QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Senator McALLISTER (New South Wales—Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) (14:56): Thank you, Senator Smith. Right now, a student training to be a radiographer has to complete more than a year of unpaid placement before they graduate. A student training to be a paramedic, an audiologist or a podiatrist often has to move away from home to complete training.

Until now, they've done that all for free while still paying rent. That changes under this government. We are expanding the Commonwealth prac payment to 10 more frontline health professions.

Future psychologists, pharmacists and podiatrists will now get up to $338.60 a week while they train. That's in addition to the teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students who are already receiving it. Think about what it actually means in practice.

From next July, a physio student doing a placement at a regional hospital hours from home can better afford petrol or accommodation. An OT student completing their 1,000 hours of placement doesn't have to choose between their degree and their bills. Tens of thousands of students will benefit from this payment, and it builds on what this government has already done on cost of living for students by cutting student debt by 20 per cent.

It matters. These are the people who look after us when we're sick. These are the people who will support Australians with disability.

These are the people who will care for older Australians in their own homes, and we need more of them, not fewer. This is what strengthening Medicare actually looks like—making sure that the future generation of health workers can afford to finish their training. The PRESIDENT: Senator Smith, first supplementary?