Live: Labor to extend paid placements to more care industry students

The prime minister will announce an expansion of the Commonwealth's "paid prac" scheme for students when he addresses Labor's National Conference. Follow live. Follow all the updates in our live blog. Thu 23 Jul 2026 at 7:37amThu 23 Jul 2026 at 7:37amExclusive: Labor to back Fair AI Taskforce to give workers a say over artificial intelligenceLabor will respond to growing anxiety about the rise of artificial intelligence with a new taskforce to give Australian workers a greater say in how the technology shapes the nation.Delegates are expected to endorse an amendment to the ALP's draft platform establishing a Fair AI Taskforce after a deal was brokered ahead of the party's 50th National Conference in Adelaide on Thursday.Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will use a keynote address at the opening of the three-day conference to announce the expansion of Labor's paid prac scheme to students in ten additional healthcare professions.Read the full exclusive story by chief digital political correspondent Clare Armstrong in the link below.Thu 23 Jul 2026 at 7:34amThu 23 Jul 2026 at 7:34amDavid Pocock urges Labor go further on paid prac expansionIndependent ACT senator David Pocock has welcomed the expansion of federal support for students undertaking unpaid placements but says it could go even further.The payment is currently available to nursing, midwifery, teaching and social work students and will now be extended to another 10 allied health courses including paramedicine, pharmacy, and occupational therapy.Speaking to ABC Radio Canberra, Pocock says it's a "really positive" change, but some areas are still missing."Too often these students are living in poverty while they complete hundreds, sometimes thousands of hours of unpaid prac to qualify their degrees," Pocock says."The missing piece in this is medical students and things like optometry."We can't expect that to become a doctor you need to come from a wealthy family."Thu 23 Jul 2026 at 7:32amThu 23 Jul 2026 at 7:32amClare says 'paid prac' expansion will encourage students to stay at universityThe education minister says the expansion of paid practical placements, or paid prac, to a further 10 university degrees will provide financial help for students.The PM will announce at the Labor National Conference today an expansion of the scheme to include students of clinical psychology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, paramedicine, radiography, pharmacy, rehabilitation therapies, audiology and podiatry.The payment provides eligible students $338.60 per week and is already available to teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students.Speaking to Channel Nine, Clare says the expansion will encourage students to stay at university and complete their degrees."These are the people who, when you ring Triple Zero, they come to your rescue, or when you hurt yourself, they help you to get back to work," Clare says."They're the frontline of our health system and this will help them to stay at uni and to finish their uni degrees."Thu 23 Jul 2026 at 7:20amThu 23 Jul 2026 at 7:20amClare defends government's gambling advertising action ahead of Labor conferenceEducation Minister Jason Clare has defended the government's action on gambling advertising before federal parliament.Labor wants to restrict gambling ads on daytime and early evening television, during school pick-up and drop-off hours on radio, and banning advertisements in stadiums and on player jerseys.The Nine newspapers have reported Labor raised more than $4 million in gambling donations in five years.Speaking to ABC Radio National Breakfast, Clare says the government has taken action"We know this is something that hurts and affects lots of Aussies across the country and we have taken stronger action than any government," Clare says."We take this seriously. There will always be some people that say we have done too much or we haven't done enough but the evidence is there in the reforms that we are implementing."Thu 23 Jul 2026 at 7:10amThu 23 Jul 2026 at 7:10amIndependent MP urges Labor to expand 'paid prac' to all care sector studentsIndependent MP Monique Ryan has backed a Labor plan to expand paid practical placements to more university students as part of cost-of-living measures.The PM will today announce an expansion of the scheme to include students of clinical psychology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, paramedicine, radiography, pharmacy, rehabilitation therapies, audiology and podiatry.Speaking to Channel Nine, Ryan says she's "incredibly glad" to see the government expand the Commonwealth's paid prac scheme.She says the scheme should be expanded to all students in the care sector."We can't have students living in their cars, missing meals or deferring their studies because they can't afford to undertake the studies to get the skills that we need them to have," Ryan says.Nationals frontbencher Bridget McKenzie says she's worried that any cost-of-living measures put forward by Labor will put pressure on inflation."My concern is that any solution the government puts on the table will actually make the problem of high inflation worse," McKenzie says.Thu 23 Jul 2026 at 7:02amThu 23 Jul 2026 at 7:02amGood morning 👋Hello and welcome to our federal politics live blog! It's great to have you join us here this crisp Thursday morning.I'm Josh Boscaini joining you live from Parliament House in Canberra, here and ready to bring you all of today's federal politics news.Labor members and heavyweights have descended on Adelaide to kick off the 50th Labor National Conference starting today.A gas export tax, gambling advertising and Gaza are likely to be the main issues to watch out for at today's conference, according to ABC national political lead David Speers.Meanwhile, the PM will today announce an expansion of the Commonwealth's paid prac scheme to include students of clinical psychology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, paramedicine, radiography, pharmacy, rehabilitation therapies, audiology and podiatry.Let's launch this blog and see what the day gives us!