Health sector workforce
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (1517)
Incorporated pursuant to order of Council of 7 September:
My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Health, Mr Foley, and the action I seek relates to the wellbeing of our healthcare workers.
Our entire healthcare workforce is feeling the stress of working during a pandemic.
The Victorian government acknowledged the pressure the workforce was under when the previous minister announced extra funding for the nursing and midwifery health program and the Victorian doctors health program.
These programs offer free, independent and confidential support services for doctors and nurses who may be experiencing anxiety or depression, or have concerns about alcohol or drugs.
In a media release titled ‘More health support for our frontline heroes’, the government announced an extra $850 000 for these programs.
The issue I raise is that there are more healthcare workers experiencing stress than just doctors and nurses.
Take Grace, for example. She’s an occupational therapist who has been helping on COVID-19 wards during the latest outbreak. She experiences the same stress of the COVID ward, the same fear of infecting her household and the same vicarious trauma of watching people struggling to breathe, but she cannot access the same support for her mental health.
Her mental health should be treated with the same respect as her nursing colleagues. Whether they work in disability, aged care, sonography or occupational therapy, they are all experiencing high levels of stress because of this pandemic. They all deserve free and full support for their mental health.
That is why the action I seek is that the health programs for doctors, nurses and midwives to which I have referred be extended to all Victorian healthcare workers.
Fiona Patten MP
Leader of Reason
Member for Northern Metropolitan Region
Adjournment 15/9/21
Answer
The Victorian Government is committed to supporting the health and wellbeing of all healthcare workers who have worked tirelessly to care for the Victorian community during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
During the initial peak of the pandemic response in July 2020, the Department of Health provided the Nursing and Midwifery Health Program (NMHPV) with funding to extend its psychosocial support service to allied health practitioners.
Further funding was also provided in December 2020 to expand access for personal care workers employed within Victorian residential aged care facilities.
In November 2020, the Victorian Government released a $9.8 million Wellbeing Package for Our Health Heroes which included the establishment of a Healthcare Worker Wellbeing Centre to provide support, training and programs for clinical and non-clinical roles, across acute and community-based settings including hospitals, community health, aged care and primary care settings, The package provides support to all health care workers including:
- improved rest and recovery areas in health services to enable physical distancing and good infection control practices,
- additional psychosocial supports, peer training models and programs to support worker wellbeing in health services and registered community health services,
- targeted supports to identify and respond to family violence experienced by healthcare workers, and
- expansion of payments under the Better mental health provisional payments pilot across medical, nursing/midwifery, allied health and health service support staff.
In 2021 a $32 million package was provided to further support all healthcare workers (clinical and non-clinical) in health services offering a range of initiatives and practical supports for the workers and their families across the state. The program, implemented by Health Services and Ambulance Victoria, boosts healthcare workers wellbeing and safety, through a range of initiatives including:
- the provision of psychologists and counsellors on site to provide proactive supports to workers,
- coaching for staff in leadership roles,
- additional workplace rest and recovery spaces,
- meal delivery and healthy eating initiatives and
- programs targeting support for families.
The above wellbeing initiatives are in addition to existing employee assistance programs operated by individual health services that are accessible to all health service employees.
Martin Foley MP
Minister for Health
Minister for Ambulance Services
Date: 17/06/2022
University of the Third Age
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (1503)
Incorporated pursuant to order of Council of 7 September:
I am directing my adjournment to the Minister for Government Services, Danny Pearson, and it is a matter raised by Russell Huntingdon, president of the University of the Third Age’s Melbourne City campus, and on behalf of the more than 1000 people who participate in dozens of courses.
They have a needless and damaging space problem. We here in this place have evident and sensible solutions—and ones with no losers and multiple winners. Ones that are apolitical.
U3A’s CBD campus is literally all over the place. Pre COVID, it was forced by a tight commercial property rental market to split its classes over as many as 13 sites across the CBD.
The cost of renting these spaces by the hour is unsustainable.
The University of the Third Age is a community gem, a marvellous mix of intellectual, cultural, and social stimulation. It enhances mental and physical health.
These hugely important benefits—which will be increasingly valuable as older age brackets account for an increasingly big chunk of the population—are undermined by the lack of a common space.
Our COVID-ravaged CBD, the economic heart of the state, is suffering an activity deficit and a space surplus. This is of community-wide significance.
The needs of U3A are modest. They are looking for around 250 square metres where they can have an office and rooms that they can use flexibly.
The action I seek is for Minister Pearson to direct his department to review the state government buildings in the Melbourne CBD, and to investigate whether any vacant state government facilities could accommodate the University of the Third Age.
