Australia’s leading union for health workers is renewing its call for the Commonwealth Prac Payment to be broadened, saying exclusion of allied health disciplines is unjust and unsustainable.
The Health Services Union (HSU) has publicly urged the federal government to cover allied health students doing mandatory clinical placements. Under current arrangements, only students in disciplines such as teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work are eligible for the $331 weekly stipend. In contrast, students in other allied health – including optometry – receive no equivalent assistance while undertaking unpaid placements.
HSU national secretary Mr Lloyd Williams warned that many allied health students are under severe financial strain. He said that without reform, the inequity will grow and damage the pipeline of needed health professionals. The union is pushing for immediate legislative change.
“Students are 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,” Mr Williams said.
HSU is also calling for the inclusion of speech pathology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, podiatry and pharmacy under the eligibility criteria. These students, like those in optometry, often must travel or relocate to complete placements, adding travel, accommodation and living costs on top of their regular study expenses.
Optometry students face particular hardships when placements require regional relocation or extended interstate travel. As reported in Insight’s recent coverage of ‘placement poverty’, many optometry students are performing long clinical rotations away from home with little or no income, relying on savings, family support or credit to stay afloat.
These pressures disproportionately affect students from lower socioeconomic or rural backgrounds, raising serious concerns about equity and access within the profession. The risk is that students may choose other disciplines over optometry – not because of aptitude or interest, but due to financial necessity.
“The Health Students Alliance remains deeply concerned by reports of students struggling to put food on the table, just so they can afford to finish their studies,” HSA spokesperson Sebastian Harper said.
“Our partnership with the Health Services Union highlights to the government that students across the health disciplines are in urgent need of paid placements, to build the healthcare workforce of tomorrow.”
