STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Ms TEESDALE (Bass) (13:43): It was wonderful to welcome the Minister for Education, Jason Clare, to Launceston. He met with University of Tasmania pharmacy students to hear about the realities of mandatory placements. For students like Maddie, placements are essential to becoming qualified health professionals, but they come at a real cost.

Maddie completed a placement at St Helens, meaning long two-hour drives from Launceston each way, extra petrol costs and time away from paid work. I also understand some of that pressure firsthand. I studied teaching and spent six weeks on a placement in the Northern Territory.

It was really hard to cover my expenses back home whilst working up there. That's why I'm so pleased that our Albanese Labor government is expanding the Commonwealth paid prac payments. From July next year, eligible students studying pharmacy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, psych, paramedicine, radiography and other critical health disciplines will be able to access weekly support while completing these mandatory placements.

It means more help with the basics—petrol, food and other essential costs—and more time to focus on that critical learning that they're doing. This is about easing cost-of-living pressures, making university more accessible and ensuring financial hardship does not prevent talented people, like Maddie, from completing their qualifications. By supporting today's students, we're building the health workforce Tasmania will continue to rely on in the future.