The Welcome Experience: “Securing employment is only the first step in a long and sometimes overwhelming journey for migrant healthcare workers.”
Looking Beyond Recruitment: Supporting Healthcare Workers to Belong in Regional Australia
In this article, Karin Willcox from The Welcome Experience Service in Greater Albury, explains the importance of taking a people-centred approach to healthcare worker migration.
Regional communities across NSW continue to experience significant shortages of healthcare professionals. In areas such as Albury, Deniliquin, Moama, Berrigan, Corowa and many surrounding communities, health services compete for a limited workforce while demand for healthcare continues to grow. Internationally qualified healthcare professionals (IQHPs) have become an essential part of the solution, bringing valuable skills, experience and cultural diversity that help keep local health services operating and communities healthy.
However, as the University of Sydney's Migration, Mobility and Australia's Healthcare Workforce: Towards a People-Centred Approach report highlights, healthcare workers are much more than workforce statistics. They are individuals, partners, parents, carers and community members whose migration decisions are influenced by far more than employment opportunities alone. The report argues that current approaches are often too focused on workforce needs and not focused enough on the broader human experience of migration, settlement and belonging.
This reflects exactly what we see through The Welcome Experience. While securing employment is a significant milestone, it is often only the first step in a long and sometimes overwhelming journey. Many healthcare professionals and their families arrive in regional Australia facing unfamiliar systems, housing shortages, schooling decisions, childcare arrangements, transport challenges, social isolation and the complexities of building a new life far from established support networks. For many families, these challenges can be every bit as significant as obtaining registration, visas or employment.
A collage of clients and workers to celebrate The Welcome Experience’s first birthday. Image: The Welcome Experience (Greater Albury)
The Welcome Experience was created to help bridge this gap. Our role is not to recruit healthcare professionals, but to support them and their families (and by extension their employers) as they relocate and settle into regional communities. We provide personalised, local assistance before arrival and after relocation, helping people connect with housing, schools, childcare, community groups, employment opportunities for partners and local services. Importantly, we help people develop a sense of belonging within their new community.
The impact of this people-centred approach has been significant. Through our work in Albury and region, we have supported hundreds of essential workers and their families to establish themselves successfully in the region. The positive outcomes achieved locally have contributed to the ongoing expansion of The Welcome Experience into additional communities, including Deniliquin (Edward River, Murray River and Berrigan LGA’s). What we consistently hear from participants is that hands-on practical support, local connections and a welcoming community can make the difference between simply relocating and genuinely settling.
“One of the most valuable aspects of this report is that it gives voice to the experiences of internationally qualified healthcare professionals themselves. It highlights many of the same themes that emerge through our daily conversations with participants: the importance of family considerations, informal care responsibilities, social networks, community acceptance and quality of life. ”
The report also provides practical insights for policymakers, employers and industry leaders. If Australia is serious about addressing healthcare workforce shortages, particularly in regional and rural areas, we cannot focus solely on recruitment pipelines. Retention matters just as much as attraction. Creating welcoming communities, reducing barriers to settlement and recognising healthcare workers as people with complex lives and responsibilities are critical components of any sustainable workforce strategy.
“For those of us working directly with migrant healthcare professionals, the findings are both validating and encouraging. They reinforce what many community organisations, settlement services and regional employers have observed for years: people stay where they feel supported, connected and valued.”
As Australia continues to rely on internationally qualified healthcare professionals to meet workforce demands, the insights contained in this report deserve close attention. The call to action is clear. Industry leaders, employers and governments must move beyond workforce-centred thinking and embrace genuinely people-centred approaches to migration and settlement. By making pathways into regional communities easier, reducing unnecessary barriers and investing in belonging as well as recruitment, we can create stronger outcomes for healthcare professionals, their families, health services and the communities they serve.
Ultimately, healthcare workforce migration is not simply about filling vacancies. It is about helping people build lives. This report provides important evidence and practical recommendations to help guide that work, and it should be required reading for anyone involved in workforce planning, migration policy or regional development.
The Welcome Experience is a free service supporting essential workers who are considering applying for or have accepted a job in regional NSW. The Welcome Experience provides personalised support that helps essential workers (including internationally qualified health professionals) and their families relocate, settle successfully and build a sense of belonging. Local Connectors help with the “life stuff”, everything from the practicalities of finding housing, choosing childcare, exploring job opportunities for partners or even introducing people to their new neighbours.
To find out more: Watch this Video – The Welcome Experience Greater Albury
To register, go to: The Welcome Experience | NSW Government