The Prime Minister will open Labor’s National Conference in Adelaide on Thursday by announcing a major expansion to the number of university degrees that will be eligible for Commonwealth Prac Payments.
Currently the weekly payment of $338.60 is offered to teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students while they are undertaking mandatory placements.
The new list of eligible degrees will expand from July 1, 2027, to include clinical psychology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, paramedicine, radiography, pharmacy, rehabilitation therapies and podiatry.
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The Albanese Government argues the expansion will provide cost of living relief for students and support the nation’s future healthcare workforce.
“Paid prac is already making a real difference — it’s helping students with cost of living while they train and that’s why we’re expanding it,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says.
“This is an investment in our future healthcare workforce. We need more of them and this will help more Australians get the qualifications our nation needs.”
Pharmacy students will now be eligible to receive the payment. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS) Credit: AAP The payments are means tested and benchmarked to the single Austudy rate and indexed annually.
Labor also says the plan helps students doing placements when they have to relocate, including in the bush.
“Paid prac helps to pay the bills, pay the rent and pay for things like petrol and parking,” Education Minister Jason Clare says.
“Paid prac is making a difference now for students training for some of the most important jobs in our country.”
The Government says the expansion of the scheme to 2030 will cost an extra $158 million.
That takes total investment in paid prac over that period to $745 million.
The widening of the policy also means an extra 20,000 students will get access, taking the total number of students who will receive support to 90,000.
PM’s speech to confront One Nation challenge The Prime Minister’s speech at the opening of the Labor Conference on Thursday morning will also extend an olive branch to voters who are thinking of swinging their support behind One Nation.
Albanese will address the cost-of-living during his Leader’s Foreword at the Adelaide Convention Centre.
7NEWS has received a draft copy of the address that will be made to the Labor party faithful at the 50th edition of the Conference.
“I understand that for many Australians right now, looking to the future runs second to the immediate pressures they are under,” Albanese is expected to say.
“The last decade has inflicted one global shock after another.
Anthony Albanese will deliver the opening address at the 50th ALP national conference. (Jay Kogler/AAP PHOTOS) Credit: AAP “And people have been given every reason to feel like the economy is simply not working for them.
“That goes deeper than sentiment, it’s a reality people are up against.
“It is a challenge confronting governments and democracies right around the world.
“That is why our focus remains squarely on helping with the cost of living, on the practical measures that matter to people and make a positive difference to their lives.
“A list of problems only counts for something if it comes with solutions.
“And while you can go a long way in politics, for a long time, by raging against a system that you are a part of, without a plan to fix it.”
Road to the next election The latest Newspoll published on Monday shows the next election is wide open.
Labor and One Nation are tied on a primary vote of 30 per cent, while the Coalition is sitting on 19 per cent.
The National Labor Conference is a key moment as it sets the policy agenda for its MPs and Senators in Canberra.
Issues on the agenda at the 50th Labor conference, which runs from Thursday to Saturday, includes Middle East policy, artificial intelligence, gas taxes and gambling reform.
The party is eager to avoid the factional brawls of years past.