NSW nursing, midwifery, allied health, medical and paramedical students have embraced the three-year grant scheme.
More than 3900 students across NSW have accessed part of the state government’s $120 million investment in tertiary health study subsidies, with the program now closed for 2024.
The recipients include 1840 nursing students, 280 midwifery students, 1020 allied health, 520 medical students and 262 paramedical students.
State health minister Ryan Park said it had been encouraging to see such a strong response to the subsidies scheme.
“We are shoring up the future of our health workforce in NSW and we’re honouring our election commitment to reducing financial barriers to studying healthcare,” he said.
“When we boost our health workforce we improve health outcomes, it’s as simple as that.”
Under the scheme, students beginning their degrees will receive subsidies of $4000 per year over three years. The subsidies are expected to support a further 8000 healthcare students over the next four years.
Students seeking to receive the subsidy in 2025 can apply from mid-January 2025 and must be willing to make a five-year commitment to the NSW public health system.
The full list of 2025 eligible workforce groups will be available in the NSW Health website later this month. For more details see here.
NSW premier Chris Minns said he was pleased to see so many people had already benefitted from the health worker study subsidies.
“The subsidies help students with costs such as fees, technology, travel, and helps us keep talented people here in NSW, working in the country’s largest public health system,” he said.
“Attracting skilled healthcare workers is a longstanding challenge, and while there is a long way to go rebuilding our healthcare system, we are committed to doing it so that people can access the care they need, when they need it.”