Opposition to the Government’s fast-tracking of international medical specialists into Australia continues to grow, with the Council of Presidents of Medical Colleges also adding its voice.
CPMC, Australia’s peak body representing specialist medical colleges, has warned against fast-tracking International Medical Graduate registration and says it will not solve Australia’s rural healthcare challenges.
Australia’s health ministers recently approved the registration standard that fast-tracks the process bringing overseas specialists into Australia. That paves the way for a range of specialist international medical graduate (SIMG) reforms, with ophthalmology expected to become involved next year.
Developing the pathway was among the reform recommendations made by the independent Kruk Review into health practitioner regulatory settings. Controversially, the process bypasses accreditation of incoming specialists by the relevant medical colleges.
That was again raised as a concern during the recent RANZCO Congress in Adelaide.
CPMC chair A/Prof Sanjay Jeganathan said his organisation was concerned that, without proper planning, new specialists might concentrate in urban areas while regional communities continued to face specialist shortages.
“We are reviewing the broader health workforce reform agenda outlined in the Scope of Practice Review and will consider the recommendations in the context of all the current health workforce reforms,” he said.
“We cannot accept an implementation approach for international medical registration that fails to address the fundamental challenge of ensuring all Australians have access to appropriate specialist care.
“Regional Australians deserve the same quality healthcare as city residents, yet the current approach risks widening rather than closing these geographical healthcare gaps.”
CPMC said it remained committed to working constructively with AHPRA, the Medical Board of Australia, Minister Mark Butler, and state and territory ministers on international medical registration and broader workforce reforms.
“We emphasise that any changes to registration pathways must be part of a comprehensive strategy that genuinely addresses workforce distribution and maintains Australia’s high standards of specialist care,” it said.
“Practising medical specialists and GPs through the colleges need to be part of the process.”
Evidence showed that while SIMG registrations had increased by 27% under current pathways, CPMC said these specialists needed to flow to regional areas where they were most needed.
“While CPMC supports appropriately qualified specialists helping to address workforce challenges, success depends on implementing proper systems to ensure they are directed to communities with the greatest needs, supported by robust quality assurance processes,” said A/Prof Jeganathan.
CPMC’s concerns about the expedited pathway implementation include:
- No clear mechanisms to direct specialists to areas of genuine workforce shortage.
- Lack of detail about maintaining standards through the qualification equivalency process.
- Absence of strategies to ensure long-term retention in rural and regional areas.
- Limited integration with existing specialist training pathways.
- Insufficient consideration of speciality-specific challenges.
- Inadequate detail about supervision and quality assurance processes.
“Fast-tracking overseas specialists without addressing underlying distribution issues won’t solve our core challenges,” said A/Prof Jeganathan. “Rural Australians will still face the same barriers to accessing specialist care, and understaffed specialities may remain under-resourced.”
While AHPRA has indicated that the Australian Medical Council will assess qualification equivalency, CPMC maintains that successful implementation requires:
- Transparent criteria for assessing international qualifications
- Clear supervision and monitoring frameworks
- Integration with existing workforce distribution initiatives
- Speciality-specific approaches that recognise different practice requirements
- Robust evaluation mechanisms to ensure safety and effectiveness
“The specialist medical colleges have extensive experience in assessing international medical graduates and understanding the unique requirements of specialist practice in Australia, particularly in rural and remote settings,” said A/Prof Jeganathan. “This expertise must be properly utilised to ensure these reforms achieve their intended outcomes.
“We remain committed to supporting initiatives that will genuinely improve access to specialist care for all Australians,” he said. “However, these initiatives must be properly planned, adequately detailed, and effectively targeted to address real workforce needs.”
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