The Rudd Government today provided a timely boost to the future of health in the ACT and surrounding areas.
Up to $2.2 million will be committed to support additional clinical training places for students at local universities which will encourage more health students to study and work in and around the ACT.
The Australian National University and the University of Canberra will share in up to an additional $2.2 million in funding under the Rudd Government’s $67.5 million Increased Clinical Training Capacity grants.
This will support approximately 216 additional clinical training placements for students currently enrolled in medicine, nursing, optometry, physiotherapy, social work, dentistry, podiatry and a number of other disciplines. The placement opportunities will be provided in practices throughout the ACT and surrounding areas – including Queanbeyan, Goulburn, Cooma, Moruya, Bega and Narooma.
Many of these clinical placements use a variety of community and private settings not traditionally used for this type of training. Students will benefit from new supervision and mentoring mechanisms and will get to experience work in team-based training.
The ACT grants will also fund opportunities ranging from placements in Indigenous health services and the establishment of three student-nurse-led wards in aged care settings, through to supporting placements at Queanbeyan District Hospital.
Providing high-quality clinical training opportunities in diverse settings will help attract more students to learn and work across the private, public and not for profit health sectors in Australia. This means more Australians will get better access to appropriate health care, regardless of their location.
Investing in more clinical training places is a key plank of the Australian Government’s plan to build a National Health and Hospitals Network.
This week’s Budget confirmed $640 million for medical training programs that, combined with previous investments, will deliver an additional 5,500 GPs or GPs-in-training, 5,400 prevocational general practice placements, and 680 more specialists over the next decade.
This will help tackle doctor shortages in communities throughout Australia, expand the capacity of our health system and deliver better local health and hospitals services.
Grant recipients:
| Lead Organisation | Partner Organisation | Project Description / Funding | Location/s |
| Australian National University | Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Services (ACT), Katungal Aboriginal Corporation Community and Medical Services | Initial staffing costs to provide vertically integrated and multidisciplinary placements in urban and regional Aboriginal health services. Up to 14 additional placement for Indigenous health medical students.
Grant of up to $0.08m |
Canberra, Moruya, Narooma and Bega (NSW) |
| University of Canberra | Calvary Retirement Community, Cbr, Villaggio Sant’ Antonio, Morshead Home | This project will establish three student-nurse-led wards to deliver nursing care across three high care residential aged care and dementia-specific services (nursing homes) in the ACT. Up to 36 additional nursing placements.
Grant of up to $0.62m |
Canberra |
| University of Canberra | University of Canberra health clinics | This project will provide a non-traditional placement setting in the ACT in a multi-disciplinary student-led clinic expanding placements in physiotherapy and dietetics. Up to 38 additional placements.
Grant up to $0.41m |
Canberra |
| Australian National University | Greater Southern Area Health Service | Equipment and staffing to support medical placements in a small district hospital (Queanbeyan, NSW) that operates on a rural model in conjunction with regional GPs. Up to 48 additional placements for medical students.
Grant up to $0.08m |
Queanbeyan and surrounding areas |
| University of Canberra | Greater Southern Area Health Service | Initial staffing costs to establish Rural Clinical Training Stream in allied health with conjointly appointed clinical educators to directly increase placements in the Eastern Sector of the Greater Southern Area Health Service. Up to 80 additional placements.
Grant up to $0.97m |
Queanbeyan, Goulburn & Cooma |
