Australia recognises Indian degrees amid doctor shortage as part of mutual qualification recognition

Aussies struggling to book a doctor’s appointment will soon find it a lot 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 certificates of higher secondary school recognized in Australia.

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

The Australian Government announcement was made as Deakin University established the first university-approved campus abroad.

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

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

India would join countries such as Canada, New Zealand, Singapore and the United States in officially or professionally recognizing each other’s qualifications.

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

That 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 being finalized with the UK, following the Brexit separation from the EU.

Professions such as medicine, architecture and engineering still require Indian migrants with qualifications to take another set of exams so they can be accredited to work in Australia.

This arrangement applies to Australians who already have a diploma in Australia.

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

“Professions that require specialized knowledge and skills in Australia have registration, licensing, professional membership or other industry requirements that must be met before you can start working,” it said.

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

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

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

Sonia Sadiq Gandhi, the CEO of event management group Gandhi Creations, was part of the India Australia Business and Community Alliance’s effort to lobby 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 recognition that the mutual rights around qualifications will be recognised,” she told Daily Mail Australia.

“It’s going to create so many avenues, including for visas, that international talent comes through from both sides.”

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

“A degree reciprocity, it’s a separate subject, but it would certainly be more knowledge sharing, more labor sharing and it will certainly be more beneficial to the Australian economy,” he told Daily Mail Australia.

India and Australia also enter into joint film production agreements, making films more easily eligible for government grants.

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

Australia is home to 710,380 Indian-born residents who made up 2.8 percent of the population, then 25,738 million.

In ten years their number doubled from 337,120 and a share of 1.5 percent of the population.

Mr Sharma, who was born in India and moved to Australia to study film, said the scheme allowed Indians with degrees to feel more welcome in Australia.

“Recognizing those degrees will be a big step in leveraging these people,” he said.

‘Many of them migrate to Australia, but their qualifications are not recognized and they would have quicker access to the labor market.

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

China was the third most common country of birth, with 595,630 births, representing 2.3 percent of the population.

New Zealand came fourth, with 559,980 from there, comprising 2.2 percent of Australian residents.

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

This will allow New Zealanders easier access to Centrelink benefits such as JobSeeker’s unemployment benefits, with the Reserve Bank expecting the unemployment rate to rise as interest rates rise.

Until citizenship rules change, kiwis can stay in Australia indefinitely, but they don’t have an easy path to citizenship, under a special visa category for New Zealanders known as subclass 444.

Australians who move to New Zealand are treated much more politely and have access to subsidized healthcare, provided they can demonstrate their intention to stay for at least two years.

They can also vote after just one continuous year in NZ and are eligible for a student loan after three years.

Australians can apply for New Zealand citizenship after five years.

Since 2017, Australia allows Kiwis to apply for permanent residency after five years, but they must earn a minimum of $53,900 per year.

Australians must be a permanent resident or citizen to receive Centrelink benefits.