I, too, am a US grad, in a US ENT residency who will be returning to Oz following my training (my wife's an Aussie) -
From what I have gathered from the Royal Australian College of Surgeons regarding getting registration as a specialist (and I would presume the general guidelines would also apply to an ID doc) is that there are many areas that are presently underserved - not just those areas in the bush.
I am interested in returning to Brisbane, and am told that there should be no problem obtaining registration as an ENT even in the city proper as there is a critical shortage of this specialty - as such, I would encourage you to directly contact the relevant college (Royal Australian Colllege of Physicians) or even the subspecialty board to determine what the work-force strength and needs are.
It is a difficult choice to decide on whether to go the AMC pathway or specialist pathway for licensure - I can tell you my Peds/OB experiences outside of my field have been long forgotten since medical school and the specialist pathway appeals to me most. As a medicine trained physician, perhaps this is not as daunting to you as it would be to me in the written and clinical AMC examinations.
Also, if you cannot qualify for permanent Aussie residency (ie no spouse who is a Aussie) - the good news is that recently the immigration department has just entered physicians as a critical shortage area and that physicians get preference for permanent migration - wow! That is definitely a difference from a few years ago when physicans were PENALIZED 35 points on their application!
Regardless, best of luck and keep in touch as we both go through this process.
