AUSTRALIAN nurses trained in the Hunter are losing jobs in the public health system to international visitors on 457 visas, Shortland MP Pat Conroy has said in Federal Parliament.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In a speech to the House of Representatives on Monday, Mr Conroy said almost 10,000 Australian nurses were looking for work while more than 3300 nurses arrived on 457 visas in the past three years.
He said he had seen “confidential data” showing that the number of “local” graduates securing work in the public system in the Hunter and Central Coast system had fallen from 80 per cent to 50 per cent.
“Unfortunately, we are seeing significant use of 457 visa holders at the cost of local nursing graduates,” Mr Conroy said.
Responding, Hunter New England Health executive director Elizabeth Grist said said nurses on 457 visas could only be used “to fill shortages that cannot be filled from the local labour market”.
“New graduates are beginning practitioners and cannot be employed into positions which require specialised skills, knowledge and experience,” Ms Grist said.
“The employment of a subclass 457 visa holder can only occur if there is no local suitable applicant.”
She said the health service employed “only four nurses on 457 visas in 2016”, which equated to 0.04 per cent of its nursing workforce. It said only one of these nurses was employed at the John Hunter Hospital.
Responding, Mr Conroy said: “I am seeking clarification on these figures, given NSW Health is the biggest user of 457 visas in Australia, and that there are nearly 3,500 457 visa nurses in this country."
He said he did “not necessarily accept” the health service’s argument that visa nurses did not impact on the job prospects of new graduates, because graduates needed jobs to gain the skills to apply for more specialised positions.
“Labor does not oppose foreign workers coming here where there is a genuine need, but in our nursing industry this is just not the case,” Mr Conroy said in parliament. “Australian nurses deserve priority over foreign workers and I will continue to advocate on their behalf.”
Newcastle University told the Newcastle Herald that up to 400 of its nursing students graduated each year, with the health service “a key partner” in its training programs.
Ms Grist said the health service would employ 218 new graduate nurses in 2017, with 136 coming from the University of Newcastle, 46 from the University of New England and 36 from other NSW universities.
Mr Conroy said these figures supported his contention that only half of Newcastle University’s graduate nurses were gaining work in the public health system.
