Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (17:45): (1875) My adjournment matter is for Minister Stitt, and the action I am seeking relates to outright discriminatory provisions built into the Worker Screening Act 2020 related to NDIS worker screening. Under the Worker Screening Act the secretary must refuse to give NDIS clearance on an NDIS category B application unless exceptional circumstances exist. Distressingly, listed as category B offences in schedule 3 of the act at section 6(k) and 6(l) are the repealed offences of buggery and attempted buggery.

Until 1981 in Victoria gay men were convicted and even imprisoned for the offence of buggery. Sex between consenting adults should never have been criminalised, which is what these laws did. In some cases individuals who would today be treated as victims of sexual abuse were charged with criminal offences such as buggery.

In 2014 the Victorian government legislated to erase the criminal records of homosexual men who were convicted for having consensual sex in the past when it was illegal. The Victorian government made a formal state apology to people convicted under unjust laws against homosexual acts on 23 May 2016, so this is something I thought this government had well and truly corrected.

But it appears not in respect of the Worker Screening Act, a supposedly modern piece of legislation, introduced in 2020—it still has the offences of buggery in it. So the action I seek is that the minister move immediately to remedy this aspect of law that discriminates against gay Victorians.

Fiona Patten MP
Leader of Reason
Member for Northern Metropolitan Region
Adjournment matter 6/4/22

Answer

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (20:10): (1827) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Health, and the action I seek relates to endometriosis. March is Endometriosis Awareness Month, so it is a great time to amplify the push for adequate care for women suffering from this under-recognised disease that undermines the wellbeing of so many. By the age of 44 one in nine Australian women have been diagnosed with this condition. Many cases start as teenagers. It can be debilitating. It puts life on hold around or during a woman’s period. There are a range of painful pelvic symptoms, which partially explains why it takes 6½ years on average to be diagnosed. No-one should have to endure being in pain for such a ridiculously long time.

Endometriosis is an inflammatory disease. It most commonly strikes the reproductive organs, but it is also frequently found in the bowel and in the bladder, and it can happen in muscles, joints, the lungs and the brain. I would like to do a quick shout-out to the Hudson institute, who are setting up an incredible information research centre which I hope this government will look at funding.

There are 35 000 endometriosis-related hospitalisations each year in Australia. So it is not just hurting women, it is a huge economic burden on the entire community. The Australian government estimates the disease costs close to $10 billion a year. Two-thirds of that is in lost productivity, the rest is in health care.

Endo is as common as asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. It is more common than breast and prostate cancer, diabetes and HIV and AIDS combined. Our current health system lacks proper care pathways and evidence-based approaches to the delivery of care. There are so many stories of patients being poorly managed and the severity of their disease not being understood. In fact a UK study that was recently done with 13 000 women found that nearly 50 per cent of them had suicidal thoughts because of their endometriosis. So the action I seek is that the government develops and implements a specific endometriosis policy and strategy.

Fiona Patten MP
Leader of Reason
Member for Northern Metropolitan Region
Adjournment matter 22/3/22

Answer

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (19:44): (1790) My adjournment matter is for the Treasurer. The action I am seeking is funding for a hydromorphone trial as part of the upcoming May budget. Hydromorphone is an intervention that breaks the nexus between heroin addiction and crime and refocuses chaotic lifestyles away from trying to score drugs and onto things like finding work and reconnecting with family. At the same time it can reduce the demand for heroin, meaning less local drug trafficking.

Hydromorphone is a TGA-approved medication. When used as an injectable opioid replacement therapy, a 2018 Canadian study found hydromorphone reduced mortality, increased quality of life and saved the health system nearly 140 000 Canadian dollars per individual, and this was when it was compared to methadone or other opioid replacement therapies. It breaks the link between addiction and crime for some of our most chronic users who have unsuccessfully tried all other treatments.

