Health care justice for temporary migrant workers on 457 visas in Australia: a case study of internationally qualified nurses

Workers and their families in Australia under the Temporary Work (Skilled) Visa (subclass 457) scheme have no access to publicly funded health care. Rather, they are required by the Commonwealth government to purchase costly private health insurance. Our empirical study revealed the serious negative effects of the government's policy on the ability of internationally qualified nurses on 457 visas to meet their basic health care needs and to settle effectively into Australian society This article argues that the current policy is unjust and evaluates three options for reform which would accord more fully with the government's obligations to minimise harm to people's health and to ensure that all people in society have their health care needs met in a fair manner.