PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS

Ms COMER (Petrie) (13:17): I rise in support of this motion put forward by the phenomenal member for Holt. The Commonwealth prac payment is exactly the kind of practical reform that makes a real change to students, families and our future workforce. For too long, students studying in some of the most important professions in our country have been required to complete long periods of mandatory placement while also trying to keep a roof over their head, put food on the table and pay the everyday costs of getting to and from work.

For many students, placement has meant cutting back on shifts from their paid job or giving up that other income entirely. That is why Labor introduced paid prac for eligible nursing, midwifery, social work and teaching students—to make sure that completing practical training required for a qualification does not become an impossible financial burden. This issue is very real in my community.

Around 20 per cent of people in the electorate of Petrie have a bachelor's degree or higher. Many of those people went to university at a time when there was no Commonwealth payment to support them through mandatory placements. They studied, they worked, they completed their prac and they somehow found a way to cover their rent, groceries and bills at the same time.

For the next generation in Petrie, that experience can be different. Future nurses in North Lakes, teachers in Bracken Ridge, midwives in Redcliffe and social workers right across our community can now have financial support while they undertake the practical work they need to complete their degree. They'll still have to work hard and they'll still have to meet the same professional standards, but they'll not be expected to shoulder quite the same financial burden simply because part of their qualification requires them to be out in the workforce learning their profession.

This government is now expanding the support even further. From 1 July 2027, eligible students in another 10 frontline health professions will also be able to access paid prac. That includes students studying clinical psychology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, paramedicine, radiography, pharmacy, rehabilitation therapies, audiology and podiatry.

These are the professionals people rely on at some of the most important moments of their lives: when they're sick, when they're recovering from an injury, when they're living with a disability or when they need urgent care. The practical component of these degrees is not small. In some courses, students can spend more than a year of their degree undertaking practical training.

During these periods, many have less opportunity to earn an income, and some have additional costs because they need to travel or temporarily relocate for the placement. And the rents keep coming. Petrol still needs to go in the car.

Parking still needs to be paid for. Sometimes students are effectively covering the cost of living in two different places. That is particularly important when we talk about regional and remote communities.

We know those communities often face some of the greatest shortages of health professionals, but sending students hundreds of kilometres away for placement can bring extra travel, accommodation and relocation costs. If we want more students to experience regional practice and more graduates to consider working outside of the major cities, we need to remove some of those financial barriers.

I just want to touch on a personal matter. I think paid prac is such an important thing for our community. My mum worked multiple jobs whilst also studying nursing first at TAFE and then at university.

She was taking on more jobs so she could pay to raise her four children, and then she was doing unpaid work through mandatory placements. That meant mum wasn't at home a lot. Paid prac is not only adding benefit in the way I previously mentioned; it's also enabling parents to spend more time with their kids.

And I think everyone in this parliament would agree that it's a good thing that parents spend more time with their kids, giving them guidance and support and being there for the incredible milestones of their lives. Paid prac makes a big difference to people. It's $338.60 a week, benchmarked at the single Austudy rate and indexed annually.

Whilst that payment might not be able to cover every expense, it's going to make a major and meaningful difference to their lives, whether that's through paying for the groceries for the week, paying for the fuel to get to placement or helping with rent. It's really important that this paid prac has been expanded to help meet some of those basic needs of our students and the future workforce.

This is not only education policy; it is workforce policy, and it is Medicare policy. A stronger Medicare system needs the people to deliver it. We need more nurses, pharmacists, psychologists, physiotherapists, paramedics, occupational therapists and other allied health professionals, and supporting our students through their placements helps them to complete their qualification and to move into these incredibly important professions.