Financial stress is rife among students with the cost of attending placements and specialised equipment a major barrier, says a leading figure in optometry education who is calling for solutions to the Australian health system’s “placement poverty” issue.
Professor Lisa Keay, head of the UNSW School of Optometry and Vision Science, is lending her voice to urgent calls on the Federal Government to extend eligibility for support for students on work placement during their studies.
In May 2024, the government announced the Commonwealth Prac Program, effective from July 2025, to provide students studying teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work funding for placement experience.
It is expected to benefit 68,000 students in these professions with a $320 weekly payment during their mandatory placements, but some allied health students, including those studying optometry, were excluded.
At the time, Allied Health Professionals Australia CEO Ms Bronwyn Morris-Donovan said it was a step in the right direction but highlighted that optometry was among jobs listed on the 2023 Skills Priority List that would not receive this funding.
“Placement poverty is real for many students of other allied health disciplines where mandatory placements are just as extensive, if not more,” she said.
The Health Services Union agrees. Its national secretary, Mr Lloyd Williams, said some courses required up to 2,300 hours of compulsory practicum and many students were suffering hardship in undertaking that with little or no support.
Prof Keay understood that optometry could be added to the Prac Program in future, and UNSW had been urging the government to review its exclusion of other health professions.
She said other things that could be tackled include the high cost of public transport, noting Queensland had recently dramatically reduced fares.
More than half of UNSW optometry students were from greater Western Sydney, which means lengthy commutes to the main campus, which is a high cost even with student concession travel on public transport.
“Work integrated learning is a key component of our training program, however we recognise that there are financial hurdles due to these requirements,” Prof Keay said.
The university had conducted a comprehensive financial hardship survey of optometry students in 2023. That poll found “financial stress was prevalent, affecting more than half of the respondents”, she said.
“This stress was even more pronounced among students from low socio-economic backgrounds (SES ) and those in their final years of study, where clinical placements play a pivotal role.
“These challenges encompass not only the loss of income through attendance requirements and additional expenses such as travel, meals and accommodation,” she said.
Prof Keay said students often relied on part-time work to sustain themselves during their university studies and that was difficult to maintain during the rural and interstate placements required, sometimes lasting up to four weeks.
“UNSW remains committed to increasing access to our programs through the UNSW Gateway admissions pathway, specifically designed for students from low SES backgrounds and approximately 20% of our enrolments enter via this pathway,” she said.
“Given the context of placement poverty, adequate support for these students becomes imperative. Our industry is supportive, for example providing a student discount for equipment purchases and the hospitality of our clinical placement hosts, particularly in rural areas.
“In the past three years we have been able to provide a limited number of bursaries to support equipment purchases and interstate or rural placements. This has been made possible through generous support of partners like Young Optometrists and Alcon.”
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