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Subject: MEDIA RELEASE - JENNY MACKLIN - HOWARD GOVERNMENT FORCES PODIATRY COURSE CLOSURES AROUND THE COUNTRY - 2 February 2005
Media Release
Jenny Macklin MP
Deputy Federal Labor Leader
Shadow Minister for Education, Training, Science & Research
Federal Member for Jagajaga
HOWARD GOVERNMENT FORCES PODIATRY COURSE CLOSURES AROUND THE COUNTRY
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Australia’s aging population is about to face a drastic shortage of qualified people to look after their feet because the Howard Government’s cuts to higher education will force a staggering 40 per cent drop in the annual intake to Podiatry courses around the country.
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The Australasian Podiatry Council has been warning of the shortages for several years and the situation is about to get worse.
The Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council (AHMAC) ranked Podiatry top of the list for shortages in 2001. A report from the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (Podiatrist - State: Victoria. Labour Market Shortage, 2003) and another from the Health Professions Council of Australia (Solving the crisis in clinical education for Australia's health professions, 2004) also identified a severe skill shortage.
Despite a national shortage of podiatrists, the Howard Government’s inadequate university funding is forcing more course closures around the country.
Two years ago Podiatry had six courses offering a total of around 200 places - LaTrobe University 50-60 students, University of Western Sydney 50 places, Curtin University 30, Queensland University of Technology 30, University of South Australia 20 and Charles Sturt University 12.
But, because of under-funding by the Howard Government, Curtin has not taken on students in 2005 and the University of Western Sydney has indicated it may not take any for the next two years.
That means a staggering 80 places out of the 200 available are being ripped out of a sector that is already suffering a serious skills shortage.
These cuts in Podiatry courses are more evidence that the Howard Government is drastically under-funding allied health sciences in Australian universities.
The Howard Government must fund our universities properly and create more funded places for Australians to study Podiatry.
The Howard Government’s skills crisis is set to worsen as the Howard Government’s punitive university funding agreements take effect this year.
Last edited by Admin : 2nd February 2005 at 01:53 AM.
Todays Australian sort of picked up on the above press release, BUT....
Quote:
Nursing students miss out on places
Samantha Maiden
February 04, 2005
UNIVERSITIES are turning away hundreds of qualified applicants for nursing degrees despite the critical shortage of health professionals.
Blaming lack of university places for nursing, academics warned yesterday of a looming workforce crisis as older nurses retire.
And doubts emerged yesterday over the Howard Government's pledge to freeze HECS increases for nurses and teachers, with the Department of Education admitting it was difficult to estimate the cost of a degree this year.
At La Trobe University in Victoria, about 2,000 students applied for 100 nursing places, with 600 qualified students turned away despite securing a cut-off score above 70.
In NSW, the Charles Sturt University's distance education nursing course attracted 500 applications for 100 places.
Four out of the five campuses that offered the course – Bathurst, Wagga Wagga, Lithgow and Albury – were oversubscribed.
Opposition health spokeswoman Jenny Macklin said yesterday it was unfair so many talented students had missed out on a place.
"The Howard Government is wasting the talent and potential of young Victorians who are qualified to get a university degree – including people who want to study in areas where the state desperately needs more skills," she said.
"Would-be nurses are being turned away from university despite the fact that Victoria desperately needs more nurses for our hospital wards.
"The Government should be encouraging more Victorians to study nursing, not slamming the door on their ambitions and dreams."
Federal Education Minister Brendan Nelson announced 574 new nursing places for regional campuses last year and 745 new places for national priority areas of teaching and nursing for private higher education providers.
Stephen Duckett, of La Trobe University, yesterday blamed both the Bracks and Howard governments for failing to fund nursing courses adequately.
"Across the health sector there is a number of shortages in physiotherapy, podiatry," Professor Duckett said.
"At La Trobe University, we have a number of well-qualified students who can't find a place.
"Obviously, this calls for increased investment in health sciences. We also need the state Government to ensure the clinical placements are available."
Democrats leader Lyn Allison yesterday called on Dr Nelson to clarify the true costs of the teaching and nursing courses. Despite pledging that nursing and teaching courses would be exempt from HECS increases to encourage students to study in areas of skills shortages, students studying elective subjects in maths, science and technology are being charged extra.
"We are facing critical shortages of teachers and nurses, and the Government must address these issues urgently," Senator Allison said.
"If teaching students are choosing maths, science or technology units as electives, they will be adding a considerable amount to their HECS debt, although in many cases they are required to take electives in fields other than education.
"This is in direct contradiction to the Government's review of teaching and teacher education, which recommended incentives for prospective teachers of maths, science and technology, such as the payment of their HECS and scholarships, rather than charging them more."
Senator Allison said she was concerned that universities might classify the compulsory units of nursing degrees as health and science units, which can be almost twice as expensive.
This is all rather too close to my heart for comfort. Two things I would say however to fuel the debate on the Arena is don't believe everything you read in print and by that I mean attacking Federal funding for closures and shortages assumes all is well in individual universities and that would be a big assumption. Conditions apply but the situations at UWS and Curtin University were quite different and I would suggest worth a closer inspection, before grouping these together as a phenomenon.
Collectively there is a crisis now or certainly in the near future there will be a shortage of podiatrists in Australia. But whilst not being self-sufficient in producing their own, Australia can always accept overseas graduates which is after all cheaper for the government to do.
My second point is by flagging up the issue of closure in this manner and putting the blame squarely on absence of Federal funding may bring in its wake not a return to that which was once before, but instead new innovations which severely challenge the very existence of the mono disciplines which are so grossly lessened in number.
Me thinks Nero has been fiddling while Rome burns, and the absence of a non-proactive political podiatry governance in Australia has reaped what it sowed.
I did notice that no news outlet in Australia picked up on the original press release above. All we got was the story in the Australian newspaper above.
Press Release: Howard government force podiatry course closures.
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