Allied Health Professions Australia (AHPA) has launched a national petition urging the Australian Government to expand the Commonwealth Prac Payment to cover all allied health students, including optometry undergraduates, arguing financial barriers should not prevent them from completing mandatory clinical placements. 

AHPA joined Independent MP Dr Helen Haines and Australian Capital Territory Senator David Pocock to call for broader eligibility beyond the scheme’s current support for teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students. AHPA said allied health students are required to complete hundreds and,  in some cases thousands, of hours of unpaid placement, with many facing ‘placement poverty’ as they lose income and incur costs such as rent, travel and food. 

Chief executive officer Bronwyn Morris-Donovan said expanding the payment would be “a practical and immediate step” to strengthen the workforce pipeline, noting more than half of allied health professions are in shortage nationally. “Extending the Prac Payment to allied health students is not optional – it’s essential,” she said, adding that financial pressures are pushing students “to the brink” and undermining workforce sustainability. 

Morris-Donovan said the burden falls hardest on rural students, mature-age students with caring responsibilities, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and those experiencing financial disadvantage, warning that equitable placement support is critical to building a more diverse workforce and maintaining access to allied health services across the NDIS, aged care and other settings. 

Optometry Australia (OA) said it supports AHPA in calling for the expansion of the payment to include all allied health students. “Expanding placement support is a practical step to reduce financial hardship, strengthen workforce sustainability and ensure students can complete their training without unnecessary barriers. This is an important step in ensuring the profession continues to reflect the communities it serves, including those in rural, regional and remote Australia.”