Australian University Practicals push students to placement poverty
Across Australia, there is a growing need for allied health professionals like physiotherapists, social workers, and occupational therapists. But for students to qualify, they must complete hundreds of hours of unpaid placement. As the cost of living continues to rise, they say that's taking a massive financial toll.
Transcript
00:00As Brie Harris prepares for her day at work, the fact she won't be paid weighs heavily on her mind.
00:08In the lead-up to placement, I was working three jobs.
00:11I've been working night shift at Woolworths just to supplement my income.
00:17The fourth-year physiotherapy student has to complete 25 weeks of unpaid placement across one year,
00:24all while covering the costs of a mortgage, bills and childcare for her five-year-old.
00:29You try and save as much as you can and try to make it go as far as it can,
00:34but there's a point where the money dries up.
00:39Occupational therapy student Arabella Healey has 1,000 hours of unpaid placements to do.
00:45Each week I'm paying rent. I'm also doing placement other side of Canberra, so it's also petrol as well.
00:53Even with Centrelink and university support, she's had to drop to part-time placement to stay afloat and out of placement poverty.
01:00It's really disheartening to have to kind of constantly worry while on placement,
01:06while going through what is a very stressful time and stuff already,
01:10to have to have financials in the back of my mind constantly.
01:16With HECS debts also awaiting both women at the end of their degrees, they agree more financial support would help.
01:23Earlier this year, the federal government announced it would introduce means-tested prac payments of around $320 a week
01:30for nursing, teaching and social work students.
01:33But there are calls for that to be expanded as an ageing population
01:37and an increase in the prevalence of chronic health conditions pushes up demand for allied health professionals,
01:44especially in OT, physio and osteotherapy, and in rural areas.
01:49Realities of placement poverty don't discriminate on the basis of what course you're studying.
01:54I want to see just as many people from lower socioeconomic areas graduating physiotherapy and occupational therapy
02:00as we do nursing and social work.
02:03But Education Minister Jason Clare won't be swayed,
02:06in a statement saying the government had been told to focus on nursing, teaching and social work,
02:11and that's what it was doing.
02:14For more UN videos visit www.un.org
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