‘A finite resource’: as Australia recruits overseas health workers, their home nations bear the cost

The Covid pandemic has exerted a heavy toll on health systems – and health staff – around the world, with countries including Australia eager to recruit from overseas. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

Moving to Australia from New Zealand was not a decision Ava* made lightly.

“We moved to New Zealand for the big Kiwi dream,” she says. “The country was beautiful, the lifestyle we had was magnificent.”