Read more about working as a GP in Australia

Australia offers so much for anyone thinking of moving as a GP to Australia. Residents enjoy a high quality of life, a superb education and health system, a stable economic and political environment, clean and safe surroundings along with a fantastic climate allowing for that enviable outdoor lifestyle.

Australia is one of the world’s oldest land masses and is both a country and a continent.  It is the largest inhabited island and the sixth largest country in the world. Distances are vast and visitors are often surprised at the size of the country and how long it takes to travel from city to city. Australia stretches about 4000 kilometres from east to west and 3700 kilometres from north to south and it is a 5 hours flight from Sydney to Perth. In total area, Australia is about the same size as the United States (not including Alaska), more than double the size of India and 32 times the size of the United Kingdom.

Australian People

Australia is unique and vastly contrasting.  Much of the country is made up of remote inland, known as the outback, however the majority of the nation’s population live in and around the cities close to the coast. Indigenous Australians have lived on the continent for more than 50,000 years. There were over 500 different groups around the continent with distinctive cultures, beliefs and languages. The first British colonisers arrived in 1788 and currently 37% of the population claim English descent. Australia has an ethnically diverse population with 1 in 4 born outside of Australia.

Australia Climate

Due to the size of the continent, Australia has several different climate zones. The country experiences temperate weather for most of the year but the weather can vary greatly dependant on the location. The northern states have a more tropical influenced climate, hot and humid in the summer, and quite warm and dry in the winter, while the southern parts are cooler with hot summers and cooler, sometimes rainy winters.

Australia is also one of the driest continents on earth with an average annual rainfall of less than 600 millimetres. Like all countries in the southern hemisphere, Australia’s seasons are opposite to those in the northern hemisphere. December to February is summer; March to May is autumn; June to August is winter; and September to November is spring.

GP Australia Salary and Hours

Working as a GP in Australia, you can work full or part time. GPs have an exemption to the full time work rule on the temporary work visa and can work part time. Most GP practices prefer 3+ days of work and most GPs work 4 or 5 days.

GPs in Australia, rather than receiving a fixed income get paid a percentage of billings.  Most practices offer a range between 60 – 70% of the billings you generate for the practice.  Your income will therefore depend on not only the number of patients you will see but also by the complexity of the consultations.  Once you are established and have built up a patient base working full time you can expect to earn $250 – $300k+ AUD per annum. Find out here what GPs earn in Australia.

Tax Rate Australia

The following rates are for 2022 – 2023

Taxable Income
0 – $18,200 Nil
$18,201 – $45,000 – 19c for each $1 over $18,200
$45,001 – $120,000 – $5,092 plus 32.5c for each $1 over $45,000
$120,001 – $180,000 – $29,467 plus 37c for each $1 over $120,000
$180,001 and over – $51,667 plus 45c for each $1 over $180,000

Read our Tax blog for more detailed information on GP Tax

There is also a medicare levy which is 2% of your taxable income.  For more information including a tax calculator see the Australian Taxation Office

DPA areas for GPs moving to Australia

All overseas trained GPs coming to work in Australia are required to work in a Distribution Priority Area area known as DPA.  This is an area which has been identified as having below average access to doctors.  This is determined using population data and medicare billing information to get a reflection of GP to population ratio.  In order to be eligible for a medicare provider number, overseas trained GPs are required to work in these areas for 10 years from the date of first registration.

What this means in practice is an overseas trained doctor isn’t able to work in the larger city centres but usually still able to work in the suburbs of the state capitals or smaller towns and cities.  It doesn’t mean you have to work in a ‘remote’ location.

GP Registration Paperwork

You should allow approximately 9 months to complete the registration and immigration process.  It is ideal to get in touch 12 months prior to you wishing to start work in Australia to allow us time to find you the right role and to complete the appropriate paperwork.

We will assist you through the registration pathway in order to gain eligibility as a GP.  The route for Specialist registration for GPs in Australia is through the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) PEP Program.

