Antonio Mitchell moved to Australia from Chile in 2018, hoping to continue his career as a physiotherapist. With over 50,000 patients treated in his home country, Mitchell expected his qualifications to be quickly recognised. Instead, he was shocked to learn that his extensive experience couldn’t help him fast-track the recognition process in Australia.

“I thought that when I arrived, I was going to be able to show what I know, what I was doing in the previous years,” Mitchell said. “Unfortunately, I was quite shocked when I realised that none of that experience can help me in any way to get my qualifications done” Mitchell told SBS Australia.

Mitchell’s story highlights a pressing issue facing Australia’s healthcare system—an ongoing shortage of physiotherapists. Despite physiotherapists being listed as a priority occupation on the government’s Skills Priority List, which identifies professions in shortage, Mitchell has struggled to resume his career and has been forced to take on part-time jobs outside of his field, including working in construction and as a delivery driver.

The shortage of physiotherapists is a significant problem, especially in rural areas. Many communities are facing long wait times for private physio appointments, while the country continues to rely on a limited pool of qualified professionals. This gap between demand and supply is felt acutely in regions where access to healthcare services is already limited.

Australia’s Skills Priority List highlights that the shortage of physios is one of the most urgent areas of concern, yet the process to have overseas qualifications recognised remains slow and cumbersome.

Violet Roumeliotis, CEO of Settlement Services International (SSI), which convened the Activate Australia’s Skills campaign, pointed out that skilled migrants like Mitchell could help address this gap, if only the system for recognising their qualifications were more efficient.

“There are people living in the communities and neighbourhoods with us, but they’re battling a very cumbersome and very expensive recognition system,” she said.

With an increasing demand for healthcare services, particularly in regional and remote areas, the need for qualified physiotherapists has never been greater. The slow pace of skills recognition means that skilled professionals like Mitchell are unable to help alleviate this shortage, leaving many Australians without timely access to care.

The Activate Australia’s Skills campaign is calling for reforms to streamline the qualifications recognition process, including creating a national system to recognise overseas credentials and reducing bureaucratic delays. These changes would help qualified physiotherapists enter the workforce more quickly and contribute to addressing the ongoing shortage of healthcare professionals.

"Australia has the chance to improve the system right now to be able to pick up these highly skilled professionals that can help Australian communities in the future," Mitchell said.