Melbourne-raised Dr Bailey said fear of litigation meant Australian intensive-care specialists were more likely to hopelessly lengthen life, even if only for a week or two.
Clinicians working in Australian ICUs were less confident making decisions, and wary of advising families, for fear of redress, he said.
Dr Bailey (37), who has been an ICU specialist at Dunedin Hospital for nearly two years, said New Zealand clinicians were better at assessing the "grey areas" and recommending appropriate treatment in difficult cases.
Human dignity, and the limits of suffering - whether in terms of an ailment or the treatment employed - were pushed in intensive care, an area of medicine Dr Bailey deemed its "sharp end".
He emphasised it was not a lack of resources in New Zealand, but rather adopting a "common-sense" approach.
Cases entailing difficult decision-making were usually medical, rather than accident trauma, and often related to the elderly.
Part of his job was dealing with families, and Dr Bailey said it was often surprising how little family members understood, in terms of what their loved ones valued, and what made their lives worth living.
The size of individual intensive-care units in Australia had ballooned in recent years, in some cases more than doubling, giving hospitals capacity for more patients, but this was not always in their best interests.
Hospital management prohibited Dr Bailey disclosing the number of beds in Dunedin Hospital's unit.
Lifestyle-wise, Dunedin fitted the keen mountain-biker and surfer.
Dr Bailey said Dunedin provided him with those activities on his doorstep, while allowing him to work at a teaching city-style hospital.
Pay was not a big concern, as dollar-for-dollar he would be paid a similar amount in Melbourne - although in Australian dollars.
The big money was in hard-to-staff areas such as Queensland, or as a locum, but those options were not always satisfying career-wise.
Dr Bailey is married to a New Zealander.