Now, many of you know in here that the Reason Party was key in the establishment of a medically supervised injecting centre in North Richmond, which has proven very successful and now manages thousands of overdoses. But what makes more sense is that a certain cohort of users at that centre be prescribed this medication for use at the centre so they are not buying on the street something that is illegal and cut with goodness knows what but rather using a safer prescription medication. It is good for the individual, it is good for the community and it is time to trial hydromorphone in Victoria, so that is why the action I seek is that the Treasurer provide the necessary funding in the upcoming budget.

Fiona Patten MP
Leader of Reason
Member for Northern Metropolitan Region
Adjournment matter 8/3/22

Answer

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (17:50): My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Education, and the action I am seeking today is for the minister to establish a menstrual champions pilot program in schools. It is really quite a straightforward idea. Nominated teachers are appointed menstrual champions for students to visit when they are having menstrual issues. The concept has been put to me by the Endo Help Foundation, that say that appointing several female teachers as menstrual coordinators or champions for students to seek out whenever they have a concern about their periods or pelvic pain would significantly reduce stigma and alleviate student anxieties.

This is not a new concept. I note there is some chuckling going on in the chamber, and this is part of the problem around talking around periods. There is still a lot of stigma. There is still a lot of discomfort about the issue, and I am pleased to say that I was just reading this afternoon that Her Excellency Dr Jeannette Young, the Governor of Queensland, has become a menstrual champion as well.

Now, this pilot could build on the free tampon program that is already in schools that is there to help reduce period poverty. This goes to reducing the stigma attached to periods and the fear. However, many schools are reporting a very low uptake on the free tampon program, and some teachers really suspect that this is due to stigma around menstrual issues and may be contributing to this low uptake, completely in co-ed schools. But now while this program is great, it is clear that students could benefit from more support with menstrual help. And this could also lead—and I think this is the most important part, that was really put to me certainly by a real champion, Kat Stanley, who has been a tireless campaigner around endometriosis—to earlier identification of medical conditions for endo. And we know that for some women it can take up to 20 years before they are diagnosed with endometriosis, so this is hopefully an early intervention.

So the action I am seeking from the Minister for Education is to trial a pilot scheme in co-ed schools in Northern Metropolitan to appoint teachers as menstrual champions so that all students know who they can turn to when they have an issue with their menstrual cycle.

Fiona Patten MP
Leader of Reason
Member for Northern Metropolitan Region
Adjournment matter 22/2/22

Answer

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (1719)

Incorporated pursuant to order of Council of 7 September 2021:

My adjournment matter is for the Treasurer, and the action I seek is that he fund women’s health programs delivered by the Royal Women’s Hospital for a further three years.

These programs are funded on a short-term basis and funding is due to expire in June this year.

There are several programs.

The first is the sexual and reproductive health clinical champions project.

The champions project builds workforce and system capability across Victoria to provide abortion and contraception services. It provides expertise and mentorship to providers of surgical and medical abortion across rural and regional Victoria. We know Victoria has pockets of abortion deserts—areas where there are no services to access. This program must be funded in an ongoing manner, but at least for a further three years.

The strengthening hospital responses to family violence initiative and the family violence workplace support program is a brilliant policy that builds capacity in the health workforce to identify the early warning signs of family violence. Over 11 000 staff have completed the training, with a 99 per cent satisfaction rate. The program increases the capacity of clinical staff to engage with victim-survivors in a way that promotes safety, respect and control.

The Sexual Assault Crisis Line (SACL) was established to provide after-hours support to victim-survivors of sexual assault across Victoria. In 2021 there was a 43 per cent increase in calls, but the number is expected to be higher because so many went unanswered. The staff are on temporary contracts.

Everyone agrees these programs are needed, but we can’t continue to fund them on a short-term basis. It creates anxiety in the system and high staff turnover rates and reduces the programs’ effectiveness.

This has shown strong belief in these programs, and that is why the action I seek is for the Treasurer to ensure they are funded for the long term, starting with at least the next three years.

