Australia recognizes Indian degrees amid doctor shortage as part of mutual recognition of qualifications

Australians struggling to book a doctor’s appointment could soon find it much easier after India and Australia agreed to recognize each other’s hard-earned degrees, including those in the medical profession.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited the Indian city of Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat on Thursday to announce that Indians will have their undergraduate degrees, postgraduate qualifications, diplomas and high school diplomas recognized in Australia.

The India Education Qualifications Recognition Mechanism means Australians will also have their qualifications recognized in India as part of a reciprocal agreement between the two cricket-loving Commonwealth democracies.

The Australian government’s announcement came as Deakin University established India’s first campus recognized by a foreign university.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pictured left with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi) has visited the Indian city of Ahmedabad, in the western state of Gujarat, to announce that Indians will have their undergraduate degrees, postgraduate qualifications, diplomas and high school diplomas recognized in Australia

Professor Tim Harcourt, chief economist at the University of Technology’s Institute for Public Policy and Governance, said such an agreement could help Australia recruit doctors from India to address the desperate shortage of regional GPs.

“Regional Australia will benefit and the cuisine will improve across the board,” he told Daily Mail Australia.

India would join Canada, New Zealand, Singapore and the United States in recognizing each other’s qualifications, either officially or through a professional group.

In the field of medicine, Australia has reciprocal agreements with Canada and New Zealand.

This means Australian specialists are recognized by the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada and the Canadian College of Family Physicians, while the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons recognizes both Kiwis and Australians.

Similar arrangements are currently being finalized with the UK following its Brexit divorce from the EU.

Professions such as medicine, architecture and engineering would still require Indian migrants with degrees to pass another set of exams in order for them to be accredited to work in Australia.

This regulation applies to Australians who already have a degree in Australia.

The Federal Ministry of Education stressed that the relevant authorities responsible for an occupation would still decide whether someone from India had the right skills to practice.

“Occupations requiring specific knowledge and skills in Australia have registration, licensing, professional membership or other industry requirements that must be met before you can begin work,” it said.

India would join Canada, New Zealand, Singapore and the United States if both nations recognize each other’s qualifications, either officially or through a professional group (pictured is Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of India celebrating Holi, or the Festival of Colors).

The Architects Accreditation Council has reciprocal agreements with Canada, Japan, Singapore and the United States.

Professor Harcourt said recognizing Indians’ qualifications would also help address skills shortages, as Australia still had a low unemployment rate of 3.7 per cent in January.

“You decide what level of immigration suits your growth and your environmental challenges, and the benefit is that you bring in people with skills,” he said.

Sonia Sadiq Gandhi, Managing Director of events management group Gandhi Creations, has been part of the India Australia Business and Community Alliance’s effort to advocate for change that could create new career opportunities for Australians and Indians.

“We’ve been trying to do this for many, many years – it’s just such a great seal of recognition, recognizing each other’s rights around qualifications,” she told Daily Mail Australia.

“It will create so many avenues, including for Visa, that international talent will come from both sides.”

Sonia Sadiq Gandhi, Managing Director of events management group Gandhi Creations, has been part of the India Australia Business and Community Alliance’s effort to advocate for change that could create new career opportunities for Australians and Indians

Anupam Sharma, a film director who chairs the Australia India Film Council, said these new regulations would make it easier for Bollywood film producers to make films in Australia and qualify for government grants.

“An exchange of degrees, that’s a separate issue, but it would definitely be more knowledge sharing, more work sharing and it will definitely bring more benefits to the Australian economy,” he told Daily Mail Australia.

Anupam Sharma, a film director who chairs the Australia India Film Council, said these new regulations would make it easier for Bollywood film producers to make films in Australia and qualify for government grants

India and Australia are also entering into joint film production agreements that make it easier for films to qualify for government subsidies.

After England, India was Australia’s second largest source of migrants in the 2021 census.

Australia is home to 710,380 Indian-born residents, accounting for 2.8 percent of the population, then 25.738 million.

Within a decade, their number doubled from 337,120 and 1.5 percent of the population.

Mr Sharma, who was born in India and moved to Australia to study film, said the accommodations meant college educated Indians could feel more welcome in Australia.

“Recognition of these degrees will be a huge step to take advantage of these people,” he said.

“Many of them migrate to Australia, but their qualifications are not recognized and they would have a faster entry into the labor market.

“Even if they now have to take an exam, just having their degree recognized makes them feel culturally more welcome and encouraged.”

Kiwis living in Australia will soon have a route to citizenship for the first time since 2001, with Anthony Albanese (pictured with New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins) and his senior ministers promising new policies will be announced by Anzac Day.

China was the third most birth country with 595,630 people born there, accounting for 2.3 percent of the population.

New Zealand was fourth with a population of 559,980, which is 2.2 percent of Australia’s population.

Kiwis living in Australia will soon have a route to citizenship for the first time since 2001, with Mr Albanese and his senior ministers promising a new policy will be announced by Anzac Day.

This will give New Zealanders easier access to Centrelink benefits such as unemployment benefits for jobseekers, although the Reserve Bank expects the unemployment rate to rise as interest rates rise.

Until citizenship rules change, Kiwis can remain in Australia indefinitely, but they have no easy route to citizenship, under a special visa category for New Zealanders known as subclass 444.

Australians moving to New Zealand are treated much more courteously and are given access to subsidized healthcare provided they show they intend to stay for at least two years.

You can also vote continuously in New Zealand after just one year and apply for a student loan after three years.

Australians can apply for citizenship in New Zealand after five years.

Since 2017, Australia has allowed Kiwis to apply for permanent residency after five years, but they must earn at least $53,900 a year.

Australians must be either permanent residents or citizens to receive Centrelink benefits.

Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk