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Many temporary residents in Australia are pleasantly surprised at how inexpensive it is to live in Australia compared to their home countries, and this is even more so for people living in the regional, coastal and rural areas of Australia. The following website demonstrates that you can earn far less in Australian dollars and still maintain the same if not better standard of living than in your current country.
http://www.gomatilda.com/calculator/index.cfm
It is expensive to live in Sydney or Melbourne as rents are very high. It is cheaper to live in Brisbane (beautiful one day perfect the next) or cosmopolitan Adelaide where rents are lower and going to restaurants and cafes are cheaper as well. The UK by comparison is very expensive. A pizza take away in Australia is around $20. In the UK it can be 3 times that price.
Have a look at this link below to get an idea of how much it costs to live in Australia.
http://www.expatforum.com/articles/cost-of-living/cost-of-living-in-australia.html
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Many of our candidates ask us about health care for them and their families once they arrive in Australia. There are a couple of options open to you. Medicare is Australia’s universal system for financing public hospitals and services provided by private doctors and some additional health costs. The Australian Government has negotiated reciprocal health care agreements with some overseas countries that allow their citizens to access Medicare during visits to Australia.
Visitors and temporary residence from countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Sweden and Finland are covered for the duration of their stay in Australia, while visitors from Italy and Malta are covered for a period of six months only.
For full details on what is available for you whilst you are in Australia this please refer to the following link:
http://www.iselect.com.au
For those not covered under these agreements, it is recommended that you take out private health cover for the duration of your stay.
Some companies offer this type of cover and full details of the policies may be found at the following websites:
http://www.medibank.com.au/join/overseas/visitor.asp
https://www.mbf.com.au/ and click on “Overseas Visitors Cover”
You may even find that your own health insurance provider may cover you whilst you are in Australia. It is best that you ask them before you leave your country.
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Standard working hours range from 38 to 40 hours per week, depending on the State Award under which you work. It varies from State to State. You are paid different rates for any hours worked outside the standard working hours.
Depending on the hospital and the hospital staffing, in addition to day shifts (8am to 5pm) you are normally required to do a set number of evening and night shifts, depending on the hospital’s rosters and the amount of staff the hospital has available. Hospitals also usually require you to do around 1 weekend in 4, about 1 or 2 evening shifts per week and about 5 night shifts a month depending on the level you have been employed in and the number of other staff available. It depends on the hospital where you have a position.
You are entitled to at least 4 weeks of paid annual leave per year as well as paid sick leave. Sometimes you can get around 5 weeks leave depending on the hospital where you are working.
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Hospitals usually reimburse some of your travel and relocation expenses. The amount varies from hospital to hospital but generally the further the hospital is from a capital city, the more you will be reimbursed. Some hospitals will not reimburse until you have completed your contract. So be certain that if you are coming for 12 months that you stay for the full 12 months or you may miss out on your reimbursement. Some will , if you have a 12 month contract, pay you half at 6 months and the rest at completion.
Hospitals in capital cities like Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne generally offer very limited, if any, relocation allowances to overseas trained doctors or International Medical Graduates.
You should discuss this with your employing hospital as each hospital has different policies regarding reimbursements.
Importantly, any costs not covered by your relocation reimbursements can generally be claimed on your personal income tax return as a business expense. So make sure you keep all your receipts.
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If you have applied and been offered a position as a Consultant or Staff Specialist, the process can take anything up to a year. It involves getting paperwork together and certified and submitted to the AMC and to your relevant College. Then they assess the application. Then you are notified the outcome. This process can take up to 6-8 months depending on the College.
Then we start doing all the paperwork for Medical Board registration and your visa. This can take 3-6 months as well.
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Once we are informed that you have a position offer we will let you know immediately. Hospitals will often ask us to see whether you are interested in working for them and then will get the letter of offer or contract ready. If you accept the offer verbally or in an email, the hospital will then begin to start writing the contract. It can take anything up to 2 weeks.
The amount of time depending on the hospital varies between when you receive your formal offer and when you should give a response. Generally, hospitals will usually give you between 3 to 5 days to make a decision about accepting a position offer.
So you must be very, very sure about your commitment to come to Australia.
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Generally the contracts are for 12 months. Even Australian doctors have 12 month contracts. This gives you time to get to know our health system, sit your exams, have you settle into our country and to make sure you are in the location suitable for all your needs.
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If you are an IMG applying for a non-specialist position and you have the appropriate clinical experience within the profession, and have completed and passed the examination process for registration in the United Kingdom, Canada, USA or New Zealand you should apply under the competent authority pathway for registration and a period of supervised training. This is only a new process put in place by the Australian Medical Council and it is best you look at their web site for more information.
If you do not fit the criteria you will need to sit the AMC exams.
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The answer to this is yes. If you have not already done so, you need to take an IELTS test as soon as possible. Details of your nearest testing centre can be found at www.ielts.org. You can search on the site for the center closest to you.
For registration purposes, a pass mark is an overall band score of 7 or higher in the academic module with a minimum score of 7 for in each component. If you have already completed your IELTS, your certificate must be dated within the last 2 years. There are some exemptions so please contact one of our consultants.
A certified copy of the certificate or the original of your IELTS certificate (depending on your medical board) must accompany your application for Medical Board registration.
If you have completed another English Language test (e.g. OET, PLAB, NZREX or USMLE), please contact us for further information regarding the acceptability of these results. There are some exemptions but it is best to check with one of the consultants before booking your test.
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As an overseas trained doctor, it is important for you to be aware that there are certain restrictions placed on you with regard to where you can work in Australia.
As an Overseas Trained Doctor (OTD), you are required to adhere to the Australian Government’s Area of Need policy.
An ‘Areas of Need’ position is defined as a vacancy that cannot be filled by Australian doctors. Simply put, we do not produce enough Australian doctors to fill all the vacancies in Australia.
These “Area of Need” positions are usually in hospitals located in rural towns, regional areas, coastal cities, and major cities and also on the outskirts of capital cities.
Not surprisingly, there are limited Area of Need positions or training positions in capital cities as this is where the majority of Australian doctors prefer to work. There are many advantages to working outside of the capital cities.
Of course you may like to consider working in a rural or a remote area for the adventure! The opportunities exist for you to participate in these smaller communities and it will be an experience you will never forget!!
So consider the benefits of working in regional cities, coastal cities and rural areas!
Sometimes you can be lucky to secure a position in Sydney or Melbourne but these might be training positions. Eventually you will need to work in an Area of Need to be able to have a Medicare Provider Number. For more information on medicare provider numbers and district of workforce shortage please go to the Federal Governments web site. Please note that this site is being changed but for the moment this is the information on District of Workforce Shortage and Area of Need.
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/wcms/publishing.nsf/Content/health-workforce-otdt-index.htm
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