments at both state and federal levels”, and the policy outcome remains to be seen. 

On The Record contacted SA Health for a response to AMA SA, but they declined to comment.