Australia Pays 10 Healthcare Majors $338/Week for Placements

University students training to become psychologists, pharmacists, and eight other types of healthcare workers will finally get paid for their mandatory work placements in Australia.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the expansion at Labor's National Conference in Adelaide, calling it "surprising" that allied health students didn't already receive support. The new program follows a successful model already helping teaching, nursing, midwifery, and social work students.

From July 2025, eligible students will receive up to $338.60 per week during their practical placements. The Commonwealth will invest $745 million in the program through the end of the decade.

Ten fields will benefit from the paid placements: clinical psychology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, paramedicine, radiography, pharmacy, rehabilitation therapies, audiology, and podiatry. These are all professions facing workforce shortages across the country.

The payments address a long-standing problem for healthcare students. Many degree programs require hundreds of unpaid placement hours, forcing students to choose between eating, paying rent, or completing their qualifications. Some students have had to drop out or delay graduation because they couldn't afford to work for free.

Albanese emphasized the dual purpose of the program. "Paid prac is already making a real difference, it's helping students with the cost of living while they train," he said. "This is an investment in our future healthcare workforce."

The Ripple Effect

The impact extends far beyond individual students' bank accounts. Australia faces critical shortages in all 10 fields now covered by the program, with rural and regional areas particularly affected.

When students can afford to complete their degrees without financial stress, more of them finish their training and enter the workforce. The original paid placement program for nurses and teachers has already shown this effect, with completion rates improving since its introduction just over a year ago.

Communities across Australia will benefit from having more allied health professionals available. Shorter wait times for physiotherapy, easier access to clinical psychologists, and better staffed ambulance services all flow from today's investment in students.

The program also sends a powerful message that practical training is real work deserving real pay. Students gain essential skills while serving real patients and clients during placements, contributing genuine value to healthcare facilities.

By 2030, this investment will have supported thousands of students through their training, building the healthcare workforce Australia needs for decades to come.