Written by Victoria Lourdaise
I found the process of applying for prac payment really easy and was surprised to find even though I was working, I was under the income threshhold and still qualified.
I am a mature age student and have some big bills and found the payment essential to allow me to finish the placement.
In 2024 I had self-funded my first placement, paying for my own airfares to fly from NSW to Geraldton WA before travelling to Carnarvon and complete my placement working with art and narrative therapies with First Nations people.
It was life changing and I loved it, but doing a full-time placement and working at night to support myself was stressful and made things harder than they needed to be.
This time I chose a placement closer to home but still had all the usual bills to cover, additionally I had now adopted two cats and a puppy the size of a Shetland Pony on my travels and had to feed all of us.
It is surprising the things you need for placement sometimes. This time I worked in a hospital and so I needed the right shoes and basic clothes. I have also purchased art supplies and a social work reflective journal, and all these “treats” were because of the prac payment.
The payment did not solve everything, but it allowed me not to worry 24/7 about how to pay a bill or put petrol in the car to get to placement and for that I will always be very appreciative.
Placement can also involve things like a buying a thank you gift for someone who has mentored you or purchasing a subscription to a resource that helps you develop into your professional self or literally pay the rent.
Again, will always be grateful the prac payment was here for this placement. I look forward to paying it forward in my career as an empathetic social worker.
Charlie blog is a SSAF funded initiative.
