STUDENTS WELCOME EXPANSION OF THE COMMONWEALTH PRAC PAYMENT
Cost of living relief for students training in national skills shortage fields
With
Dr Rik Dawson,
APA Gerontological Physiotherapist &
National President,
Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) &
Postdoctoral Researcher
Institute for Musculoskeletal Health,
University of Sydney
Jianqi Li, new graduate physiotherapist
Early Career Representative, Australian Physiotherapy Association
Benjamin Tze Yong Ong, Final-year physiotherapy student,
University of Queensland & APA National Student Representative
Mia Avram
Fourth-year pharmacy student at Monash University &
National President,
National Australian Pharmacy Students’ Association (NAPSA)
Divya Lal, Community Pharmacist &
NSW/ACT State Manager,
Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA)
SEGMENT
Filmed in Sydney & Brisbane | August 2026
The Australian Government is expanding the Commonwealth Prac Payment to eligible students in 10 additional frontline allied health disciplines, providing financial support during mandatory university placements.
From 1 July 2027, eligible students studying audiology, pharmacy, radiography, clinical psychology, physiotherapy, rehabilitation therapies, occupational therapy, podiatry, speech pathology and paramedicine will be able to access the payment.
The expansion builds on the payment currently available to eligible teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students, and is expected to support around 95,000 students each year, including an additional 21,000 higher education students in frontline allied health courses.
The Government says the initiative will help address workforce shortages by supporting students to complete their studies and enter frontline health professions, particularly in areas such as primary care, hospitals, aged care, disability and regional communities.
Australian Health Journal spoke with representatives of two industry bodies who lobbied for the expansion, Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) & Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA).
Source: Adapted from the “Expansion of the Commonwealth Prac Payment Factsheet”, July 2026, Department of Education, Australian Government
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Student nurse placements in primary health care
With an urgent need to manage increasing rates of chronic disease, an ageing population, and a rapidly-ageing primary health care nurse workforce, Australia desperately needs more primary health care nurses to enter the workforce before the current generation retires and cannot pass on its skills.
Most nurses start their career in a hospital. Historically, it was difficult for universities and tertiary education providers to arrange placements for student nurses in primary health care. However, the APNA Student Nurse Placement Program provides student nurses with a foot in the door to a career in vibrant primary health care settings such as general practice or community health to perform supervised activities.
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Raising awareness, engagement and inclusion of Allied Health
Anita Hobson-Powell holds the position of Chief Allied Health Officer for the Australian Government within the Department of Health and Aged Care. With a background as an exercise physiologist and extensive experience leading allied health professional associations*, she has been entrusted with three main priorities. First, she aims to raise awareness about the significance of allied health professionals and their role in the healthcare system. This involves ensuring that decision makers and individuals engaging with health services understand the contributions of allied health professionals.
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Australian Healthcare Week 2019: Pitch Fest Finalist Coviu
Telelheath startup company Coviu was a Pitch Fest Finalist at last week’s Australian Healthcare Week Expo in Sydney. The Coviu platform has been developed as an spinoff from CSIRO and allows healthcare businesses offer video consultations to their own patients. It differs from being just a ‘talking head’ platform that Skype or Zoom could offer, by providing clinical tools integrated within the app. Anne Dao spoke with Co-founder and CEO Silvia Pfeiffer about the company and platform’s journey to date and its longer term goals.
Coviu helps healtcare businesses by helping fit in more consultation during that day and reducing no-shows for appointments. Also given the nature of the dispersed population, the application reaches to rural and regional areas where patients are a long distance from their healthcare provider. The company is focused on the Australian market and aims to enter the US market next year