Fiona Patten MP
Leader of Reason
Member for Northern Metropolitan Region
Adjournment 14/9/21
Answer
Thank you for your question. This has been referred to me as the responsible Minister.
I acknowledge the request regarding the University of the Third Age’s Melbourne City campus and their observations made regarding the CBD.
The Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF) is responsible for procuring, managing and disposing of office accommodation for all Victorian Government departments and its client agencies, which is managed through the Shared Service Provider (SSP) group in the Department.
The accommodation portfolio under SSP’s management is occupied by Victorian Public Sector (VPS) staff to support their operational activities across the state.
SSP is mandated to manage the portfolio efficiently, minimise vacant space and deliver Centralised Accommodation Management savings back to Government.
Currently the SSP CBD office portfolio is fully allocated to Victorian Government Departments and Agencies and while the current COVID 19 restrictions have resulted in substantial office accommodation being unoccupied due to work from home orders, this space still remains allocated to Government Departments and Agencies.
SSP does not provide space to non VPS entities due to legislative and risk management frameworks, by exception only some accommodation space has been sub‐let to third parties external to the Victorian Government in certain commercial contexts. However, this has involved rigorous procurement and tender procedures to support an equitable market approach to ensure these spaces are sublet at commercial market rents in line with government procurement processes.
At times there are government grants and funding available to various not for profit agencies and community groups which may be of interest to the University of the Third Age. Typically detailed funding submissions are required to be prepared and lodged. Submissions received are then reviewed and assessed against the funding objectives and eligibility criteria that is relevant to that specific funding. Information regarding funding grants and programmes can be found on various web sites including www.vic.gov.au/grants.
The Hon. Danny Pearson MP
Assistant Treasurer
Date: 25 / 10 / 2021
Geelong project
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (17:56): (1419) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Housing, and that seems very appropriate seeing that it is Homelessness Week. It concerns the really successful Geelong Project. I can see Ms Lovell here in the chamber, and Ms Maxwell. We met the Geelong Project during our inquiry into homelessness. In fact we were so impressed by the early intervention work that they did and the way that they could actually prevent homelessness amongst young people, and they did this through this really innovative work of working with schools and communities. We were so impressed that we made a recommendation for them. Recommendation 19 relates to the expansion of the community of schools and services model, better known as the Geelong Project or the COSS model. We know that this actually has achieved a 40 per cent reduction in adolescent homelessness at the same time as a 20 per cent reduction in early school leaving. It is quite an extraordinary program that does not take a lot of money, that just takes a bit of commitment from schools and government.
Positive outcomes like these are just rarely achieved, and it really again—which is what we learned in the report—highlighted the impact that early intervention can have. We know that if someone becomes homeless when they are young there is a great likelihood that that will go with them for the rest of their lives. There are seven new community sites waiting to implement this model right here, right now. I would like to call it shovel ready, but I am not sure they use a shovel. So the action I am seeking is really straightforward: that the Minister for Housing acts on this recommendation forthwith and takes immediate steps to expand the community of schools and services model to these additional seven community sites.
Fiona Patten MP
Leader of Reason
Member for Northern Metropolitan Region
Adjournment debate 4/8/21
Answer
I thank Ms Patten, Member for Northern Metropolitan, for her question. The Victorian Government appreciates the work undertaken by the Legal and Social Issues Committee’s Parliamentary Inquiry into Homelessness. The government will table its response to the Inquiry’s recommendations in September.
The Victorian Government is committed to ensuring that across Victoria, young people can access the assistance they need to prevent or resolve their experience of homelessness. The government supports the Community of Schools and Services (COSS) model currently operating through The Geelong Project and recognises the importance of place-based models for early intervention to address youth homelessness.
In the 2018-19 and 2020-21 Victorian Budgets, the Victorian Government allocated funding for the expansion of The Geelong Project to an additional four schools in the Barwon area. The Department of Education and Training has commissioned an independent evaluation of the model, which will inform decisions regarding future opportunities to expand the program, including sustainable funding models in partnership with community and philanthropic partners.
