A Health Students Alliance survey has found 42 per cent of health students are currently going hungry during their prac placements. Photo: Region.
ACT independent Senator David Pocock is calling for the Federal Government to expand the Commonwealth Prac Payment Scheme to include medical and allied health students.
Saying it is necessary to end “placement poverty” for the next generation of Australia’s health workforce, Senator Pocock said the expansion would cost only $290 million over the four years of the forward estimates.
Last year, Labor introduced paid prac payments for about 68,000 nursing, teaching and social work students, saying it would end placement poverty for them.
Senator Pocock and the independent Member for Indi, Helen Haines, said the government should do the same for medical and allied health students.
The pair commissioned the Parliamentary Budget Office to cost the expansion, following new survey data from the Health Students Alliance that found 42 per cent of health students are currently going hungry during their prac placements.
Senator Pocock said the PBO’s costings also modelled the cost of lifting the payment rate from the current $338.60 per week to the single Austudy per week rate while undertaking the placement.
“Most Australians have experienced firsthand the impacts from the acute shortage of qualified professionals, from psychologists to dentists to speech pathologists,” he said.
“Extending Commonwealth Paid Prac to enable more Australians to qualify in the professions we so desperately need makes sense and will help ease that shortage.
“Over the longer term, it will cost the Federal Government more if they fail to support the pipeline of medical and allied health students Australians right around the country rely on.”
Senator Pocock said investing $80 million a year in expanding a means-tested payment to enable more people from all backgrounds would improve equity and make sure the nation is training and qualifying the medical and allied health professionals it needs, and “not just the ones who can afford it”.
Dr Haines also noted that some people are “very, very interested” in the health sciences mid-career as they decide whether to change jobs because their current roles no longer exist.
“But in order to enrol in the health science degree, they know that they are signing up for thousands of hours of unpaid leave and they’re choosing simply not to because they can’t afford to,” she said.
“Unpaid mandatory placements are pushing thousands of students into financial hardship at a time of acute workforce shortages and a cost-of-living crisis.
“These costings show that ending placement poverty is both achievable and affordable. Failing to act is a political choice, not a budget constraint.
“At a time of severe health workforce shortages – particularly in rural and regional areas – the government can’t afford to let unpaid placements become the barrier that stops students from completing their degrees.”
Other crossbenchers joined with Senator Pocock and Dr Haines to push for the payment to be expanded in line with the recommendations of the Universities Accord Final Report.
They have also partnered with the peak representative body, Allied Health Professions Australia, to launch an online petition calling on the Federal Government to expand the Prac Payment Scheme.
The lobby group’s CEO, Bronwyn Morris-Donovan, said extending the prac payment to allied health students was an essential move.
“Unpaid placements hit hardest for rural students, mature-age students with caring responsibilities, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, and anyone experiencing financial disadvantage,” she said.
“Expanding prac payments is crucial for building a more diverse workforce and ensuring every student has a fair chance to complete their training.
“We welcome the support of MPs standing with us. Addressing this gap in Commonwealth Prac Payments is a practical, immediate step the government can take to strengthen the pipeline of allied health professionals Australia urgently needs.”
