Newsletter
ST LEONARDS, Australia: The Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency (AWPA) is currently updating its advice on the Skilled Occupation List for 2014, which includes professions acceptable for permanent and temporary skilled migration to Australia. In anticipation of the list’s release, the Australian Dental Association (ADA) has voiced concerns that keeping the occupation of dentist on the list could bring despair for many newly graduating dentists in the country.
According to the AWPA, the Skilled Occupation List identifies occupations in which independent skilled migrants will assist in meeting the medium- and long-term skill needs of the Australian economy that cannot be met through employer- and state-sponsored migration programmes. Currently, 188 skilled occupations are listed.
In a recent press release, the ADA stated that reports indicate that the occupation of dentist will remain on the 2014 list, which means that dentists with overseas qualifications will still be able to immigrate to Australia. In the past, ADA has urged AWPA to remove dentists from the list and to bring the workforce into balance, as statistics provided by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show that there is an increasing dental workforce oversupply that will last until 2015.
Earlier this year, the ADA and the Australian Dental Students Association launched a campaign to raise awareness about the oversupply of dentists and other dental professionals. According to the association, the number of overseas-qualified dentists entering Australia each year is more than the output of two dental schools.
“The problem here is that the Australian government’s own bureaucracy is endorsing a process that allows overseas-qualified dentists to flood the market with dentists when many of our own graduates are unable to practise. This is unconscionable,” said ADA President Dr Karin Alexander.