Please get in touch for more information on your specific qualifications and experience. We are on hand throughout the process to guide you through the various steps.

Australian Healthcare System

The Australian Government provides help with medical expenses and hospital care through a scheme called Medicare. The government also subsidises the cost of most medicine under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

Medicare provides universal access to free public hospital care and assistance with doctors’ fees. Medicare ensures that all Australians have access to free or low-cost medical, optometrical and hospital care while being free to choose private health services. Medicare provides access to free treatment as a patient in a public hospital and free or subsided treatment in a GP practice

The Australian Federal Government set the national health policies and subsidise the services which are provided by State and Territory governments. Improving the health of Australia’s indigenous Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders is a priority, committed to closing the gap between the health and life expectancy of indigenous and non indigenous people in Australia.

Medicare Australia

As a patient, on a temporary visa you are entitled to a medicare card to allow you to access these services if you have a passport from one of the following countries; United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland, Belgium, Norway, Slovenia, Malta and Italy.

As a GP you are required to apply for a Medicare Provider and Prescriber number to be able to practice. Please be aware that this application is completed once you have arrived in Australia and can take the RACGP up to 12 weeks to process this paperwork.  You are not able to start seeing patients until this process has been completed.

Cost of Living for a GP in Australia

Find out here what your costs of living is like as a GP in Australia. Your living costs in Australia will vary dependent on the location you choose to live in and the lifestyle you have.   You may find Australia is more expensive for some things and cheaper for others.  On a GP salary you should be able to lead a very comfortable lifestyle.  For an indication of up to date cost please see the cost of living calculations here

Australian Schools and Education

School education (primary and secondary) is compulsory between the ages of six and sixteen (Year 1 to Year 9 or 10). School education is 13 years and divided into:

Primary school – Runs for seven or eight years, starting at Kindergarten/Prep through to Year 6 or 7.
Secondary school – Runs for three or four years, from Years 7 to 10 or 8 to 10.
Senior secondary school – Runs for two years, Years 11 and 12.

Please see – Australia School Directory and Private School Directory

Housing

There is a huge range of housing available in Australia from city centre apartments to sprawling houses with pools in the suburbs. For more information see Realestate.com and Domain.com

We recommend that when you first arrive in Australia you take up temporary accommodation (Airbnb for example) until you find longer term accommodation. Most Real Estate agents will not allow you to rent properties until you have arrive in Australia and can view homes directly. Two of the most popular websites are Realestate.com and Domain.com

Further Reading:

FAQs Australia

Australia Tax System

GP Salary Australia

Useful Links

Registration and Immigration
AMC
Royal Australian College of GPs
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency
Medicare
Immigration Australia
Language Requirements

 

If you’re considering applying for GP jobs in Australia, you’ll certainly need to think about the financial aspects of moving to Australia. You might want to think about the cost of living in Australia as well as the Australian tax system and how it affects your take-home pay. If you own property in the UK and plan to keep it, you might also want to know how Australia taxes any income earned for overseas properties.

Average GP Salary Australia

Average GP salaries in Australia are relatively good with most GPs earning between AUS $200,000 to $400,000. Most of our GPs have a higher wage in Australia than they did in the UK.

GPs in Australia often earn a percentage of the billings rather than a fixed salary. This takes into account the number of patients they see, the complexity of the consultations and the number of hours worked. Our GPs have found that this payment system gives them more control over their take-home pay.

Paying Tax as a British GP Working in Australia

As a general practitioner, you can move to Australia on either a temporary or permanent work visa since medical occupations currently qualify under the long-term strategic skill list. Your visa and how long you intend to stay will impact whether you are an Australian resident for tax purposes. The vast majority of our GPs relocate on a Temporary Skilled Shortage Visa (TSS 482) and would be classed as an Australian resident for tax.

Australian residents must declare any income earned from anywhere in the world. However, can also take advantage of Australia’s tax-free threshold and tax offsets. Australian residents also typically receive a lower tax rate than foreign residents.

