Australia plans to hire more overseas doctors. Is it ethical to recruit from countries with doctor shortages?

Many of us have found ourselves in a full waiting room to see the GP, looking at a laminated sign about a fee increase taped to the reception desk. Australia is facing a shortage of doctors, especially GPs. The impacts are felt hardest in rural and regional areas, where patients wait up to 12 weeks for a consultation.

These long waits compound rural health inequalities. Meanwhile, medical students are turning away from general practice. One survey of GPs found 58% reported experiencing burnout since the pandemic.

Estimates project by 2031 there will be a shortage of more than 10,000 GPs. To address this shortage, the government recently announced plans to cut “red tape” to make it easier to recruit doctors from overseas. The number of doctors from overseas working in Australia has doubled since the COVID pandemic hit.

But when a high-income country like Australia recruits doctors from overseas, we risk causing a “brain drain” elsewhere. Australia is increasingly recruiting doctors from low- to middle-income countries. But we aren’t the only place facing a doctor shortage.

This recruitment risks worsening global health inequities and raises concerns around justice. A recent estimate suggests Nigeria has 80 oncologists (cancer doctors) for more than 213 million people. Australia has more than 600 oncologists, and we are a much smaller country, with 26 million people .

Recruiting even one of these oncologists could benefit Australia, but have a disproportionately negat.