Increasing population numbers and the effect of structural ageing changes within the growing population is placing increasing demands on Australia’s community nursing resources. As a result, nurses are in high demand in all states and territories of Australia. What this means for the foreign worker contemplating the move to Australia is that there are plentiful opportunities to obtain good positions with excellent remuneration that deliver rewarding careers, continuing education and advancement, along with a quality of life that Australians have enjoyed for decades.

According to AUCEC, there are a number of professions that are recession proof. Nursing is one of those professions. They go on further to state that Australia is experiencing high demand for nurses which has created an employment shortage. The University of California, in a recent investigation into worldwide trends of nursing employment, have compounded this by estimating that Australia will be short of 40,000 Registered Nurses by the end of 2010. Like many other countries experiencing the same problems, the performance of the health care system is suffering as a result of these shortages, with surgeries being postponed and individuals in need of medical attention being pushed further and further down the waiting list.

The AUCEC has identified several factors contributing to these shortages, which includes an ageing population. This has a double edged effect whereby the increasing median age of the population results in intensified pressure to provide specialist health and home care services for the elderly. Additionally, as the population ages, many of the current nursing workforce will be nearing the retirement age in the near future. According to the Australian Health Workforce Institute, the average age of a nurse is 45. Additionally, 90,000 nurses are expected to retire by 2020.

As the Health and Community Services industry within Australia is the third largest industry, employing over ten percent of the country’s total workforce, they have to look at new and innovative methods to attract workers to fill the vacant nursing positions. The Australian government realises the urgent nature of the situation and is encouraging international workers to fill the available and future nursing positions. Priority visa applications are available to those nurses, who are qualified, under the skilled migrant category.

The benefit of accessing a nursing career in Australia is not only a short term option. With demand for qualified medical staff in Australia showing no signs of abating, the future prospects for career movement and progression are easily achievable. According to Access Economics, the demand for nursing in the future will grow even further, fuelled by an ageing population and rising community standards in relation to health care services provided. Do you want to make a real difference in people’s lives, while enjoying the nature, friendliness and culture that Australia provides? Consider a nursing job in Australia and you won’t regret it.