Allied health students are the future of a strong Medicare and will be the backbone of Thriving Kids – but right now, thousands are being pushed to the brink just to finish their training.

Join us by calling on the government to extend paid placements to all allied health students. Because no one should face financial hardship just to complete their training.

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Paid placements have already made a real difference for nursing, midwifery, teaching and social work students. But thousands of allied health students still complete long, mandatory placements with no pay, rising costs and no way to support themselves.

Since 1 July 2025, Prac Payments of $319.50 per week will support 68,000 students over four years. Extending this support to allied health is the next logical step – fair, affordable and urgently needed.

Allied health students often complete equal or longer placement hours than other care professions, while juggling rent, groceries, fuel and unpaid full‑time work.

These are the students training to become physiotherapists, OTs, psychologists, speech pathologists and medical radiation practitioners – professions overwhelmingly made up of women, carrying some of the highest student debts, and facing national workforce shortages.

Student placement poverty in numbers:

82% needed financial aid due to placement78% struggled to pay bills due to placement
81% took unpaid leave while on placement42% went hungry during placement
53% considered leaving their degree due to burden of placement39% failed or came close to failing a unit due to the burden of placement

Source: National Placement Poverty Survey of 1374 health students across Australia conducted by the National Australian Pharmacy Students’ Association (NAPSA), on behalf of the Health Students Alliance in November 2025

Extending paid placements to allied health students in hardship would create benefits far beyond easing cost‑of‑living pressure.

It’s a practical, affordable way to strengthen Australia’s future health workforce by building a strong pipeline of graduates to address national allied health shortages across the disability, health and aged care sectors.

Supporting students through placement means more people can complete their training, enter the workforce and deliver the essential care our communities rely on.

WORKERS' STORIES

“Paid placements have been such a beneficial change for nursing, teaching and social work, but we really want to see it expanded to all health professions.’

Nadia,
Occupational
Therapist

“I did 23 weeks of placement last year. It was super tough. Still trying to pay rent, groceries and fuel, working a 40-hour week, and having to work on top of that, plus your assignments: it was a very, very stressful time and certainly took a toll on my mental health.”

Mitchell,
New Graduate
Physiotherapist

“We’re asking for other allied health professionals to get the same as what our social work colleagues have received, so we can continue providing quality care for our community and actually supporting students’ progress into valued careers.”

Jacquie,
Psychology Leader
and Clinical
Neuropsychologist

“The workload of a Radiation Therapy undergraduate student is exhausting both mentally and physically. We are required to manage a full-time academic workload while also completing 42 weeks of unpaid placement at 35 hours per week. This four-year course creates an atmosphere of extreme placement poverty, leading many students to drop out as they are forced to choose between maintaining a roof over their heads and attending placement.”

Courtney,
Radiation Therapist

“During the postgraduate course, students are required to complete 1,000 hours of unpaid placement work. This is on top of a full-time academic workload, including the completion of a sizeable research thesis. In order to pay my rent and other living expenses during this time, I had to work night shifts in retail. As I was unable to produce any savings during this time, my HECS debt continued to accumulate interest and was nearly $100,000 by the time of graduation.”

Matteo,
Clinical Psychologist

HELP END PLACEMENT POVERTY.

Add your name now to demand fairness for allied health students. Every signature counts.

EMAIL THE GOVERNMENT.

Email your MP and Senators today to protect the future allied health workforce. Insert your address in the form below and we’ll send it to your local MP and Senators.

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