Australian Government Excludes Medical Students from Commonwealth Prac Payment, Raising Training Concerns

The Australian Government expanded the Commonwealth Prac Payment (CPP) to ten allied‑health disciplines but left medical students out of the scheme. The Australian Indigenous Doctors' Association (AIDA) and the Australian Medical Association (AMA) criticised the exclusion, noting that medical students must complete up to 4,000 hours of mandatory, unpaid clinical placements and often cannot take regular paid work. AIDA argued the policy creates a financial barrier for First Nations students and others from low‑income backgrounds, while the AMA warned it could deter students from rural placements and undermine workforce diversity.

Separately, the AMA ACT warned that specialist training in Canberra is under pressure, with potential shortages of dermatologists, intensive‑care specialists and orthopaedic surgeons. A survey of senior doctors highlighted increasing service demands and limited supervision capacity, risking the future supply of consultants. The AMA ACT called for an urgent review of training capacity, supervision, and workforce planning to protect specialist training pipelines.