July 21, 2025Last Thursday, Northern Health welcomed The Hon Richard Marles MP, Deputy Prime Minister, Basem Abdo MP, Federal Member for Calwell, Senator Michelle Ananda-Rajah (Senator for Victoria), and Kathleen Matthews Ward, Member for Broadmeadows in the Legislative Assembly, to Broadmeadows Hospital.
The Deputy PM and accompany ministers and senator, met with Alan Lilly, Board Chair, Northern Health, Debra Bourne, Chief Executive, Northern Health, A/Professor Jason Cirone, Chief Allied Health Officer, and other Northern Health stakeholders, to promote the Commonwealth Prac Payments for nursing, midwifery, teaching and social work students.
Eligible students will receive $331.65 per week while doing their mandatory prac placements as part of their degree. This new payment will provide cost-of-living relief for around 68,000 eligible higher education students and more than 5,000 VET students each year.
The prac placement is a mandatory period of supervised work experience that students undertake as part of their degree or vocational training. These placements are crucial to applying theoretical knowledge to real-world situations, developing practical skills and gain experience in their chosen field. For some students, these placements can be unpaid or require significant time and financial commitment, leading to “placement poverty.”
During the visit, they toured Broadmeadows Surgical Centre and Unit 1 (Medical Surgical Ward), where they met with students who will benefit from the payments.
“Our Victorian nursing students are a national asset we want to grow. The paid-pracs will help retain nursing students during their studies. This is vital cost of living support, so that we don’t just attract talent, but enable these students to succeed,” said Senator Ananda-Rajah.
Minister for Education Jason Clare announced the Commonwealth Prac Payments on 1 July.
“This will give people who have signed up to do some of the most important jobs in this country a bit of extra help to get the qualifications they need,” he said.
“These are people who are going to teach our kids, who are going to look after us when we’re sick or when we’re old, going to help women during childbirth and help support women in domestic violence refuges.”
“And that’s why this is important. It’s a bit of practical support for people while they do their practical training.”
“Placement poverty is a real thing. I have met students who told me they can afford to go to university, but they can’t afford to do the prac. Some students say prac means they have to give up their part-time job, and that they don’t have the money to pay the bill.”
To find out more about the Commonwealth Prac Payment, please click here.
Pictured in featured image (L-R): Debra Bourne, CE, Alan Lily, Board Member, The Hon Richard Marles MP, Deputy Prime Minister, Basem Abdo MP, Senator Michelle Ananda-Rajah, and Kathleen Matthews Ward, Member for Broadmeadows in the Legislative Assembly.
