The first hearing for the Overseas Trained Doctors Inquiry is to be held in Canberra tomorrow 25th February 2011.
Hearings in Brisbane and Cairns will follow in coming months.
The hearing will be webcast live on: http://webcast.aph.gov.au/livebroadcasting/.
The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health and Ageing will hold the public hearing to discuss the registration processes and support available for Overseas Trained Doctors (OTD’s) seeking full Australian registration.
The Parliamentary Inquiry has proceeded as a result of bipartisan support. Both the Coalition and Labor realising better outcomes need to be achieved for overseas trained doctors.
Coalition MPs The Hon. Warren Entsch, Federal Member for Leichhardt and The Hon. Bruce Scott, Federal Member for Maranoa championed the cause to get the Inquiry off the ground.
“Tomorrow will be the beginning of what I hope will be a very thorough Parliamentary Inquiry. I am personally very proud that it has finally commenced. As you know we have had many doctors throughout Australia severely affected by the current processes for registrations, most notably has been Cardiologist Dr Roger Chatoor in Cairns who almost had his career ruined due to this unworkable system. If it wasn’t for the enormous community support and fight back that proceeded, the reality is we could have lost him to Australia for good and his reputation could have been tarnished forever,
“This is unacceptable, people of Roger’s calibre from other countries who are highly skilled with a proven track record and an unblemished record should not be subjected to such demeaning and inappropriate treatment. Hopefully as a result of this Inquiry we will see a raft of recommendations put forward on how we can ensure that this kind of treatment does not happen to anyone else,” said Warren Entsch.
The program for the first inquiry hearing is outlined below:
9.00 am – Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing, is an Australian Government department that seeks to promote, develop, and fund health and aged care services for the Australian public.
9.45 am – Medical Board of Australia, is an independent organisation responsible for registration of medical practitioners and medical students and assessment of International Medical Graduates who wish to practise in Australia.
10.45 am – Australian Medical Association, is an independent organisation that represents the registered medical practitioners (doctors) and medical students of Australia
11.30 am – Australian Doctors Trained Overseas Association, is an independent organisation representing overseas trained doctors who are permanent residents & citizens
12.15 pm – Royal Australasian College of Physicians, is an independent organisation responsible for training, educating and representing physicians and paediatricians in Australia and New Zealand.
1.00 pm – Close
For media interviews with Warren Entsch MP please call Danae Jones: 0427 585 668
For all other inquiries, please contact the Committee Secretariat by phone on (02) 6277 4145 or visit the Committee’s website: www.aph.gov.au/haa.
The first hearing will be held in Committee Room 1R2, Parliament House, Canberra.
