Australia lessens demand for nurses

CEBU, Philippines - Starting this year up to 2013, Australia will not need more nurses due to the consolidation movement of its public healthcare sector, this according to Australia Ambassador to the Philippines Rod Smith.

Smith said over the next few years, demand for nurses from outside Australia will dwindle in significant number.

He said there is a substantial number of Filipino nurses working in Australia right now. He did not clarify though if their employment status will be affected by the ongoing consolidation in the public health sector in his country.

However, he said that employment demand for engineers, IT (Information Technology) experts will continue to grow over the next few years.

There are currently 250 thousand Filipinos working and residing in Australia, majority of them are working as nurses, and in the medical field, he said.

Earlier, Leah Samaco-Paquiz, president of the Philippine Nursing Association (PNA) said that the demand for Filipino nurses abroad including Australia, specifically in the United States had “plateaued” since 2006.

Paquiz blamed the weakening demand mainly from the US employers, because of the “visa retrogression.”

“Many nurses are now underemployed or unemployed as a result of changes of policy in destination countries, the current situation of oversupply and quality problems, among others,” Paquiz said in an earlier report.

On the other hand, the Department of Labor (DOLE) downplayed this claim, saying while there is a declining demand for nurses in the US, and in the United Kingdom, other countries in world still demand and prefer the caring hands of Pinoy nurses.

However, DOLE admitted that US is indeed putting a cap on the entry of Filipino nurses but he said this should not prevent Filipinos from looking at other possible market abroad.

In fact, DOLE recently announced that Saudi Arabia alone is in need of 10,000 nurses for their public hospitals and “they are looking for Filipino nurses to fill in these vacancies.”

Meanwhile, although Australia is temporarily slowing its requirement for nurses, the New Zealand government on the other hand, announced that demand for nurses specifically from the Philippines will continue to grow.

Under the new ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) which was signed in January last year, New Zealand will allow up to 100 Philippine nurses to work there as registered nurses at any one time for a period of three years.

Nurses will be given working visas even while they are undergoing the required bridging courses and examinations.