Australia is currently experiencing a crippling shortage of nurses, with treatment of babies in hospitals being delayed by weeks due to a lack of staff. Officials in the medical and migration realms believe that Australian immigration could not be more important than ever if this serious problem is to be rectified.

At the Royal Children’s Hospital in Victoria, there is an average of 16 cardiac surgery cancellations per week, The Age has reported, and there are numerous other hospitals in dire need of nursing staff throughout the country.

Accordingly, professional nurses are figuring extremely highly on the Migration Occupation in Demand (MODL) list at present, and Australia is aggressively seeking to recruit as many nursed with Australian skilled visas to its shores as possible.

The Royal Children’s Hospital chief of surgery, Dr. Leo Donnan, said: “We have the equipment, the facilities, the theatre time, and we have fantastic, world-class surgeons. But we can't get staffed beds. We need specialised nurses with intensive-care training.”

Dr. Donnan went on to explain how numerous surgical and nursing staff are being forced to juggle patients, some of whom have had crucial operations postponed up to seven times.