'They really prioritise work-life balance': Cork doctors share their experience of working in Australia

Two Cork people are among hundreds of junior doctors who have moved to Australia in recent years to work.

Data from the Australian Department of Home Affairs shows that in 2005, just 72 Irish doctors received visas to work in Australia.

In 2024, 624 had, and last year 630 had. So far this year, 467 visas have been issued to Irish doctors to move ‘down under’.

Doctor migration to Australia is the subject of a paper by Dr Niamh Humphries and Dr John Paul Byrne, from the graduate school of healthcare management at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), and published in the European Journal of Public Health.

The paper included a survey of hospital doctors, in which respondents described how their decision to emigrate was informed by poor working conditions, inadequate staffing, lack of wellbeing, and dissatisfaction with the quality of care in Ireland.

Irish doctors who had emigrated to Australia indicated the same issues deterred them from returning back to Ireland to work.

The researchers wrote that “challenging working conditions” are both a driver of emigration and a deterrent to return or not.

“We call for a more person-centered approach to the medical workforce, which would improve doctor working conditions, prioritise their wellbeing, and promote retention/return,” they wrote.

After graduating from NUIG (University Of Galway) in 2023, Fermoy native Conor O’Driscoll made the decision to move to Sydney, where he is working in the Northern Beaches Hospital.

The opportunity to take stock and assess the next chapter of his life, combined with a new lifestyle, was the primary motivating factor.

“Sydney is just a great city to live in, as a young person. When the sun is shining and you are only a walk away from the beach, it is great,” he told The Echo.

“It is a bustling city as well, and there are a lot of young people around.”

Conor said that he would recommend the move to Australia for newly-qualified Irish doctors.

“I did undergrad medicine, graduated when I was 25, but wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do long-term in medicine.

“So, I thought, if I’m just trying to try out a few things and different specialties, why not do it over in Australia? There are so many young people from Ireland going out there just to try it,” he said.

“I’m getting to try living in another country, while working in the job and working in my career, which is a great opportunity.”

Glanworth native Anna Clancy, a junior doctor based in Perth, has been selected to be the Perth rose in the 2026 Rose of Tralee Festival.

She said that living in Australia has “exceeded all my expectations”.

Work-life balance 'prioritised' down under 

“It really just is such a nice place to live and work. I mean, they really prioritise work-life balance,” she told The Echo.

“If you’re working 8am to 4pm, like a standard Monday to Friday, they really prioritise you getting out at 4pm.

“I think that makes a huge difference. 

You can just really bank on being out of work on time.

Like many other Irish doctors who have moved to Australia, Anna has used the experience to weigh up the next chapter in her working life.

“In terms of medicine, I wanted to get some experience and a bit of variety.

“So then it seemed like a no-brainer. Why not come to have the sun, a better lifestyle, and better pay, while also getting to have experience in different areas?” she said.

“I thought: I’m in my 20s, it’s the time to go. It is a great place to travel from. We are right by South-East Asia, and I’ve gone over to the east coast of Australia a good few times.”

Conor said he believed it was the quality of lifestyle, as much as the working conditions, that was drawing doctors to work in Australia in such large numbers.

“They just want to experience something new,” he said.

An increasing proportion of interns are going abroad after their intern year, rising from 47% in 2015 to 60% in 2023, the HSE medical recruitment and retention report of 2025 found.

However, the same report showed that many trainee doctors who sample life abroad do return, with 77% of interns from the 2016-2020 graduate cohort having commenced GP training in Ireland prior to 2025.

Anna said that she does ultimately see herself returning to Ireland after a few years in Australia.

“I love it here. But, at the end of the day, I do think it’s too far for me personally, and I wouldn’t see myself settling here.

“I think Ireland is somewhere I’d like to go back to and work, bringing my experience and what I have gained here back with me.”

Although he is enjoying life in Sydney, returning to Ireland is something that is also on Conor’s agenda.

“I think I will be back in Ireland in the not-so-distant future. I would say the majority of friends I went to college with who moved to Perth and Melbourne will end up going back after two years.

“I think most Irish doctors I know plan on training in their specialties, be that in a hospital, surgery, or general practice, back in Ireland.”

Conor said he would like to see a centralised online database in Ireland, similar to the one they have in Australia.

“To be able to access a patient’s medical history is crucial. I think one of the things that makes the job easier in Australia is that they have a centralised health system.

“The benefit of having an electronic database is that when a patient comes, we can access their health record online, showing every admission that they have had in hospitals for the last 10 or so years,” Conor said.