Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Indi for bringing this important matter of public importance to the House. Those of us on this side of the House recognise that it's incredibly vital that we support students to get an education that sets them up for great jobs to support our communities.

I know very well how important higher education is to my own electorate of Chisholm in Victoria. I have Monash University to the south of my electorate, and I have Deakin University in the heart of my electorate. I know from doorknocking and speaking to so many people at train stations, on the phone and out and about on street stalls how important higher education is to my electorate and how important the matter of paid pracs is to my electorate. I undertook a survey of my electorate on higher education ahead of the Universities Accord process and received hundreds and hundreds of responses with lots of really important feedback that I passed through to the process, making my own submission on behalf of my community. I'm proud to be part of a government that is supporting teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students to complete their practical placement courses.

On 1 July this year, paid prac became a reality for those studying teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work. I heard from students and from the families of those studying these courses that it was really challenging to manage study and living expenses. I'm proud to be part of a government that, for the first time, has provided financial support for mandatory placements. We expect this will support at least 68,000 eligible higher-education students and 5,000 VET students to complete their practical training each year. This support means they can afford to go to class and to complete their courses by going to placements, and it also means we have people with the skills we so desperately need in our communities right across the country.

For too long, unfortunately, it is true that students have had to choose between finishing their degree and paying their bills. We're ending that unfair choice. No-one should be pushed into delaying or dropping out of study just because they can't afford to do their placement, which is what so many students need to do to complete their courses. This starting point of students studying teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work receiving paid prac payments is what was recommended by the Australian Universities Accord. As I said, I was quite engaged in that process on behalf of my community.

This year, 2025, the payment is $331 a week, which is benchmarked to the single Austudy rate. There are over 67,000 applications already who have applied for this payment. More than 80 per cent of those applications have been processed and more than 80 per cent of those have been approved. I think this shows we are tackling placement poverty head-on, giving future teachers, nurses and social workers the practical support they deserve.

But I know that there are other students who do need to undertake practical placements, so building a review into the legislation, as we have, to examine the performance of this program after three years of operation is really important to consider the effectiveness of payments provided to students and the appropriateness of expanding payments to other courses, including allied health.

This decision to begin with the cohort that we have started with was informed by recommendations from the universities' accord process. In addition, further consideration will be given to other recommendations in the accord, including that the government work with tertiary education providers, state and territory governments, industry, business and unions to consider further support to employers to mitigate any risk of financial hardship and placement poverty for students in other fields.

This is not a plan for one budget. This is a plan to build for the next decade and beyond. I really do thank the member for Indi for bringing this matter to the House. I will take any opportunity I can to talk about higher education and why it is so important to my community. I look forward to working with everyone in this House to build a stronger higher education system.

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