Allied health has been left behind, putting mainly women into placement poverty, the union says.
The Health Services Union has renewed its call for the federal government to extend paid placements to allied health students.
The fresh appeal comes as the Senate Education Employment Legislation Committee scrutinises the University Accord (Student Support and Other Measures) Bill.
Under the Bill, some social workers, nurses and teachers undertaking mandatory placement will be eligible for means-tested financial support.
However, all allied health professionals, except for social workers, were excluded from the budget measure announced in May.
The HSU’s submission to the committee highlighted that most allied health students also endure severe placement hardship, with some courses requiring up to 2300 hours of compulsory unpaid practicum.
It said the flow-on effects were also a gender issue, given this was a workforce that predominantly identifies as women – in the case of speech pathologists, 98% of the profession.
HSU national secretary Lloyd Williams said the union’s members were united in their call for the proposed paid placement support to be extended to allied health.
“While we welcome the federal government extending financial support to students enduring hardship on placement, we can’t fathom why allied health has been left behind,” he said.
“The Universities Accord said that there should be paid placements in the care sector. Occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech pathologists and psychologists are some of the largest tertiary-qualified professions within it. Why exclude them?”
“Workforce shortages across allied health are disrupting hospitals and outcomes for Australians using the NDIS and aged care systems. Barriers to study only make these worse.”
The union provided first-hand accounts from HSU members who were feeling the burden of unpaid placements.
“The workload of a radiation therapy undergraduate student is exhausting,” said Courtney, who did not supply her surname.
“We are required to manage a full-time academic workload while also completing 42 weeks of unpaid placement at 35 hours per week. Placement poverty must be addressed.”
Clinical psychologist ‘Matteo’ said he had to study for a minimum six years before he was eligible to be paid as a psychologist.
“My HELP debt peaked at $91,740 due to indexation, because I was unable to work with clinical endorsement until eight years of study,” he said.
“After working for 5 years, my HELP debt is still $87,260. The debt is crippling, and a large portion of salary goes towards paying off just indexation rises.”
Pharmacy student ‘Samuel’ also shared his story.
“Earlier this year I was assigned a four-week placement at a hospital in Sydney, four hours away,” he said.
“Unfortunately, I was told that accommodation is only available for rural placement. I had to stay at a hostel for the four weeks, which cost me just shy of $2,000.”
“The interest rates increased while my wife was on maternity leave, and our mortgage went up to 55% of our combined income. I exhausted all our savings – four months later, we have not been able to replace any savings or catch up on our bills.
“The only reprieve is I will soon graduate.”