News about Australia

[Alexender NoahParticipant]

Calls for federal paid placement scheme to include students working across allied health

The Health Services Union (HSU) is calling on the federal government to extend its new paid placements to students working across allied health, not just in key industries.

The payment, which came into effect on 1 July, offers $331 a week to eligible teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students undertaking a mandatory placement.

Aside from social workers, all allied health students are excluded from the scheme, including occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech pathologists, podiatrists, pharmacists, radiation therapists and psychologists.

HSU national secretary, Lloyd Williams, said the payments would make a “huge difference” to thousands of students but “it makes no sense that the critical professions that fall under allied health are excluded”.

Leaving allied health behind has a major gender impact because it is a feminised workforce. For example, 98% of speech pathologists are women. Some students are travelling hours from home and are forced to pay accommodation and other costs just to complete their mandatory placement with no financial help whatsoever.

Often they’re completing thousands of hours of placements and taking time off their casual jobs without receiving a cent to help them keep their heads above water. We risk turning a workforce crisis into a catastrophe if we don’t break down barriers to study like placement poverty.

0

0

[Author]

Posts