Urgent calls to end compulsory unpaid internships as students forced to quit due to cost of living

Academics are calling for students to be compensated for compulsory internships to stem high dropout rates amid a cost-of-living crisis.

Ruby Partland, a masters student in social work at RMIT, is required to complete 1,000 hours of unpaid internships to complete her degree – equating to around six months of full-time work.

She said in the current economic climate, the situation was almost impossible.

“It’s not realistic,” she said. “You’re going to class and doing essays while on placement and working … people really suffer and have breakdowns.

“Many of my peers are struggling. People who didn’t go part-time were completely burnt out and disillusioned and have to go into the workforce enthusiastic when they’re already exhausted.

“A lot of them come from low socioeconomic backgrounds, their family don’t have thousands to loan and they think ‘maybe I’ll just quit’.”

Social work is among a range of vocational degrees including nursing, teaching, counselling and psychology that require hundreds of hours of mandatory unpaid placements.

Under the Fair Work Act, students completing vocational placements aren’t considered employees and therefore aren’t entitled to minimum wage or other benefits.

Experts say the lengthy, unpaid requirements were forcing students to drop out or move to part-time.

About 62% of domestic students complete bachelor degrees within six years of commencing studies, while 9% never return after the first year, research released by the Department of Education this month found.

But early childhood education lags way behind, with the highest first-year dropout rate of any degree. Just 44.4% of students complete bachelor degrees within six years, and 18.2% leave within the year.

In social work, 48.3% of students complete bachelor degrees within six years, and 14.5% don’t return after their first year of studies.

Psychology also falls below the average, with a 56.6% completion rate and 10.2% dropout rate. In nursing, 66.2% of students complete bachelor degrees in six years, and 10.4% drop out after year one.

In contrast, medicine and dentistry have the highest completion rates, at 92.4% and 89.1% respectively, and first-year dropout rates of less than 2%.

The Universities Accord discussion paper, released last week, noted the increased cost of living and need to supplement income support was acting as a barrier to participation.

Prof Mary O’Kane, who is leading the major review into higher education, told a Universities Australia conference that placements were the biggest issue that been raised by stakeholders – including whether students should be paid for work-integrated learning.

The head of social work at Charles Darwin University, Prof Lisa Hodge, led a 2022 joint study at five Australian universities which found students’ lived experiences of poverty during placements affected relationships, caregiving duties and nutrition.

“This in turn reduces the likelihood of their workforce participation when they graduate,” she said.

“To do unpaid work can mean having to choose between putting petrol in the car to get to placement or having enough food for the week.”

ProfChristine Morley of the school of public health and social work at Queensland University of Technology surveyed 1,000 social work students in December. She said 96.3% experienced challenges during placements and a quarter lost up to 75% of their income.

Three-quarters knew students who had deferred or withdrawn from courses.

“We need governments to pay students a living allowance to do this kind of work in vital allied health professions,” she said.

“We’re seeing after Covid students are decreasing their load to take on more work to survive … or they drop out when it comes to placement. It’s hard to complete degrees because they can’t afford to.”

Prof Steven Greenland, who researches marketing at Charles Darwin University, said the main drivers for dropping out were job-related and personal stressors.

“In our research, just over one in three were due to employment – people being unable to effectively balance work and study and changing job roles,” he said.

“In the context of uncertainty with rising inflation, households are under more pressure. I wouldn’t expect it to improve given the current economic situation.”

Greenland said the cohort of students had also changed, with more middle-aged, part-time and online learners who were statistically at a higher risk of dropping out.

Of students who commence bachelor degrees at 19 and under, 69% complete them within six years, compared with 46.7% of students 25 and over.

“Mature aged students are working and lots of students are also supporting themselves through work … it’s a multiplier effect of additional stressors affecting the ability of students to manage studies,” he said.

“It’s a very different world now. The winner will be universities and providers who can respond to the needs of learners with flexibility to think outside the box.”

Partland, who had to quit her casual job because she was too tired from placement, is at the brink of reconsidering her career.

“You’re working for free, you plug holes in all these services … you feel very exploited and you have to pay several thousand for the subject,” she said.

“If you’re financially stable, your mental health can stay above water. How can you help clients when you’re in crisis?”