The Victorian Government has invested significantly to develop and expand supports for young people. Through the 2021-2022 Victorian budget, the Victorian Government committed over $193 million for the continuation of several successful initiatives for people experiencing homelessness, including young people. This includes:
- $11.2 million over four years for accommodation responses for young people leaving care and youth homelessness services
- $46.9 million over four years to continue delivering assertive outreach and supportive housing teams for people sleeping rough
- $110.2 million over four years for the Private Rental Assistance Program (PRAP), including PRAP plus and the Aboriginal Private Rental Assistance Program
- $8.4 million over two years funding for on-site delivery of essential therapeutic health and addiction services at three congregate crisis accommodation facilities
- $4.1 million over two years funding for the H3 Alliance to prevent and resolve homelessness in the rapidly expanding Wyndham growth corridor
- $7.4 million over four years for the Kangan Education First Youth Foyer
The Victorian Government has also invested a record $5.3 billion in the Big Housing Build to grow the supply of social and affordable housing. It will deliver more than 12,000 new homes across the state, including more than 9,300 new social housing dwellings prioritised for people in urgent need, including young people. The Big Housing Build demonstrates the Victorian Government’s commitment to providing more homes for more Victorians and sees the supply of stable, long-term housing as the key to meeting the needs of people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
……………………………………………
Hon Richard Wynne MP
Minister for Housing
Date: 29 / 8 / 2021
Creative industries funding
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (18:20): I think that was a great segue, Mrs McArthur, to my adjournment matter, which probably digs a little bit deeper—
Mrs McArthur: Always here to help.
Ms PATTEN: I appreciate that, Mrs McArthur. It is to the Minister for Creative Industries, and the action I am seeking is support packages for the artists who have fallen through the cracks. As we know, Victoria prides itself on being the arts capital of Australia, and pre COVID Victoria’s creative industries contributed more than $30 billion to the state’s economy each year. But even today—certainly in Northern Metropolitan, which I think likes to consider itself the capital of creative industries in Melbourne—we are seeing our performers, our writers, our musicians, our painters, our singers and our dancers just really questioning where society values them and where they put them, because they really feel like they have fallen through the cracks. They have never earned a lot of money. Most of them have obviously earned under $75 000 a year, so they do not qualify for any of the packages, both state and federal, currently. Some of them may even have more than $10 000 in the bank—very few of them—which puts them out of any opportunity for any support anywhere. And as we know, our artists live gig to gig, exhibition to exhibition, festival to festival. That might mean they have got some savings in there, but it does not mean that they are less deserving of our support.
I know Minister Pearson said just last year that creative industries are at the heart of Victoria’s economy, the vibrancy of our communities and our way of life and will be essential in our post-pandemic recovery. So right now I think we need to put those words into action, and the action I seek is for the minister to put together a targeted support package for people working in creative industries who have lost work over COVID.
Fiona Patten MP
Leader of Reason
Member for Northern Metropolitan Region
Adjournment matter 23/6/21
Not answered
Transport plans
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (17:35): My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Transport Infrastructure, and the action I seek is for the minister to publish or, if she has not already done so, develop a transport plan. It is a requirement of the Transport Integration Act 2010 for the minister to prepare such a plan, but it appears since 2010 that has never, ever happened. Without this plan we do see mistakes being made or certainly our planning intentions for transport being very unclear. Land use can be ill-timed, haphazard or just miss opportunities. We need to break this paradigm of reactive infrastructure spending. If we could have a plan we could be looking forward, and I think if nothing else showed us that, it was the debate that we had yesterday around the future of electric vehicles and the future of transitioning to zero-emission vehicles. It is really difficult when you cannot put that into a coordinated plan.
We have a Melbourne transport plan that was developed in 2017, but we do not have a statewide one, and we need a long-term transport plan. It is something that I would hope that we could all be involved in at one stage, but at the moment it is up to the minister to develop this plan. It has not been done. I acknowledge that no transport minister since 2010 has developed this plan, but now is the time, particularly as we are seeing things like transitioning to zero emissions, when we are seeing the desire from our community for greater active transport, when we are seeing that Melbourne has a plan but we cannot integrate that into a Victoria-wide plan. We saw this in Infrastructure Victoria’s 30-year strategy. Please, government, can we have a transport plan? As I said, the action I seek is for the minister to develop and publish long-term transport plans for Victoria as required under the act.
Fiona Patten MP
Leader of Reason
Member for Northern Metropolitan Region
Adjournment 26/5/21
Response:
In reply to Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (26 May 2021)
Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop):
I thank the Member for Northern Metropolitan Region for her question.
The Andrews Labor Government, through our $80 Billion Big Build program is currently delivering over 165 major transport projects right across our State.
These projects include the Metro Tunnel, Melbourne Airport Rail, Geelong Fast Rail, North East Link, West Gate Tunnel, the removal of 75 level crossings, the Western Rail Plan, the duplication of the Cranbourne and Hurstbridge lines, the extension of the Pakenham line and upgrades to every regional rail line in Victoria.
Projects such as the Mernda Rail Extension, the Cranbourne Duplication, the Pakenham line extension and the Western Rail Plan are all coordinated with land use objectives to improve rail capacity into growth areas.
Our Suburban Road Upgrades are also improving arterial connections in our suburbs. The Government released the Regional Network Development Plan, which guides the short, medium and long-term priorities needed to modernise the regional network with more track, more trains, better facilities and more services.
