Key Points
- Three nursing assistants from India are calling for changes to the English testing requirement to become registered nurses.
- They all hail from India and have been working as nursing assistants for more than 10 years.
- Amid the current labour shortage, they say Australia should adopt the same relaxation of the English requirements recently introduced in the UK.
Biju Akkamparambil is an Indian migrant who moved to Australia from the United Kingdom more than 10 years ago.
Despite working as a nursing assistant at Townsville Hospital, he is yet to register as a nurse as he has not cleared the English language requirement needed to be certified.
Australia requires those wishing to become registered nurses to achieve scores above a certain threshold in one of four tests.
For example, in the IELTS (International English Language Testing System), candidates must achieve a minimum score of Band Seven in each of the four components of reading, listening, writing and speaking. The maximum score in the IELTS is Band Nine.
"I am an Australian citizen with more than 10 years of work experience in (the) health sector, and I feel it's unfair to ask (me) to sit for English language test for nursing registration," Mr Akkamparambil said.
Biju Akkamparambil, who hails from Kerala, India, migrated to Australia from the UK more than 10 years ago. Credit: Supplied by Biju Akkamparambil
She arrived in Australia over 10 years ago and works as a nursing assistant.
"I have been in Australia for more than 10 years and (have been) unable to get nursing registration due to (the) English language test requirement," Ms Dominic said.
"My workplace has offered to give all the support for getting nursing registration. They also offered to give a letter as a supporting document to submit to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
"But I don't think AHPRA would accept a letter from the employer as a substitute for the language requirement.
"I tried to get an exemption for five years of continuous study in Australia. But as there was a six-month gap, that was not accepted by AHPRA."
I tried to get an exemption for five years of continuous study in Australia. But as there was a six-month gap, that was not accepted by AHPRA.Elizabeth Dominic migrated to Australia more than 10 years ago and works as nursing assistant
Elizabeth Dominic migrated from Kerala, India, to Australia more than 10 years ago. Credit: Supplied
Ms Dominic said she failed to get the required band in all components in one go.
"When I get the required score in one component, for example in speaking, I might not get the required score in another component of the test," she said.
Abraham Joby, who lives in Brisbane and is a citizen of both Australia and the UK, is required to show proficiency in the English language by taking a test.
"I have lived in Australia for over 13 years and I have not heard any complaints about my communication skills in the workplace," Mr Joby said.
"Nursing-related studies and work-related submissions were all done in English and there has been only positive feedback for me. I do not understand why I have to take the English test."
Relaxation of English test time frame in the UK
Recent changes in the UK around the English requirement for nurses had given him hope, Mr Joby said.
Those changes, introduced by the UK's Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in 2017, apply to the IELTS test requirements for nurses and midwives coming on to the register from overseas and within the European economic area.
"These changes will increase flexibility for applicants while ensuring that the appropriate standard of English language is still achieved," the NMC said.
Under the previous system, applicants were required to achieve the IELTS Academic Test Level 7 in reading, writing, speaking and listening in a single sitting.
Under the new protocols, the NMC still requires applicants to achieve Level 7 in all areas, but this can now be achieved over two sittings of the tests sat within six months of each other.
"A nine-month campaign around (the) English language requirement for nursing registration has resulted in changes to the score requirement in the UK - we hope such a change would happen here," Mr Joby said.
Many candidates facing the same challenges as Mr Akkamparambil and Ms Dominic are campaigning for a relaxation of the rules around the language test for applicants who have several years of work experience in Australia.
Campaign and government response
Amid the challenges faced by nursing assistants, there is a campaign calling for the relaxation of the rules around the language test for applicants who have several years of work experience in Australia.
Mr Akkamparambil added: "The government is trying to bring more health workers from overseas to fix Australia's (labour) shortage. We hope that the authorities would consider making changes and workers already in Australia could fill many roles."
"We have contacted Federal MPs in different states and have communicated our concerns. So far, there has been positive feedback from the politicians," Mr Joby said.
A Department of Health and Aged Care spokesperson told SBS Malayalam in an email that English language competency was one of the key requirements for nursing registration in Australia.
"While candidates for registration may have acquired English language skills in different ways, all National Boards, including the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA), need a way to benchmark these skills with the requirement that the individual’s competency in communication in English is sufficient to practise in the profession. In some cases, English language test results are the simplest, if not the only way for the National Boards to do so," the spokesperson said.
''In September 2022, National Cabinet commissioned an independent rapid review to identify ways to ease the skills shortages in key health professions by streamlining international registrations, led by Ms Robyn Kruk AO."
The spokesperson said an interim report from the review was expected to be provided to National Cabinet in early 2023.
A NMBA spokesperson also reiterated the need for high language skills for working in the health sector.
''Nursing and midwifery are both highly technical and specialised professions that requires them to communicate with, and advocate for their patients on a daily basis as well as being able to effectively communicate with other health practitioners," they said.
"The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) requires anyone that wants to be registered as a nurse and/or midwife to meet the English Language Standard (ELS).
"This could be through the primary language pathway, where the candidate was educated in English in an English-speaking country. For non-native English speakers, they can either take an English language test, where they must demonstrate they meet the NMBA requirements in each domain assessed or complete an Extended Education Pathway which is five years of continuous, full-time equivalent education taught in English. This could be tertiary, secondary or vocational education, or any combination of the three.
''The NMBA acknowledges that some internationally qualified nurses and midwives who do not meet this standard are keen to get into the workforce, but our priority of public safety remains paramount."
