Canadian Doctors in Australia
Why have so many Canadians made the move to Australia?
A friendly place to live and work
Salaries, tax and the cost of living Down Under
Professional registration
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. Canadian medical graduates who are eligible for the Competent Authority Pathway are not required to pass the AMC MCQ or Clinical Examination to be registered.
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, tax and the cost of living Down Under
- Doctors Salaries Australia
Salaries in Australia vary slightly from state to state but the table below provides a guide on what you can expect in terms of basic salaries in Australia. After overtime and on-call work the salaries tabled below will be approximately 15-25% higher.
Salary packaging is a perk that doctors who are working in the public system in Australia are offered. It involves “sacrificing” a portion of your salary and then claiming it back tax free, through your spending on mortgage payments, personal loans (including car loans), private health, dining out etc. Each hospital has its own scheme and expenses that can be packaged may vary between different states.
| Seniority | Intern/Resident |
Registrar |
Career Medical Officer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approximate Basic Salary | $48,000 - $76, 200 |
$77,000 - $130,250 |
$110,250 -$180,420 |
- Tax
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.
Competent authority pathway and professional registration
If you meet the condition below, you may be eligible for the Competent Authority Pathway:
- successfull completion of the licentiate examinations of the Medical Council of Canada (LMCC) since 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.
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
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 non-specialist 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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