Current and future healthcare students will be given a greater incentive to join the workforce as part of a NSW budget measure to boost staff numbers.
Study subsidies worth $4000 a year for new students and a one-off $8000 payment for existing students will be provided in a bid to address the sector’s recruitment crisis.
The Minns Labor government will hand down its first budget next week, promising to rebuild essential services.
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From January 1, 2024, 12,000 health student subsidies will be available under a $121.9 million budget allocation over five years.
The program will be open to all healthcare degrees and the government hopes to attract 850 student nurses, 400 medical students and 150 people studying midwifery each year.
Students in paramedicine, Aboriginal health, physiotherapy and occupational therapy are also expected to benefit.
Those already studying will be eligible to apply for an $8000 one-off payment upon graduation to ensure existing students are also recognised.
Health Minister Ryan Park said the measures would not only help recruit more health workers, but also make it easier to retain staff.
“This is about making sure that we have the healthcare professionals for the future, it’s making sure we have a pipeline of healthcare professionals ready to go,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
“The only way we’re going to do that is to make sure we’re driving some incentives into those early staff programs.”
The pledge comes ahead of a planned paramedics’ protest for better pay and recognition outside NSW parliament as state MPs return in the lead-up to the budget.
Health Services Union NSW president Gerard Hayes said paramedics weren’t being recognised for their skills and essential work under current pay arrangements.
“Paramedics are not a nice-to-have, they are a must-have,” he said.
“You can’t keep expecting them to take the hit on behalf of the broader community.”
Union members have deferred a decision on a proposed four per cent pay rise, which they say fails to reflect their increased clinic responsibilities.
Nurses and midwives last month narrowly agreed to a similar offer, which will be back-paid to July.
Park acknowledged paramedics were an important part of the state’s health system, but would not be drawn on details of the ongoing pay discussions, which he said would continue this week.
“We know that there are some challenges ahead in terms of the budget, but we also know that we have to continue to focus on our central healthcare workers,” he said.
“I’ve also got to make sure that as a cabinet minister, we continue to deliver the health services we need in a sustainable way.”
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