A new scholarship program announced by the state government is hoping to address workplace shortages facing the allied health sector in Tasmania.
Targeted at professions including psychology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, pharmacy and more, up to 45 students will receive a $25,000-payment to stay in — or move to — Tasmania to take up jobs with the Tasmanian Health Service (THS).
The scholarship would see an initial payment of $15,000 to assist recipients with their study fees.
Upon completing three years of service in the THS, a further $10,000 would be given, with the program targeted at students completing their final year of study this year.
Hobart pharmacy intern Chloe Winkler Sheean said having this payment available to her when she graduated would have made her job selection easy.
"I was actually originally offered a job at the Launceston Hospital and I was weighing up if moving was a good idea," she said.
Also on her mind was a relocation to Queensland to pursue her career elsewhere.
"If I was offered the scholarship, that would have given me more incentive to go to Launceston," she said.
Ms Winkler Sheean said it was a decision a lot of University of Tasmania graduates struggled with.
"We're all down in Hobart here studying, and if we had to move it's a bit harder to move somewhere else in the state because you kind of want to go elsewhere to experience new things," she said.
"If we had incentives to stay in the state and put ourselves in those different situations, I think you're going to get a lot more people in those areas."
For example, she said she knew Tasmania's hospitals had a strong capacity to take on pharmacy interns — but that this year, not all positions had been filled in either Hobart or the north-west — with other allied health professions also struggling with workforce gaps.
"I think... the scholarship will also help people settle down and not back out of their offers," Ms Winkler Sheean said.
Department of Health deputy secretary Dale Webster said workforce shortfalls across not just hospitals but also in primary care were a concern nationally — with this scholarship about to put Tasmania more prominently on the map.
"This sort of initiative, we're hoping, will not only put us on the map of universities to say we're attractive, but we'll also show that we're innovative," he said.
"It's really important … that we focus on how we can fix our issues. And this is actually an important initiative to do that."
Opposition wants to see support for existing workforce
Tasmania's Health and Community Service Union (HACSU) said while the scholarship program was welcome, it should have come earlier — for instance, when graduates were finishing up their studies last year.
"We do feel the state has missed the boat a little bit on this. It's obviously a positive step, but we need a lot more investment into allied health in Tasmania to address our health crisis," HACSU industrial manager Robbie Moore said.
"We currently have hundreds of vacancies for allied health professionals across our health service, and it is meaning that our health system is simply not coping."
He said with many allied health professionals having to go interstate to get their qualification in the first instance, there needed to be a comprehensive strategy to bring that potential workforce back to Tasmania, or attract them in the first instance.
"The only way to do that is to pay competitive rates, but also have incentives such as this, that mean people are compensated for it and attracted to come here," he said.
Tasmanian opposition leader Rebecca White said she also supported the incentive, but the retention of the existing workforce shouldn't be forgotten.
"This is a good announcement from the premier today, but it's just an announcement," Ms White said.
"We need to see it delivered, and we need to see the existing workforce supported.
"Otherwise, all it will do is see the recruitment of people to replace those who are currently working in the system who will leave it."
Room for expansion
CEO of Rural Health Tasmania Robert Waterman said there was room for the scholarship to go further, particularly to entice workers in sectors such as mental health.
"I think it's a good thing," Mr Waterman said.
"I think it needs to be broader, though, not just focused on THS staff."
He said it wasn't just the public sector experiencing challenges in recruitment.
"A lot of allied health staff and professional staff tend to want to work in the cities in the bigger area," he said.
"I think we need to do whatever it takes to really get people to not just study allied health services in Tasmania, but to stay in Tasmania."
