NAPSA National President Sebastian Harper (pictured)announced the establishment of a Health Students Alliance at the NAPSA Congress 2025 last night.
The Health Students Alliance is an independent body formed by 29 student associations representing multiple healthcare disciplines, including pharmacy, physiotherapy and psychology.
The Alliance is calling for the expansion of the Commonwealth Prac Payments beyond teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students, and continues NAPSA's advocacy for students suffering from placement poverty.
Healthcare students face up to 1,000 hours of unpaid "placements", making it nearly impossible to balance paid work while studying.
A national survey revealed that 84% of pharmacy students had to take unpaid leave from jobs to complete mandatory placements, with 86% experiencing financial hardship, and over half (56%) reporting skipping meals due to financial strain.
The alliance represents tens of thousands of pharmacy and allied health students who currently face significant financial hardship to complete the mandatory work placement portion of their studies.
It will be campaigning for financial support to be extended to students in pharmacy and allied health degrees from Jul 2025, bringing them into line with other health disciplines.
"Many of the country's brightest future healthcare professionals are being driven into placement poverty - unable to afford food, groceries, or rent, with some even facing homelessness - at the height of a cost-of-living crisis," said Harper, speaking on behalf of the Health Students Alliance.
The Government's decision to provide placement allowance to students training to be nurses, teachers and social workers was a good first step, Harper said, but there is no good reason why it should not apply to student in other health professions.
The Alliance is calling on students from all health disciplines to provide their stories of placement poverty, and student associations across the country are invited to join the Alliance. KB
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