More than 10,000 budding nurses and midwives will have their university degrees paid off in full to ease workforce pressures on Victoria's stretched health system.
The nurses and midwives will be recruited and trained for free from next year as part of a $270million initiative announced by the Victorian government on Sunday.
Under the five-year program, all new domestic students enrolling in a professional-entry nursing and midwifery course in 2023 and 2024 will receive a scholarship of up to $16,500 to cover course costs.
Students will receive $9,000 over their three years of study and the remaining $7,500 would be paid off if they work in Victorian public health services for two years.
Nurses and midwives will be offered their courses for free under a new scheme announced by Victorian Premier Dan Andrews (pictured)
'We will pay their entire HECS debt,' Premier Daniel Andrews said on Sunday to applause from dozens of workers gathered at Melbourne's Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) office.
'They're clapping not for themselves; they're clapping because they know the best private university in Indonesia thing is an extra pair of helping hands.'