Australia’s Tax System: How to Pay Tax

Before you begin working as a GP in Australia, you’ll need to get a tax file number, also known as TFN. The Australian income year ends on June 30th and most people will need to file an annual tax return prior to this date. You’ll primarily be taxed on income and the amount you pay will depend on whether you’re an Australian or foreign resident.

Paying Tax in Australia as an Australian resident

Australia residents are entitled to claim a tax-free threshold of AUS$18,200 per year. This means you’ll only be taxed on income over the minimum threshold. You’ll also need to pay the Medicare levy, roughly 2% of your income, which helps support the country’s healthcare. In general, Australian residents using a TFN typically pay lower tax rates than foreign residents.

If you’re an Australian resident but only have a temporary resident visa, most of your foreign income won’t be taxed while you’re living in Australia. However, Australia does collect tax on work you complete overseas, for example, hosting an overseas conference, while living in Australia. More information about foreign income exemptions for temporary residents is available here.

Paying Tax in Australia as a Foreign Resident

It’s relatively rare for British GPs working in Australia to be classed as a foreign resident. As long as you’re taking steps to make Australia your home and plan to live there for more than six months, you’ll be classed as an Australian resident for tax purposes. Read more about paying tax as a foreign resident here.

Australian Tax System: Paying Tax on Overseas Property

Sometimes when our GPs move to Australia, they still own property in the UK. If you rent or sell this property and are classed as an Australian resident, you’ll probably need to pay tax. Any income or capital gains from the overseas property must be declared in your Australian tax return. You may be able to claim a foreign income tax offset if you’ve already paid tax on income or capital gains in another country.

Australia’s Tax System: Overseas Pensions & Annuities

As an Australian resident, you’ll also need to pay tax on any UK pensions in payment or annuities. In some cases, you can choose to deduct and have some of your annual pension or annuity income personal contributions returned to you (also known as undeducted purchase price). If your pension or annuity has been taxed in the UK and Australia, you might be able to claim a foreign income tax offset on your Australian tax returns.

More information is available here.

Paying Tax in Australia on Offshore Bank Accounts

If you decide to keep your UK bank account, you’ll need to report any interest or other income earned in your Australian tax income. Failing to declare this information could lead to financial penalties.

Working as a GP in Australia

Once you’ve secured a work visa and arrived in Australia, you need to apply for a TFN and complete a tax file number declaration. 

You must provide the declaration to your employer within 28 days of starting your GP job or you’ll need to pay the higher tax rate. After completing this initial paperwork, your employer will deduct taxes and submit them to the government.

Returning to the UK

While most of our GPs choose to make Australia their home for life, some decide to return to the UK. When you leave Australia, you’ll still need to submit a tax return. If you’re departing before the end of the tax year and don’t plan to return, you can lodge an Australian tax return early.

Ready to Move to Australia?

View our excellent GP job vacancies located throughout Australia or speak to one of our specialist recruitment professionals. Transition Medical is here to support you throughout every stage of your move from finding outstanding opportunities, securing Australian work visas and getting settled in your new home. Read our testimonies to learn about other GPs that we’ve helped make the move.

Other Relevant Blogs

• RACGP Changes  – The Practice Experience Program – Specialist Stream 
• Why you should consider Queensland.
• How much do GPs earn?
• Cost of Living in Australia

What is life like working as a GP in Australia – We talk to a UK GP

We speak to one of our GPs who started working in a practice on Australia’s beautiful West Coast. David fancied a new challenge and a chance to explore Australia again before settling into retirement.

Why did you decide to work as a GP in Australia?

I enjoyed working in Australia 20 and 30 years ago and wanted to revisit. Working allowed me to get to know the community better and visit areas of interest which are less visited. It was a great opportunity to do this whilst being paid.

Coming from a GP background my trauma skills were rusty, I fancied a change and felt this was a controlled challenge with supportive colleagues. I wanted the mental challenge of something new and developing and using new skills and knowledge alongside helping patients.

