UNE Medicine and Health breathed a sigh of relief when it was announced yesterday, that from July 2025, a means tested payment to assist Nursing, and Social Work students on placement would be on offer to address placement poverty.
UNE Social Work, like other disciplines in Medicine and Health, have seen first-hand the impacts of physical, emotional and financial stress on students. The UNE social work team has been supporting the advocacy work of Students Against Placement Poverty (a lobby group led by students across Australia) as well as the significant research advocacy as a member of the Australian Council of heads of social work education (ACHSWE) that directly led to the decision shared yesterday to provide funds to assist placement completion.
Associate Professor Sarah Wayland, from Social Work at UNE, explained that at present students in the Bachelor and Master’s program undertake 1000 hours of unpaid placement.
“For years we have seen Students strategically plan these placements to juggle childcare costs, petrol and travel needs, they have moved to placement locations as well as studying through a time of a significant cost of living crisis. Students tell us about working after hours and on weekends during placement to keep earning money, or pooling annual leave from their jobs to be able to engage in work integrated learning. It’s heartbreaking when we know how integral placement is, yet the costs to the students are so high”, she explains.
It’s heartbreaking when we know how integral placement is, yet the costs to the students are so high.
Professor Jen Williams, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Heath at UNE supports these ground-breaking changes, especially for students undertaking placements in rural, regional and remote communities where the allied health workforce needs new graduates to be able to continue to deliver evidence-based health and wellbeing supports.
"This initiative is particularly important in enabling health professional students to undertake placements in rural and remote areas, despite associated travel and accommodation costs and loss of income. We know that a positive experience in these areas of health workforce shortage confers a much greater likelihood of students returning to practice in the regions. By eradicating placement poverty, this scheme will help UNE achieve its mission of educating health professionals for regional communities.”
We know that a positive experience in these areas of health workforce shortage confers a much greater likelihood of students returning to practice in the regions.
