Record numbers of doctors, nurses, midwives, and other health professionals are moving to Australia and working in the health system, since the election successes of the Albanese Government.
More than 5,000 doctors from overseas registered to practise in Australia in the first financial year of the current Labor government, 50% more than the 2,991 doctors who registered in the entire year before COVID (2018/19).
Indian doctors and medical staff often top the list of arriving medical professionals, with recent years seeing them comprise over 20 per cent (363) of new arrivals.
“These urgently needed general practitioners often spend their first few years working in rural areas, while Indian specialists, nurses, and support staff are spread across the country,” says Ian Norris, Founder of India Travel Specialists.
Ian has noticed a strong surge in luxury and organised travel to India by medical professionals. He plans guided, pre-arranged tours in consultation with clients, easing the burden on time-poor professionals. Many of these trips include entire families returning to explore their former homeland.
Sometimes, the itinerary includes time with friends and relatives before continuing on to explore India’s famous monuments – giving the whole family a chance to experience the living culture of their ancestral homeland.
“This new generation of medical travellers usually seeks a very different style of travel to the typical VFR (visiting friends and relatives) trip. They want to take their families back to see India’s sights and experiences they may have missed in their younger days – with complete packages including accommodation, tours, and transport,” says Ian.
“Many are seeing India’s historic beauty and splendour for the first time – travelling with their families or in small groups of like-minded professionals looking for a well-organised, high-quality break from their busy lives in Australia.”
“It’s no surprise to see this surge in interest, given that nearly a million Indian-born people now live in Australia – more than double the number a decade ago, and over 10 per cent of Australia’s overseas-born population.”
Males slightly outnumber females – 54.2% to 45.8% – but both genders are strongly represented in the medical and caring professions. Many now love their lives in Australia but are eager to reconnect with their homeland, says Ian, who has more than 30 years’ experience arranging travel to India.