Australia to Fast-Track Job Applications of Nurses From Six Countries

Singapore on the list; Aussie health workers welcome move to address chronic shortage

- Jonathan Pearlman

Nurses from six countries - including Singapore - will have their applications to work in Australia fast-tracked from April 2025 as part of a scheme that has been welcomed by health workers, who say it will help to address the country's nursing shortage.

But nursing associations also urged the government to tackle longstanding issues that created the shortages in the first place.

The scheme, revealed by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) on Jan 26, allows registered nurses with more than 1,800 practising hours since 2017 to gain speedy registration in Australia and potentially avoid having to take exams or other assessments.

The change will take effect by April for nurses from Singapore, the UK, Ireland, the US, Spain and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Ontario.

Ahpra said the changes will reduce the application time for nurses from the six countries to one to six months, down from current processing times of nine to 12 months or longer.

The move was welcomed by nurses, who said there was an urgent need to relieve pressure on staff at the country's hospitals.

The government says the healthcare sector is expected to face a shortage of 71,000 nurses by 2035.

Australia has struggled to provide and retain enough locally-trained nurses, even as the population ages and healthcare demands increase.