“the essential worker shortage starts with unpaid internships,” Unions NSW warns

The peak body points to requirements in teaching and nursing courses, which cost students $20 000, at the minimum wage rate. Paying students national base pay, “would attract more students, reduce burnout and boost retention,” they argue.

Alas, the Fair Work Ombudsman advises, “placements that meet the definition of a vocational placement under the FW Act are lawfully unpaid.”

But surely there are ways to fix this – as in Canada, where the University of Waterloo organises paid placements for students. Claire Field wrote about this in CMM yesterday, HERE.