STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Ms COFFEY (Griffith) (13:42): Students should not have to choose between completing a compulsory placement and paying the rent. I know this pressure firsthand. More than 20 years ago, when I first left high school, all I wanted to be was a teacher.

My intention was to graduate and start teaching. But, when it came to my final practicum, there was absolutely no way I could afford to give up work for that period. So I had to make the very difficult decision, all those years ago, to graduate with an arts degree and leave my education degree on the shelf, at that stage, for another two years, to save up.

I've had many conversations with staff, particularly young staff, at local pharmacies; at hospitals, like the PA, the Mater and Children's Hospital; and at urgent care clinics. In those conversations, I have heard just how important support is in the early stages of their career. I've heard from young people like Marcia in West End, who said: I took on a big debt to study psychology because I want to help people, especially those doing it tough.

We didn't choose these paths for money—we chose them because we care. Our Labor government has cut student debt by 20 per cent and lifted the repayment threshold, and now we are expanding paid prac to an additional 10 key frontline health professions. It will now reach 10 more professions, including clinical psychology, physiotherapy, pharmacy and paramedicine.

This has real value in Griffith. Around 17,000 Griffith residents work in health care and social assistance, and this expansion of paid prac will help more students join them. It offers practical cost-of-living relief, grows our local health workforce and strengthens Medicare.

Labor is backing students who choose to care for others.