If a policy requiring foreign doctors to work in regional areas for 10 years gets scrapped, the number of rural GPs could be deeply reduced, warns Rural Workforce Australia. 

The Australian Medical Association has withdrawn its support to the policy, arguing that doctors do not have enough supervision in those areas, classifying the policy as discriminatory.

However, for the chief executive of Rural Health Workforce Australia, Kim Webber, foreign doctors are vital to address shortages in the country. “I think it can be incredibly enriching to a community and very much around building their diversity,” he commented. 

The government has already announced that the policy will continue. Rural and Regional Health Minister, Warren Snowdon, said the government has even increased medical training places as well as incentives to attract doctors to rural areas. “In the mean time, and I think into the future, we will continue to rely on overseas-trained doctors,” he said, quoted by ABC news.