Free uni for nurses could shrink care workforce: peak unions

Victoria’s plan to pay for nurses' and midwives' studies in exchange for working in public hospitals has raised concerns for the staff-stricken aged care sector.

Victorian premier Dan Andrews announced in August that over 10,000 students will receive undergraduate scholarships of up to $16,500 to cover the costs of nursing and midwifery degrees.

The plan joins efforts to relieve pressure on the state’s public hospital system which has buckled under rising flu and Covid-19 infections in recent winter months.

Students will receive $9000 over the first three years of study and the remaining $7500 would be paid off if they work in the Victorian public health services for two years.

Paul Sadler, interim chief of the Aged & Community Care Providers Association, welcomed increased support for nurses but said the plan did not provide any immediate benefit for the aged care workforce.

“Aged care providers in residential, home and community care are struggling now to provide services and in many cases are either being forced to leave beds empty or turn down new clients because they cannot fill staff vacancies,” he said.

“We need to recruit more staff as quickly as possible and we need a practical and realistic plan to get there that avoids adding to the pressure staff and providers are currently under.”

​Estimates suggest 35,000 additional aged care workers are needed annually to fill growing aged care skill shortages nationwide. 

The government’s Job and Skills Summit, which starts today, will focus on wage growth, bargaining and removing barriers for overseas workers to fill urgent job vacancies in nursing homes.

Following Victoria’s announcement, Australian Private Hospitals Association chief Michael Roff said the plan could ignite a “bidding war” among states and exacerbate shortages elsewhere.  

“This move could force the closure of services in the private sector and that is not good news for the state’s public hospital system,” said Australian Private Hospitals Association chief, Michael Roff.

“The Victorian Premier’s plan will also undermine the federal government’s plan to attract more nurses into aged care.

“If they are training only to go into public hospitals, there are no nurses for the federally managed aged care sector.”

Peak health bodies are now calling on federal Health Minister Mark Butler to intervene to ensure Australia has a national strategy to address health workforce shortages.

“The intent of this announcement is to improve the health of Victorians,” Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association chief Ken Griffin said.

“In its current form, it will fail to do this by undermining health settings such as aged care and general practice.”

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