The Australian Senate recently started an inquiry into the welfare of international students, paricularly in light of recent media coverage. This includes, of course, the employability of international medical students.
I think the more submissions the better, and from my experience I think the various govt. bodies will take notice if the argument is presented well AND the powers that be can see it in their own best interest to help OR not in their best interest to ignore something that might be damaging (like bad media attention, or being seen to be jeopardizing what in Queensland at least is either the #2 or #3 income generator).
In other words, and this is what I tell int'l students at UQ and have practiced myself when involved with the UQ med society -- organize, and show that you can cause trouble, without causing too much trouble. Once you cause the trouble, you 1) have shown your cards, and the damage is done; and 2) have pissed off those who might be able to help by violating the tall poppy rule of not whingeing (and not whistleblowing).
Ok, you can disagree with the reasons why, but that's what I've found seems to be the case after a number of years of advocacy on the state and national level.
Going back to submissions, while I think a general solicitation for submissions like the above can't hurt and could help (as a forum to publicize the general issue of "how can schools justify or even be allowed to just churn out professional degrees for int's if their prospects once graduated are in serious jeopardy?"), I think it's best to go for more specific, focussed forums.
The federal government doesn't have a heck of a lot of say on the matter of how schools and state Health bodies work together to help give the int'l grads (state-run) intern jobs.
At the national level, something the feds control would be a better target. For example, at the Biennial Review of the Medicare Provider Number Legislation (it's now only done every 5 years now), everything related to 19AB (same 1973 Health Insurance Act) is included, like the Moratorium. Thus they tend to listen, they just haven't had the balls to make significant changes.
While for internship prospects, and student numbers (the Commonwealth Supported places aren't the issue here), it's the schools and the states that need to be targeted.
But there won't be any purpose in any submission (except venting and publicizing issues) without practical proposals to help with a solution. Is the point to squeeze more internship spots out of the states? I think the ones most stretched are the ones trying hardest to come up with as many places as possible. Or is the point to have the schools accept fewer int'l students? Or for schools to build bigger bridges to other countries (Cali registration, int'l rotations, Ochsner-like programs, etc.)? These aren't issues that schools and health bodies haven't thought a lot about (I can however speak specifically only about Queensland).
In the end, and I'm sorry if I sound like a pessimist to current students (though I don't think I am), I think the long-term solution is to have the schools and state health boards to work together to control numbers to something that they can both handle -- the schools accepting some students who by self-selection will focus most on getting back without expectations to stay here, ala the Ochsner program, and maybe a few others who can stay if some sort of 'deal' can be made with the state health boards (though I know Qld Health has been bending over backwards to try to accommodate the int'ls and increasing numbers in general here).
