Dr Monique Ryan will table an amendment aimed at reforming both HECS legislation and support payments for students in mandatory placements.
Things are looking up for medical students, with independent MP Dr Monique Ryan proposing an amendment to HECS legislation which could provide needed financial support.
This announcement comes only a fortnight after the rollout of the Commonwealth Prac Payment announced last May.
Whilst the payment was introduced with the intention of providing financial support for students on mandatory placement, many advocacy groups have criticised the payment not meeting the minimum-wage standards.
“Without a living wage now, students remain in placement poverty despite winning an important concession from the government,” Students Against Placement Poverty spokesperson James Sheriff said at the time.
“Students Against Placement Poverty notes that this change will do very little to alleviate placement poverty in the vast majority of cases, and urges that more drastic change is needed immediately.”
The payment was also criticised for only covering teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work degrees.
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The Australian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA) has made numerous calls for the federal government to urgently address the issue of placement poverty.
With the exclusion of medical students from the existing scheme, AMSA has argued that this is highly counterproductive given the current workforce shortages, especially in rural healthcare.
“We know that students from regional, rural backgrounds, are four times more likely to go back and serve in regional communities, which is where the most significant workforce shortages are,” AMSA president Melody Ahfock told The Medical Republic.
“We’ve heard from some students who are in rural areas, who come from rural areas, who are reluctant to go back and encourage other people from rural regions to undertake medicine because of the sacrifice that they’ve had to endure, and they can’t ask their peers to do that in good conscience.
“There’s a very real need to do this, not just from an equity and diversity perspective, but from a workforce perspective as well.”
The proposed amendment would “extend prac placement support to all care sector courses, reverse the Job-Ready Gradates schemes’ doubling of the cost of arts and laws degrees, and change the timing of HECS indexation”.
Dr Ryan’s proposed amendment has been commended by AMSA not just for the immediate potential changes but also in how it can set the course for future amendments.
In Dr Ryan’s statement, the financial impact of mandatory placements was also noted, with mention of how travel and accommodation costs often ostracise regional students.
Placement poverty has been touted as a major reason for minimal diversity within medical education, with students from marginal backgrounds often feeling isolated from their peers.
“The students who are hit hardest by this are students from rural backgrounds, low income backgrounds, First Nation students, students with disabilities, students who are carers or have dependents, and these are the doctors Australia needs most,” Ms Ahfock told TMR.
“The Australian community deserves a representative medical workforce, but without financial support to offset the considerable, considerable burden of unpaid placement that disproportionately affects these students, this will never change.”
