Tuesday, 17 October 2023

RMIT chiropractic degree

Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (21:51): (505) I just want to say from the outset that I am a chiropractor who trained at RMIT and maintain my registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. 25 per cent of all Australian chiropractors practise in Victoria. Australians see a chiropractor for more than 21 million visits per year. This takes a huge burden off the public healthcare system. Despite that number, from 2024, students will no longer be able to study to become a chiropractor in the state of Victoria.

While I respect that Australian universities are autonomous self-governing institutes, they are training the workforce of the next generation and their decisions carry consequences. The consequences of this decision will put increased pressure on the Victorian public healthcare system. That is why, according to the Commonwealth Grant Scheme funding agreement, the university must consult with the government before closing any higher education course that has been operating for more than two years. However, the vice-chancellor Alec Cameron single-handedly made the decision to end the chiropractic training program without any consultation. He did not consult with students, he did not consult with the profession and he did not consult with key stakeholders. After investigation, we have evidence that RMIT did not consult with the federal government prior to making this decision, which puts them in breach of the agreement. If they did not consult with the feds, that leaves us with the question: did they consult the state government, whose healthcare system will be left to pick up the pieces? This breach of process is unacceptable for an institution funded by public money.

Since then, I have had a young lady from Sale contact me to ask if she is going to have to leave her home state of Victoria to achieve her dream of being a chiropractor. Therefore, my adjournment is to the Minister for Skills and TAFE, and the action that I seek is that the minister writes to RMIT to ask them to reverse this decision, to continue the program and to follow correct processes outlined by the government.