Independent Federal Member for Kooyong Dr Monique Ryan has welcomed the Government's expansion of the Commonwealth Prac Payment to ten additional allied health professions but says the continued exclusion of other healthcare students from placement poverty relief is unfair and unsustainable.
The Government yesterday announced that it will extend prac support to students in clinical psychology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, paramedicine, radiography, pharmacy, rehabilitation therapies, audiology and podiatry; on top of existing coverage for nursing, midwifery, teaching and social work students.
Dr Ryan has long argued that unpaid mandatory placements are pushing health and care students into financial hardship. She has raised the issue repeatedly in Parliament and with the government.
"I've been calling for extension of placement support for long time, and I'm really glad to see it delivered for ten more professions. In a cost-of-living crisis this is a sensible, well-focused policy measure, for which I congratulate the Education Minister, Jason Clare.
Placement poverty is real. We can't have students sleeping in tents, skipping meals and deferring their courses because they can't work while on placement and they can't pay their bills. We have severe workforce shortages in most healthcare areas. We must help students get the skills they need to give us the care we need," Dr Ryan said.
"But how can you fix placement poverty for physios and podiatrists, but not for medical, dentistry, veterinary, nutrition and dietetics, optometry, and osteopathy students?"
"Medical students have to complete 2000-4000 hours of clinical placements. For those from low-income, rural, and regional settings, the financial pressure of mandatory placements can be the difference between staying in medicine or leaving their degree. A student's family income shouldn't determine whether they can become a doctor".
"I'll keep pushing the Government to close this gap and extend paid prac to all care sector students,so no one training to look after Australians' health is forced to choose between finishing their degree and paying their rent."