Tell us about a typical Day in your GP role…

A typical day is 8.30am – 12.30pm in the morning, a 1-hour break (where the practice is closed and you have to go outside) and 1.30 – 5pm in the afternoon. My day is probably not typical of most GPs in Australia. I see 8 patients in the morning and 7 patients in the afternoon with around 20 minutes per patient. I’m paid a salary and certainly feel very well paid for what I do.

The last patient is seen at 3.30-4pm to allow time to wind up paperwork to close at 5 on the dot.

I work with aboriginal patients. About 60% of the Australian population is obese and this is higher in the aboriginal community. It’s not unusual to see complex diabetes, high blood pressure, lots of alcohol and drug misuse and social disruption.

There are lots of people to help, the patients have plenty of support from specialists. I can order a CT scan or an x-ray in a few days rather than it taking a month.

It’s really interesting work after 29 years of GP experience, I wanted to leave general practice whilst still enjoying GP work. I didn’t want more of the same and this is not the same!

Best Bit about your day

When time allows, to talk in depth with patients about their lives, when layers of reserve drop a little which allows for shared laughter and mutual respect.

Most challenging part of your day

There is a fairly disorganised patient population with chaotic family life and widespread endemic of drugs and alcohol and obesity.

How have you and your family settling in and would you have any tips for other GPs relocating?

We are settling in, our house is just perfect – overlooking the water, with a little garden and a big veranda to sit out on. Carnarvon produces 80% of WA’s home-grown fruit and veg apparently, there certainly is an abundance of fresh produce which is a delight, along with fresh fish and what has to be the largest prawns I have ever seen.

There is plenty to see and do despite, or maybe because we are in the outback. The sea is warm and on Saturday we drove up the coast to Coral Bay where we remembered snorkelling 20 years ago. The sun is hot, the sky cloudless and the coffee is good. Sunday we were on the beach and watching humpback whales migrating north along the coast to give birth in the warmer waters before returning with their young later in the year to the feeding grounds of the Antarctic. Wonderful!

I would recommend any doctor moving to Australia to allow a few days to adjust on arrival to get over the jet lag and the last-minute deadlines before leaving the UK.

It’s useful to sit in with other doctors whilst the provider number is being approved. This enforced couple of weeks, although bureaucratic is useful.

When I applied for medical indemnity insurance upon arrival, they needed the certificate from the Uk insurance company so it’s useful to request this before you leave.

The total cost for us was around $14,000 AUD including air travel. I would suggest having a sum set aside for financial reserves until you get paid. I’m not complaining however; the package is brilliant and the accommodation provided is outstanding.

Finally, how have you found Transition Medical in helping you make the move?

The whole team were friendly, informed and supportive throughout the long process and quick to reply to queries. I would have found it impossible without their guidance, ground down by the bureaucracy. You would be mad to fly solo!’

How much do GPs earn in Australia?

Our Top 10 Tips for Relocating

If you have any specific questions or would like to find out how you could make a similar move please do get in touch.

 

What is the Cost of Living for Doctors in Australia?

When you are considering relocating to any country, one of the factors to think about is always the cost of living.  While a higher cost of living than here in the UK doesn’t have to mean that the relocation is not worth considering, you do need to make sure that you are going to be able to have the lifestyle you want based on the cost of everyday and luxury items.  So, what’s the cost of living really like in Australia?

Where to live as a GP in Australia

The cost of living, particularly in the Australian cities, has actually dropped a little in the last couple of years, and the cities have long been rated as some of the best places to live in the world, and continue to be so.
Sydney and Melbourne remain two of the most popular spots for UK expats to consider with Sydney sitting at number 42 on the world’s most expensive cities to live in, according to the Cost of Living Index by Mercer.  In terms of expat hubs, Sydney is in the top ten places in the world, alongside cities such as Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Other Australian cities remain high on the list of most desirable places to live and come in a little more reasonable. Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide are all fabulous places to live offering a slightly lower cost of living while the coastal towns can offer a lower overall cost as well.

