Qld paramedics poached as graduates outnumber jobs

Queensland is producing so many paramedics they are being poached interstate and overseas, while other health worker positions go unfilled.

General, generic file photo of Queensland Ambulance Service advanced care paramedics responding to a medical emergency in Cairns. Picture: Brendan Radke

Queensland is producing hundreds more paramedics than it has jobs for, with graduates now poached by international and interstate operators despite an ongoing ambulance ramping and health worker shortfall.

New figures have shown just one mid-sized university in the state produces enough paramedicine graduates a year to cover Queensland Ambulance Service’s annual vacancies.

There are now calls by paramedic peak bodies for graduates to be better deployed throughout the health system, including in urgent care clinics, rather than letting the worker resource go untapped.

Five Queensland universities pump out hundreds of paramedics each year, though only University of the Sunshine Coast would confirm 370 to 400 people graduate from their course a year.

This is on par with the number of paramedics QAS has hired each year on average since 2021-22.

QAS confirmed it took in 385 new full-time paramedic employees a year on average, 150 of which were new positions and 235 to cover those who leave the service.

UniSC is smaller than the Queensland University of Technology, which confirmed a 70 per cent increase in paramedicine enrolments in the last five years.

Griffith University Associate Professor Malcolm Doyle said despite the field’s popularity, just 23 per cent of their graduates were employed by QAS.

The others would take up work in New Zealand (21 per cent), New South Wales (19 per cent), Canada and the United Kingdom (6 per cent), or study postgraduate medicine, work in the United States, or other organisations (4 per cent).

Australian Paramedics Association Queensland spokeswoman Jess Imiela, a former paramedic, said it was common for graduates to wait two to three years to get into QAS.

Australasian College of Paramedicine chief executive John Bruning said the scope of what paramedics were allowed to do should be expanded to help a health system under immense pressure.

“We have more degree-qualified health clinicians in paramedics, and they’re capable of delivering high quality care across emergency, urgent and primary care settings but funding and legislation barriers are holding back the utilisation of the profession beyond ambulance services,” he said.

Mr Bruning warned the health system would pay the price if the government continued to overlook this resource.

The paramedic graduate glut is such UK, Canada and NZ organisations were actively poaching from Australia, with North American recruiting firm MedaView holding yearly roadshows to entice them.

A 2024 Queensland paramedicine graduate, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal, had applied for work at ambulance services in each state and even in New Zealand.

“There’s a lot of us just sitting at home or working at Woollies,” he said.

Originally published as Qld paramedics poached as graduates outnumber jobs