The new graduate jobs offering six-figure salaries for those willing to move to a remote area

University graduates are now earning six-figure salaries in the first year of their careers, if they are willing to leave Australia’s cities and move to a remote part of the country.

Brooke Mackie, 24, recently moved to Mount Isa in north-west Queensland after studying medicine at James Cook University in Townsville.

“I really love the dynamics of small mining towns,” she told Daily Mail Australia.

‘You do have a nice sense of community. They are usually quite hard-working communities and the feeling of – as a doctor – treating the people you know is quite nice.’

As a first-year resident at Mount Isa Hospital, Dr Mackie earns a base salary of $87,000 despite having worked full-time as a physician for only six months.

But that rises to more than $100,000 with weekend allowances as a junior doctor doing internships in emergency medicine, obstetrics, surgery and pediatrics.

And then there are the Queensland Government’s incentives, including a $34,500 grant for those who are inaccessible.

That brings her salary to $134,500. Her job also includes free housing and relocation, as Australia grapples with a housing and rental crisis.

Starting next year, she will be eligible for a $21,500 professional development stipend and a $40,000 cash incentive to train as a rural family doctor.

It can be tiring, as sometimes Dr. Mackie works for 11 days in a row.

Dr Mackie grew up in the mining towns of Weipa and Mackay in north Queensland, so Mount Isa is not all that different, except for the 4 degrees Celsius winter temperatures far inland.

“It’s quite similar to a lot of the towns I grew up in. The only difference is they have both a Coles and a Woolies store here,” she said.

Dr. Mackie’s ambition is to become a gynaecologist in a hospital and also work as a general practitioner, after her mother was forced to travel long distances to give birth safely.

“There is a huge shortage of midwives in rural Queensland. Many birth centres have closed, leaving women travelling for hours to get somewhere to give birth,” she said.

‘In terms of employability, it’s really good. From my personal perspective, as a rural dweller, my mother has been in that situation where she had to travel hours and hours to be with my brothers, sisters and me.

“It’s so important that you can give birth where you are, where you have support, and where you can receive prenatal care in your own community. That’s why I’m so interested in it.”

Dr Mackie challenged the idea that there was nothing to do in Mount Isa, saying the area hosted rodeos and multicultural festivals and was close to great camping and off-roading sites.

“Sure, I’m more of a country girl at heart,” she said.

As a first-year resident at Mount Isa Hospital, Dr Mackie earns a base salary of $87,000 after just six months of full-time practice. With benefits and an inaccessibility allowance, that increases to $134,500.

‘If people are worried about going out into the bush – “there’s nothing to do” – there’s something to do almost every weekend.’

She regretted being so far away from her relatives who lived in Townsville, Brisbane and Gladstone.

“Sometimes I find it difficult. If you want to visit your family, you have to pay an arm and a leg for a flight,” she said.

Despite the distance, the young doctor considers one day moving to an even more remote part of Queensland, on Cape York Peninsula, so she can care for indigenous patients.

“You’re dealing with a whole range of intergenerational traumas in indigenous patients and sometimes distrust of Western or white medicine. Dealing with those social factors and dealing with very complex patients makes medicine very interesting and offers you a lot of learning opportunities as a junior doctor,” she said.

Dr Mackie’s ambition is to become a gynaecologist in a hospital and also work as a general practitioner. She has seen her mother forced to travel long distances to give birth safely.

Her fiancé Taylor Tomlinson works in Mount Isa as a maths and science teacher.

Across Australia, GPs earn an average of $133,386, but the average taxable income swells to $163,360 with government subsidies.

Queensland is offering $187,000 in benefits for rural and remote areas, including a $34,500 inaccessibility allowance, a two-year $70,000 staff recruitment incentive scheme, a $21,000 motor vehicle allowance, a $21,500 professional development allowance and $40,000 cash incentives for 500 junior doctors to train as general practitioners.