Students Rally to Protect Their Future

UTAS Nursing students from around the state headed to Parliament Lawns in Hobart this morning to meet with Will Hodgman and the media in a protest against the recently announced cuts to graduate nursing positions.

The Government has given no definitive information to the students or the ANF about how many graduate places will be offered to students registering this year, saying simply that there will be an Expression of Interest for those seeking to work in the Department. Graduate names will then be placed on a register, and people will be contacted if a position becomes available. Other States and Territories have already closed applications for graduate nursing positions, so students in Tasmania are effectively being given no option but to sit and wait.

With mature age students making up a large proportion of the nursing graduates, the government needs to realise the ramifications of cutting these positions. People with families to support and mortgages to pay have been thrown into limbo by a government that doesn’t understand the importance of our health sector.

 ANF is asking the Government to take some responsibility for the health of the community and the livelihood of these students. Around 300 nursing students will graduate this year. They have taken the time to study nursing in Tasmania, and they want to stay in Tasmania. They shouldn’t be forced to move interstate to get a job in the profession they have chosen.