Canadian Family Physicians in Australia
Why have so many Canadians made the move to Australia?
A friendly place to live and work
Salaries of GPs, tax and the cost of living Down Under
College membership and professional registration
Testimonies
Information Sessions in Canada 2011 Click here
There are lots of reasons for Canadians to live in Australia. Some of the many attractions are that Australia is a sun-blessed country with plenty of space, offering beautiful beaches, attractive lifestyle and low cost of living, as well as a resilient, growing and modern economy despite the global financial slowdown.
The Australian culture is also very similar to that of Canada and the two nations also have many things in common – endless space, multicultural populations and of course the English language. In addition, like Australia, Canada has maintained a stable democratic political system and remains one of the 16 sovereign Commonwealth states.
In Australia you can find a comparable standard of healthcare system with job security, high living standards and a more relaxed lifestyle. Due to the similarities in language and training standards, Australia is particularly keen on Canadian doctors due to their educational expertise and ethics.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners recognises Canadian trained family physicians as being fully comparable to the Australian-trained equivalent. Click here to find out more about college membership.
Why have so many Canadians made the move to Australia?
The latest Census in 2006 recorded 31 610 Canada-born people in Australia, an increase of 16.1 per cent from the previous Census. Most Canadians retain a commitment to their Canadian heritage and citizenship at the same time as they have shown themselves to integrate successfully into Australia's culturally diverse community.
And Canadians do well in Australia! The median individual weekly income for the Canada-born in Australia in 2006 was 50% higher than the Australian population!
Australia - A friendly place to live and work
The main reasons that tend to come up in conversations about why people choose Australia are related to its lifestyle and continued strong economy:
- Lifestyle - better climate accompanied with the famous Aussie 'easy way-of-life', stunning scenery, glorious beaches, exciting cosmopolitan cities, affordable living, abundance of recreational opportunities such as surfing, sailing, diving water-skiing, skiing, etc
- Strong performing economy - Australia has been able to maintain a low inflation rate, which in turn means low interest rates. The Australian government’s net debt is also significantly lower than that in Europe, Japan and the United States a well as being amongst the lowest in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Salaries of GPs, tax and the cost of living Down
- Salary
Under General Practice in Australia pays well and just keeps getting better! In 2007 it was noted that GP income overall had risen about 20% compared to three years earlier *(Australian Doctor 27-Jun-2007) http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/news/3a/0c04d33a.asp
The annual income that a GP can expect to earn ranges between AUD $150,000 -$300,000 per annum. This can increase depending on the number of extra hours or after hours work performed. Other factors that can have an impact on your wage are: area of practice, type of work undertaken, private vs. bulk billing, hospital work and whether you are a practice owner, employee or contractor.
General practitioners bill per consultation on a “fee for service” basis. GP salaries in Australia range between 50-75% of individual billings and are usually paid to you as an independent contractor. There are some arrangements where you are retained as an employee of the clinic on a fixed salary.
- Tax and the cost of living
Although the rate of income tax in Australia is slightly higher in the top tax bracket, this is more than compensated for by the affordability of basic necessities such as fuel or car prices. The cost of living is substantially cheaper than in most other western countries and generally all major household expenses are less expensive, from house prices to the weekly shopping. Australian cities are still among the cheapest in which to live, yet with the highest quality of living*.
(* Source: Mercer Human Resource Consulting – Cost of Living Survey, 2001-2006 (March survey comparisons) Mercer Human Resource Consulting – Cost of Living Survey annually ranks 144 cities using their cost of living index. The index is calculated by comparing the cost of more than 200 items including housing, food, clothing, transport and entertainment.)
College membership and professional registration
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners recognises Canadian trained family physicians as being fully comparable to the Australian-trained equivalent, provided you hold:
- The Certificate in Family Medicine from College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) and evidence of Canadian Qualifying Examinations Part 1 + 2 post 1992.
To get started with your professional medical registration, the Australian Medical Council (AMC) website is the first place to visit. The AMC processes applications from all international medical graduates; but does not grant medical registration. In Australia, each state/territory has its own medical board and currently all medical practitioners are required to register in the state/territory in which they are going to be working. However, changes to nationalise the accreditation and registration process are currently underway.Click here to find out more about the National Accreditation and Registration Scheme.
As a Canadian GP, there are several options for medical registration - the recommended approach is the Specialist Pathway which allows you to work unsupervised as a general practitioner in many areas of Australia.
In terms of practice location, there are some restrictions whereby OTDs have to work in either an Area of Need (AON) and/or District of Workforce Shortage (DWS). However you will still be eligible to work in many fantastic Coastal, outer metropolitan and rural areas of Australia. You will need to provide the AMC with:
• evidence of English language proficiency you will need to demonstrate English competency by completing the IELTS examination -with a minimum score of 7 in each element), or the alternative Occupational English Test. Exemptions may apply when the applicant can provide evidence of secondary education in either Canada, UK, Ireland, New Zealand, USA or South Africa, where English is the native or first language. Further information about the IELTS can be found on the IELTS website.
• evidence of current medical registration in your jurisdiction
• verification of medical qualifications
Testimonies
Read testimonies from Canadian doctors who work in Australia: http://www.doctorconnect.gov.au/internet/otd/publishing.nsf/Content/work-surfs-up
You can also hear directly from GPs who have made the shift to rural and remote practice in these short documentaries (approx 5 mins). Go to:www.gplifestylechange.com.au.
Tell us your dream today
As we said earlier, our service is absolutely free to doctors. We will start with an initial consultation to discuss your individual requirements and also give you a briefing on the process ahead of you, particularly:
- Location preferences (what type of lifestyle are you after)
- Length of stay
- Ideal position
- Remuneration requirements
-Your family situation
We advertise general practitioner vacancies on our website, but encourage you to contact us as we do not advertise all positions.
Aster Medical, providing a holistic, ethical recruitment service |
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