Rebecca White (Lyons, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Women) Share this | Hansard source

I rise on this matter of public importance and thank the honourable member for her contribution and for the work she did in the previous parliament to advocate for paid prac for these important student placements. I am really proud to be a part of a government that on 1 July this year provided paid prac, made it a reality for the first time for students studying teaching, nursing, midwifery as well as social work, because we understand that we need to be able to support these students to learn the skills of a new career. A lot of the time they have been doing that and have not been paid for it and it has placed an enormous financial burden on them.

We expect that with the support provided from 1 July this year that 68,000 eligible higher education and 5,000 VET students will complete their practical training each year, so we are talking about a significant cohort of students who will benefit from these changes. It is practical support for people while they are completing their practical training.

These payments will help the students who need it most, by giving them the extra bit of financial support they need so they could focus on their studies, and we know that's important, because, for far too long, students just like the examples you gave have had to juggle work, study, care responsibilities and other commitments they have in their life, and it can sometimes mean that they don't complete their education, they don't complete their studies, and they don't go on to have the career that they dreamt of. No-one should have to choose, and that's why this first step on 1 July has been so important.

We are starting with students studying teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work, which was recommended by the Australian Universities Accord. Almost every Australian will interact, at some point in their life, with a nurse, a teacher, a social worker or a midwife, and they are critical to the wellbeing of so many across our community.

In 2025, the payment, which began on 1 July, is $331 per week, which is benchmarked to the single Austudy rate, and I've been advised that over 67,000 applications from higher education students have already been received in the first four months of the program. That is very, very good news. More than 80 per cent of those applicants have been processed, and more than 80 per cent of those have been approved. This shows we are tackling placement poverty head on. We are giving future teachers, nurses, midwives and social workers a chance to gain the qualifications to pursue their dream careers without having to worry about whether they can afford to do that.

The review that is built into the legislation—I acknowledge the comments that were made by the honourable member—does mean that, after three years of operation, the program will look at how it is working, whether it's been effective and what might need to change. It will consider the effectiveness of the payments provided to students and the appropriateness of the expanding payments to other courses, including allied health. In addition to that, further consideration will be given to other recommendations in the accord, including that the government work with tertiary education providers, state and territory three governments, industry, business and unions to consider further support by employers to mitigate the risk of financial hardship and placement poverty for students in other fields. As the Minister for Education has said, the accord is not a plan for one budget, but a blueprint for the next decade and beyond.

While I can, I would also like to reflect on some of the other steps our government is taking to support people who are going through higher education or VET training. As we heard from the education minister today, 20 per cent off the HECS debt is making a huge difference to those who have started studying in our country. This will benefit three million Australians and wipe $16 billion in HELP and other student debt, and an individual average HELP debt will see $5,500 wiped from that debt. This is going to make a massive difference for those students, and we know, as the education minister said, tomorrow 1.5 million young Australians will have their debt cut by 20 per cent, and another 1.5 million young Australians will have their debt cut next week. It is the biggest cut in student debt in Australian history. We promised it; we delivered it.

The other example I'd like to give how we fixed HELP debt inflation. This was something that happened last year, and the government wiped a further $3 billion of HELP debt and capped the HELP indexation rate to the lower of either the consumer price index or the wage price index, and this has made system better and fairer and ensures that HELP debt can never increase faster than wages.

Today, I had the privilege, as the Assistant Minister for Indigenous Health, to also launch a new scholarship program for Indigenous health students which provides scholarships for First Nations health students. About 80 are issued annually. It provides $1 million over three years, and it's being delivered by our co-sector—the Indigenous allied health association is running that program. It's part of our Closing the Gap initiatives—to transfer responsibility of these initiatives to the First Nations community. That was launched today. They've got a proud track record of delivering scholarships of this type, and I'm really excited to see a new round open up to invite 80 applicants to put their hand up. That's going to provide financial support to students undertaking a health degree from First Nations communities. It is direct financial support to assist them.

Alongside things like paid prac, there are other programs that our government supports that are supporting those embarking on a medical degree and other allied health professions to ensure that people from rural and remote Indigenous communities can access higher education to pursue their dreams of becoming health professionals and address some of the workforce challenges across the country in a range of areas, particularly in health care.

I am very proud of the work our government is doing to make sure that we have paid prac for the first time. I have spoken to many young Australians, mostly in my electorate in Tasmania, who have shared their stories of trying to manage a job and sometimes manage the responsibilities of having a family and paying bills while undertaking prac and not being paid for that. It can be incredibly difficult. It can be very exhausting, not only financially but mentally and emotionally, when you're trying to juggle all of those responsibilities. You might be doing that because you're trying to progress and further your own career, but, in many instances, you might also be doing it for your family. You might be the first in your family to embark on a career in one of these areas, or, if you're a carer or a parent, you might be furthering your own career to support your family. I acknowledge how hard that can be and what a juggle that's been for many Australians. That's why it's so pleasing to see that, from 1 July this year, 67,000 Australians have already made an application to the paid prac program and that tens of thousands of Australians have already benefited, and it's been operating for only four months.

The review is in three years, as you well understand because you were such a strong advocate to include it. But I think it's important to recognise that this is just the start. There is, of course, more work that needs to happen. I'm thrilled to see the early results and also really proud to be part of a government that supports paid prac. We will see the benefits not only for those individuals but also for our health workforce, our teaching workforce and our allied health workforce in the years to come as these young students and people embarking on a career change graduate and are able to participate in our community. I commend the member for bringing this matter to the House so that we can talk about it in more detail.

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