UK specialist agency for UK, Irish and New Zealand GPs

Update 17th July 2021

With regret, we have decided to suspend most recruitment for Australia for the time being. The on-going Covid outbreaks in Australia, coupled with their travel ban and the restrictions imposed by the RACGP on overseas trained GPs mean that it isn’t realistic for UK & Irish trained GPs to go to most areas of Australia to work.

There are two vacancies available which should still be open for GPs looking to move in 2022: Launceston in Tasmania and the Central Highlands in Queensland

Hopefully, we’ll be able to start up again later in the year with more vacancies

View GP jobs by city & region View all jobs

Where to work as a GP in Australia?

Quick link to our current vacancies: GP Jobs in Australia

All of our vacancies are open to UK, Irish and NZ trained GPs. They are in District of Workforce Shortage (DWS) areas, which means you can work without restriction. Expect your earnings to be in the region of $250,000 AUS, rising to $300,000 after you’ve been there for a couple of years

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What's it like to be a GP in Australia?

General Practice in Australia is very similar to the UK & Ireland in terms of clinical work. Practices are generally modern and have nursing support. Some have physiotherapy, pathology, ultrasound, CT and / or ECG too. Usually the practices have 6 to 10 doctors on site. Typically, they are open 12 hours a day, for 5 days per week and often weekends too.

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Why work as a GP in Australia?

Compared to the NHS or HSE, there’s less hassle, less bureaucracy, more medicine and more money. GPs have a lot of freedom to practice as they wish in Australia. “There is far less pressure to see patient numbers beyond that which one can safely manage”. Says one GP working in Perth. Typical earnings start from $A240,000 and rise to $A300,000 per annum after a few years’ experience.

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Why choose a GP Job in Australia?

Choice of GP jobs

Where would you like to work?

We are recruiting General Practitioners / Family Doctors from the UK, Ireland and New Zealand to work as GPs in Australia. Pay rates are very good – typically you can earn in the range of $A240,000 (£117,000) to $300,000 (£147,000) per annum. We have jobs in and around all of the major cities – Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Darwin.

Our clients include all the main groups who run GP clinics across Australia as well as a large number of smaller, privately owned groups & standalone practices.

At any one time we usually have around 60 separate vacancies across the country

Strong medical system

Australia has an excellent health care system, based on a mix of private and public provision.

Australia’s medical system is publically funded and available to all residents and nationals. It is part funded by a 2% “Medicare Levy”, paid by all taxpayers as a supplement to their income tax. Primary care is on a fee-per-service basis (ie a payment is made for each visit to the GP by either the individual or, most likely, by the government). Secondary care based on a GP referral is free. As well as general healthcare, Medicare run several primary care initiatives to improve general health – asthma, diabetes, cervical screening etc. It’s a system which works well. With around 9.1% of GDP spent on healthcare, it does well by international standards. Life expectancy is better than Sweden, Netherlands and the UK. Link for more info.

Strong economy

Australia’s per capita GDP is higher than the UK, France or Germany.

Australia is the 12^th largest in the world on current figures. It has a higher per-capita GDP than the UK, Germany or France. And it is expected to continue to grow well – the OECD forecasts 3% for 2017, somewhat better than the UK’s forecast of 2.3% (OECD forecasts: Nov 2015). In part, this growth is based on a presumed bounce back in raw material prices. But it is also a recognition of some structural changes to the Australian economy – away from digging raw materials out of the centre of the country and more towards banking, bioscience, agriculture, IT & tourism.

From our own observations, cities & areas like Perth, Melbourne and the Gold Coast are growing quite strongly with new housing being built – which is what drives the demand for GPs

Australia has so much to offer

White sandy beaches and warm summer evenings. Plus great cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.

White sandy beaches and warm summer evenings. Plus great cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. A great destination in it’s own right for holidays, it is also a great place to bring up children or just to enjoy life. It’s easy to explore Asia from Australia – there are easy flights to Bali, Thailand, India, Hong Kong – as well as New Zealand and even trips to Antarctica. And while it is a long way from the UK, the time differences are not as great as it might seem. In the Summer, Perth is just 7 hours ahead of the UK. Overall, Australia regularly tops the OECD’s better life index.

Well paid jobs with less bureaucracy.

Earn $240,000 per year or more and no NHS bureaucracy

Primary care in Australia is both the same as the UK and yet very different. The clinical work is similar. But the way you are employed, the way you are treated by the health service (Medicare) and the way you are paid are all very different. You’ll be self-employed but working as a tied agent to one practice (or group of practices). You are there just to treat patients. There is very little form filling beyond patient notes and referrals, which are all computerised. You will be actively wanting to see patients each day. In short, you won’t be acting as a gatekeeper to a rationed health service. Rather you’ll be seeing patients according to their needs and treating them as far as practical within your practice.

Will you be better off though?

Find out about the cost of living and taxes in Australia

We often asked how much it costs to live in Australia – particularly about the costs in Perth & Brisbane.

Perth has picked up something of a reputation for being an expensive city. Not only for apartment / house rental but also for food, transport and going out. This is not entirely fair as some things are cheaper over there than they are in the UK or Ireland. Nevertheless some areas of expenditure like house rental & eating out can be more expensive than the majority of the UK (these costs are more on a par with the south east of England) .

On balance though, with higher incomes and lower taxes than the UK / Ireland, you’ll be better off in Australia than here. Your income is likely to be around £150,000 per annum and tax rates are about 5% less than the UK – See note at the bottom of this page on Taxation.

What do GPs in Australia get paid?

You can expect to earn between $240,000 to $300,000 per year if you work in a suburban area. You’ll usually be self-employed, so these figures are gross earnings and based on you getting a proportion of the amount billed to patients.

You’ll need to hold full registration with the Australian Medical Council and Royal Australian College of GPs. If you did your GP training in the UK, Ireland or New Zealand, this should be straightforward, though time consuming.

Apply for a job or register your details

If you would like to apply for a job or if you’d just like us to get in touch to have a chat about the options, please use the form below or call +44(0) 7950 029647. All personal data is confidential and we will never pass on your details to anybody without your permission. Please take a moment to read our full data policy, complying with the May 2018 EU GDPR

I would highly recommend EU Health Staff to any GP looking for work in Australia. They provide a very professional, efficient and friendly service.

As a newly qualified GP with a young family, and having never been to Australia before, the process of finding the right job seemed rather daunting at first. Being matched to the right practice and location was crucial to the success of our move.

Paul, based in the UK, did an excellent job in assessing my needs and interests (and those of my family!) and matching me to the right job/s. This saved me a lot of time and effort. He was also very responsive in replying to my queries, liaising with partners and employers in Australia, arranging interviews, and keeping me up to date with the whole process.

‘Monique, based in Australia, was also immensely helpful as the time of our move approached, and communicated directly with my wife regarding many practical queries that we had. This was great for us as I was busy working full-time and had no time to make calls to Australia at a suitable time; or to reply to emails promptly. Monique also gave us a warm welcome to Perth and was there on my first day at work here.

My wife and I feel as though we were guided by the hand in what could have otherwise been a very confusing and frustrating maze of application forms, registration steps and overseas phone calls. Quite honestly, I don’t think we would have got very far in the process had we attempted it ourselves unaided!

We have been in Perth for almost three months now and already feel settled into work and family life here. The adjustment process has not been as challenging as we expected. We have made friends easily and are enjoying the outdoor lifestyle…even in winter! We are already planning to stay longer than we first anticipated…even buying a house. Many thanks to Paul, Monique and partners for helping to make this move a reality and success for our family! You are the best!

Dr A. R.