Paid prac starts today
Commonwealth Prac Payments start today for nursing, midwifery, teaching and social work students.
Eligible students will receive $331.65 per week while doing the mandatory prac placements as part of their degree, which has been benchmarked to the single Austudy per week rate.
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.
Newly published grant guidelines will make sure the Commonwealth Prac Payment is fair and accessible to eligible students.
This includes students who may face additional challenges due to disability, health, or acute family circumstances and life events.
Acting on the Universities Accord recommendation, this payment will help students with cost of living and encourage more people to study nursing, midwifery, teaching and social work.
University students will be able to apply for the Prac Payment through their higher education providers.
TAFE students enrolled in a Diploma of Nursing will have their payment administered directly by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.
For more information for higher education:
Commonwealth Prac Payment (CPP) - Department of Education, Australian Government
Quotes attributable to Minister for Education Jason Clare:
“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.
“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 uni, 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 bills.”