Students to protest against ‘placement poverty’

The exploitative nature of unpaid student placements has caused controversy for quite some time. Today (12 April), students are rallying to try to put an end to it.

Protestors will gather in Sydney’s CBD at 12pm, at the Commonwealth Parliament Offices, calling on the government to fully fund placements, make unpaid placements illegal, and update accreditation requirements to better recognise prior learning and professional experience.

Dubbed “placement poverty,” students who are often required to work multiple hours unpaid, in order to graduate, are struggling to balance this exploitative work with other commitments. Especially during the current cost-of-living crisis, these placements can be unfeasible.

“Unpaid student work placements are unfair and unacceptable. Social work students are required to complete 1,000 hours of unpaid placements – that’s about six months full-time work with no pay,” commented ASU NSW and ACT secretary, Angus McFarland.

“Students who are willing to join essential workforces such as social work are struggling to make ends meet and dropping out of their courses entirely because they can’t afford to complete unpaid placements. It’s time for the federal government to act on the calls coming from students, workers, academics, and the Australian Universities Accord - fully fund work placements now.”

HR Leader recently reported on unpaid placements, and how this system can put strain on people trying to enter essential roles, such as nursing, teaching, and social work.

Under the Fair Work Act, student placements can, but don’t have to, be paid by the employer. In fact, the placement can be lawfully unpaid so long as the following criteria are followed:

• There must be a placement: This can be arranged by the educational or training institution, or a student may initiate the placement with an individual business directly, in line with the requirements of their course.

• There is no entitlement to pay for the work the student undertakes: Where a student’s contract with the host business or organisation entitles them to receive money for the work they perform, the placement will likely have turned into an employment relationship. Similarly, work arrangements covered by industrial awards or agreements are not student placements.

• The placement must be done as a requirement of an education or training course: The placement must be a required component of the course as a whole or of an individual subject or module of the course. It doesn’t matter whether that subject is compulsory or an elective chosen by the student.

• The placement must be one that is approved: The institution delivering the course that provides for the placement must be authorised under an Australian, state or territory law or an administrative arrangement of the Commonwealth or a state or territory to do so. Courses offered at universities, TAFE colleges and schools (whether public or private) will all satisfy this requirement, as will bodies authorised to offer training courses under state or territory legislation.

Students Against Placement Poverty spokesperson and social work student, Isaac Wattenberg discussed the planned protest, noting the irrational strain placed on students: “Rents, groceries, the cost of living is sky-high – it’s unaffordable and unsustainable for my peers and I to take months off paid work to complete mandatory unpaid placements.”

“A day's work deserves fair compensation. Students will no longer accept being exploited. Placement poverty is real and damaging - it must end.”

Jack Campbell

Jack is the editor at HR Leader.