Statement by Charles Sturt University Vice-Chancellor Professor Renée Leon:

Charles Sturt University fully supports the campaign to expand the Commonwealth Prac Payment Scheme to include medical and allied health students. 

We would also like to see the scheme extended to include students in veterinary sciences, who face similar financial hardships in completing the practical components of their courses. 

Poverty placement is an issue for all Australian university students. But it disproportionately impacts regional students given the travel and accommodation costs frequently associated with their placements. 

With more limited options for placements, many of our students are required to relocate hundreds of kilometres from home for weeks and months at a time. They have to pay for accommodation and travel, often at a time when they are unable to continue working. 

This places a severe financial burden on students and their families, one which forces some to quit their courses. This is devastating for the students but also disastrous for the regional Australian communities which desperately need their skills and knowledge. 

There will be approximately 3400 Charles Sturt students studying medicine, allied health and veterinary science courses in 2026. With 70 per cent of our graduates going on to live and work in the regions, this cohort represents thousands of future doctors, pharmacists, physiotherapists, veterinarians and other allied health professionals for regional Australia. 

All they need is a little help. 

We were pleased last year to have CPP support offered to our nursing, midwifery, teaching and social work students. More than 1700 of our students in these fields have already benefited from these payments. 

But more assistance is urgently required, and we’ll continue to work with the Government to make the CPP more widely available, more cost effective and better aligned to student needs. 

We thank Dr Helen Haines MP, Senator David Pocock and Mr Andrew Gee MP for championing this important issue.