Fiona Patten MP
Leader of Reason
Member for Northern Metropolitan Region
Adjournment 8/2/22

Answer

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (22:30): (1691) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Health, and the action I seek is for the minister to widen the scope of the 2021–25 Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health plan to include surgical abortion and treatment for menstrual issues, endometriosis and menopause. I am really fortunate to meet with a number of stakeholders in women’s health, and they have advocated in so many areas, but many have raised concerns about the consultation paper released by the department for the SRH plan and have read the plan. I have read the plan, and I agree with them.

We are concerned that the plan is too narrow. It is focused on disease, which absolutely has its place, but the sector would like to broaden that focus to include prevention and good sexual and reproductive health across the life cycle. This is particularly important for pelvic pain issues such as endometriosis.

It takes Victorian women 6½ years to get a diagnosis of endometriosis. Many women have to visit multiple doctors until they find one who believes their pain. After the diagnosis much of the advice is, ‘Try mindfulness’, or my personal favourite, ‘Have a baby. That’ll fix it’. Pelvic pain begins in puberty and can affect women for decades of their lives. Our sexual and reproductive health plan must give a more fulsome approach to menstrual health.

Likewise, while I am happy to see a strong focus on early medical abortion, the plan does need to widen its focus to include surgical terminations and particularly to decide whether our hospital system has the capacity to deliver these services, which is why my adjournment matter for the health minister seeks his action to direct his department to broaden the scope of the sexual and reproductive health plan to include surgical abortion, information and treatment for menstrual issues, endometriosis and menopause.

Fiona Patten MP
Leader of Reason
Member for Northern Metropolitan
Adjournment debate 2/12/21

Answer

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (18:08): My adjournment matter is for the Treasurer. The action I am seeking may not be popular. I am asking that he forgo some land tax. As chair of the homelessness inquiry, I was really privileged to hear so many community organisations talk about initiatives for solving homelessness. As we know, even with the big build and with everything we see, it is only a drop in the ocean of what we need. We are going to take decades to meet that need.

One of the initiatives that we heard about, and I am sure many of you in this chamber have heard about, was Housing All Australians. This is by a man called Robert Pradolin. He has been working with developers who have empty buildings that are going through significant planning processes and so are going to remain empty for many years. He then talks to the owners of those buildings and gets them to hand them over while he then retrofits those buildings for transitional housing for people experiencing homelessness. He then gets groups like the YWCA or the Salvos in to provide the wraparound services that those people need. It is extremely successful. We have seen a beautiful development in South Melbourne doing this, and I recently went to a new development called Garden House. We have got a great developer called the Pask Group, who have a building in East Melbourne, and they are willing to do the same. When they do this we have tradies, we have students, we have retail outlets and we have hotels all donating everything we need to make these places just beautiful.

I saw Garden House, and I can only imagine how it felt for a woman who had escaped violence, had been living in a violent situation and had been forced into homelessness to open the door to this beautiful room that was just for her, that was safe and that had all the services. So the action that I am seeking from the Treasurer is to look at how he may be able to forgo the land tax on buildings that are leased to charities for peppercorn rent to provide transitional accommodation for community purposes. This land tax holiday would only be while that building was being used for transitional housing, but I think this would give some of those developers the nudge they need to use those buildings for transitional housing while they go through the process of many years that it will take them to develop that land.

Fiona Patten MP
Leader of Reason
Member for Northern Metropolitan Region
Adjournment matter 17/11/21

Answer

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (1618)

Incorporated pursuant to order of Council of 7 September:

My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Agriculture and relates to hemp.

The National Farmers Federation has set a target of $100 billion farmgate production by 2030. The current production level is just above $60 billion.

The director of CSIRO agriculture and food, John Manners, has said:

We need to create an innovation ecosystem in Australia that can take the excellent science that our public institutions do and take it further down the commercialisation track, making it more accessible to further commercialisation by both new and established players.