House and Food prices in Australia

For those who are looking to buy a property, this cost of living reflects in the house prices.  The average house price in Sydney is a cool $1,021,968 while Adelaide comes in at a more affordable $490,000.  If you are happy living outside the cities, then the prices drop to around the $300,000 mark in regional areas in South Australia and Victoria.  Rents follow a similar pattern with average rent prices in Sydney being around $650 a week but half that for a similar sized property in Hobart.

The cost of food is another big element to consider. Some foods are a little more expensive than here in the UK. One example would be eggs that would be around £1.89 a dozen in the UK supermarket and would cost the Australian dollar equivalent of £2.60.  Yet other foods such as chicken breasts are almost the same, only around 0.30% more expensive in Australia compared to UK prices.

Non-essential costs in Australia

The cost of going out for a meal, both in somewhere inexpensive such as a takeway and for a quality restaurant is on the whole more expensive in Australia but not by a huge amount and in some cases, can actually be cheaper.  Items such as imported and local beer and soft drinks such as Pepsi tend to be more expensive but drinks like cappuccinos can be lower than in the UK.

Other non-essential costs vary between shops.  The cost of a cinema ticket is very similar in price however an item in a world-wide clothing chain might be around 20% more expensive than here in the UK.

Compare Cost of Living in Australia to the UK

The general cost of living comparing Australia to the UK sees that Australia is around 10% higher for general cost of living.  But this doesn’t reflect the entire picture and your day to day costs will depend on the lifestyle you want to live.

As a GP in Australia you can achieve an income of between $300 – $400k per annum, (£173 – £230K exchange rate ) and sometimes more. We find that the majority of our GPs placed in Australia earn considerably more than they did whilst working in the UK.

‘I have found the working conditions, flexibility, capacity for earning and, above all, lifestyle for my family and I to be far superior to my experience in the UK.’ Dr Charles, Perth

Further Reading:

What tax do GPs pay in Australia

How to prepare for moving as a GP to Australia

See here for our list of Australia GP Jobs

Further Reading
https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?country=Australia
https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=United+Kingdom&country2=Australia
https://www.imercer.com/content/mobility/quality-of-living-city-rankings.html#list

Australian Education System

When relocating a family, the education system in Australia is going to be of huge importance in the decision making process. It’s good to know that Australian education system is in of a very high standard and internationally recognised. The schooling in Australia is highly ranked in comparison with other countries round the world. Schooling is compulsory from ages five – six, depending on the state.

School education is 13 years and divided into:

Primary school – Runs for seven or eight years, starting at Kindergarten through to Year 6 or 7.
Secondary school – Runs for three or four years, from Years 7 to 10 or 8 to 10.
Senior secondary school – Runs for two years, Years 11 and 12.

Government run education is free for Australian citizens and those on a Permanent Residency visa. If you are relocating to Australia on a temporary visa such as the 482 Employer Sponsored Visa you may incur additional costs to send your children to State run schools.  Not ever state employ this fee and the cost varies from state to state and this can be per child or per family dependant on where you are relocating. See our post of the costs of school fees in Australia

One consideration when moving children internationally is the academic school year. Unlike the UK which runs from August / September each year, the school year in Australia is from January to December with the larger summer break being over Christmas.

Working as a GP in Australia

Whether you are completing your training soon or are thinking about moving in the next year, you might be thinking about what you can do to prepare yourself for the move. The process for relocating can take anything up to 12 months so it’s good to make sure you have everything you need to save any future delays in paperwork.

There are of course, lots of considerations for moving to Australia as a GP. You will need to think about where you want to live; in central Melbourne, the hills of Adelaide or a remote GP job in the outback? What type of practice would you like to join and where will be best for your family?

We can help you with this and any questions you might have, and once decided we’ll find you your dream job! Very quickly after this, we’ll move on to your GP medical registration paperwork and visas for GP and family.

Further Reading

Considering a move to Australia as a GP – Find out more here

What life is like for a GP living in Queensland, Australia

Further Information

Australia School Directory

Private School Directory

Australian Government