A welcome expansion of the Commonwealth Prac Payment – but no healthcare student should be left behind

29 July 2026

The National Rural Health Student Network (NRHSN) welcomes the expansion of the Commonwealth Prac Payment to support ten additional allied health disciplines, building on existing support for nursing, midwifery and social work students. This is an important recognition of the financial burden created by mandatory clinical placements. 

Early findings from the NRHSN National Student Survey demonstrate the scale of placement poverty experienced by healthcare students across Australia. Of 185 respondents, 91.9% believed all healthcare students should be eligible for the CPP. Among respondents reporting on rural placement experiences, 82.7% experienced financial hardship, 78.7% reduced essential spending, and 20.5% had declined or avoided a rural placement because of financial pressure. 

The 2026 expansion to the CPP is a welcome step to addressing these concerns widely felt across our membership. The NRHSN remains hopeful for the inclusion of medical, dental and allied health students not recognised in this CPP expansion. We wish to see no healthcare student is left behind in this scheme.  

We stand alongside the remaining healthcare students and will continue to campaign for expansion of the CPP to support medical, dentistry, dietetics, exercise physiology, optometry, sonography and additional allied health students.  

“The expansion of the Commonwealth Prac Payment is a welcome prospect for many future health professionals,” said Campbell Barnes, Chair of the NRHSN.  

“However, since the introduction of the CPP in 2025, we’ve found that so many healthcare students across the country are struggling; students still excluded from the scheme in 2026,” he continued.  

“Supporting all healthcare students, particularly those undertaking rural and remote placements, is a vital step towards a stronger, more sustainable, more equitable healthcare system for Australians everywhere.” 

As the peak body for all rural health students in Australia, the NRHSN will continue advocating for fair and inclusive placement support across all healthcare disciplines.  

If you are a healthcare worker or student, help strengthen our understanding of the importance of expanding this scheme by completing our ongoing National Student Survey (click here).  

For media, contact vcoperations@nrhsn.org.au