Industrial hemp offers an opportunity to play an integral part in these aspirations. It can significantly advance the Victorian economy, but the industry is severely inhibited just in the way it is regulated.

Hemp is not cannabis, yet the current status of industrial hemp in Victoria is that it is being treated in the same way as a drug within the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act.

Logically, not being a drug, it should be treated in the same way as wheat, barley or any other crop.

Just like a mushroom grower is not required to be licensed despite the fact that there are hallucinogenic or psychotropic mushroom varieties, hemp production does not require policing because it has a psychoactive cousin.

A more productive approach would be to identify low-THC cannabis varieties for Victorian conditions and schedule those as exceptions to the definitions within the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act. This approach has been used in Canada for many years.

So the action I seek is that the minister commission sufficient research to identify and list suitable low-THC varieties and harmonise hemp cultivation with other Australians jurisdictions.

Fiona Patten MP
Leader of Reason
Member for Northern Metropolitan Region
Adjournment matter 27/10/21

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (21:24): (1582) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety and relates to medicinal cannabis and driving. The medicinal cannabis driving task force presented a report, and from that I would hope that Victoria is edging slowly, slowly closer towards reform in this area. That reform will reduce the stigma of being a medicinal cannabis patient, and it will stop driving chronic pain sufferers and other patients back towards other dangerous and addictive medications.

And I do not know about other members in this chamber, but I am regularly contacted by people who have been stopped and are now facing licence loss, job loss and business loss for taking a prescription medication that they were prescribed. We are the only country that does this. Study after study has demonstrated that it will not affect our road safety, quite unlike forcing many of these people back onto opioids and benzodiazepines.

Recently I was contacted by a patient who had taken his prescription medication almost 24 hours before he was stopped by the police. They tested him with a breathalyser test; he tested negative. He tested positive for traces of THC. He is a motor mechanic. He is the sole provider for his family, he is the only licence-holder in his family, he has a special needs son and he stands to lose his licence and his job for taking the medicine that a doctor prescribed to him. He suffers from PTSD, depression and insomnia. This got him back to work—this medicine—but because he had minute residual levels of THC he is facing the loss of his job, the loss of his licence. He was not under the influence of this medication.

This cannot be in the public interest, so the action that I am seeking tonight is that the minister provides me with road crash statistics from the last five years where the at-fault driver was a person who had been prescribed medicinal cannabis.

Fiona Patten MP
Leader of Reason
Member for Northern Metropolitan
Adjournment matter 13/10/21

Answer

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (21:24): (1546) My adjournment matter is around pandemic stress leave, and it is directed to the Premier. The press conference that the Premier held on Sunday, 3 October, put nurses front and centre. Their stories were harrowing, and it sent a strong message about getting vaccinated.

Our nurses, our allied health and every healthcare professional, as we know and as we have been speaking about for much of today, are doing it really tough. I had a call from a nurse who had just finished a double shift, had gone home at 3.00 am and was called back to fill another shift. These teams are so stretched. The nurses are covering far more patients than they should be. Those in allied health are being asked to attend situations far beyond their training. It is scary and it is troubling. They have been going through it now for 18 months, and they are stressed beyond belief. They are at their wits’ end, and they know it is going to get worse before it gets better.

These workers certainly need to be paid more, but actually what they need is a break. It is time for us to show that and give them that break. We must compensate our healthcare workers, but more importantly and more importantly almost than money, they actually just need a break. So the action that I am seeking is for the government to create two-week pandemic stress leave for all healthcare workers. It might be many months before they are able to take that leave, but it is a much-needed holiday, and it should not have to come out of their annual leave. We are seeing now nurses and other healthcare workers taking sick leave so that they can just get a break because they have had to do so many double shifts, so much extra time. So to the Premier, the action that I seek is that he directs his department to create a policy of pandemic stress leave for those on our front line.

Fiona Patten MP
Leader of Reason
Member for Northern Metropolitan Region
Adjournment 6/10/21

Answer