In addition to all of this, there is the Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) project, which is much more than a public transport system but a precinct project that will transform Melbourne’s middle suburbs and deliver significant urban renewal outcomes. The Government’s Big Build and the SRL are central to the Government’s plans to respond to the challenges and opportunities presented by Victoria’s population growth.
The Victorian Government has also established Infrastructure Victoria who have produced a 30 Year Infrastructure Strategy to guide infrastructure planning.
I trust this information is of assistance to the Member.
Housing for women on parole
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (18:02): My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Corrections, and the action I am seeking is for the minister to work with the Minister for Housing or work with the department to solve the problem of women in prison who are on parole and cannot get out of prison because they cannot get a home. We know women are our fastest growing cohort of people going to prison. They are also one of the fastest growing cohorts of people experiencing homelessness.
We know women who go to prison are not going there for violent crimes; they are generally going there because they have been victims of violent crimes, they have been victims of family violence or they have been victims of sexual assault. They need housing support, not a jail sentence.
My office received information about a woman at Tarrengower Prison who has been eligible for parole for six months but cannot be paroled, because they cannot find her a home. This is not the state that we all want to live in, and as we know, this is not a unique case and this has been happening for decades.
Certainly I know from talking to the previous corrections commissioner that she said exactly the same thing. They just cannot parole women, because they cannot find them housing, and this is a travesty because a lot of time they cannot go back to the family home, because they were escaping family violence and that is why they are homeless.
I know that the government has announced a whole lot of new housing, but we have a waiting list of 100 000 people and I can tell you that women in prison are way down that list. Women in prison—in fact all people in prison—are way down that list, yet we have to keep them in prison because they have not got a home.
So rather than the $188 million spent to upgrade Dame Phyllis Frost Centre with some extra beds—very nice—how about we get some beds and homes outside the prisons so women can actually find a safe place to live and we can release them from prison, reunite them with their children and get them back onto a path of recovery and back into a place?
So the adjournment matter is for Natalie Hutchins to talk to the Minister for Housing and come back with some form of solution for women who are on parole and seeking release.
Fiona Patten MP
Leader of Reason
Member for Northern Metropolitan Region
Adjournment debate 6/5/21
Answer
Thank you for your interest in supporting women involved with the justice system.
The Victorian Government is committed to reducing women’s reoffending by ensuring that policies, programs and services are gender-responsive and trauma-informed. Support services and programs focused on reducing the number of women in prison have recently been expanded, with almost $15 million over four years allocated from 2019-20, including $2.8 million to improve women’s access to housing. In September 2020, Women’s Housing Ltd. commenced providing additional support at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre to improve access to housing, particularly for women on remand or serving a short sentence. Family engagement workers, a new family therapy service, women’s employment specialists and increased access to legal services have also recently been introduced.
Corrections Victoria provides some dedicated housing pathways for prisoners, including properties for use by prisoners on a transitional basis. Women can also be assisted to access housing through dedicated specialist housing support workers in prisons. In addition, the Baggarrook Program (Aboriginal Women’s Transitional Housing), provides short term transitional housing for up to six Aboriginal women being released from prison who are at risk of homelessness.
Through Court Services Victoria, the department also funds women-only transitional properties for women on bail, case management support and specialist tenancy support for women and their children (beyond the four months of bail support).
The Department of Justice and Community Safety is working with the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing to further assist justice clients to access suitable housing. This includes consideration of how the significant investment for social and affordable housing announced by the Victorian Government can benefit vulnerable justice clients, including women. This investment includes the Building Works Housing Stimulus Program, which included $50 million for justice housing. The Minister for Housing has approved a program of projects to be funded through the Justice Housing stream, with some projects specifically benefiting women. More than $4.6 million will see new self-contained units built at two Annie North Haven sites in the Greater Bendigo area, providing specialised accommodation for women as they transition to long-term housing and back into the community.
In addition, through the recently announced 2021-22 Budget, the Victorian Government has made further key investments to support people at risk of homelessness. This includes $110 million for the Private Rental Assistance Program, which prevents and ends homelessness by rapidly rehousing people in private rentals and $47 million to fund outreach teams across metropolitan and regional areas to get people sleeping rough into stable housing. There is also $9.1 million for an Aboriginal family violence refuge in the Horsham region, providing culturally appropriate support services for survivors of family violence, with the construction of up to six new residential units. Projects funded through the $5.3 billion Big Housing Build are also set to ramp up this year, with fast-start projects already underway across a range of suburbs in metropolitan Melbourne.
The Hon. Natalie Hutchins MP
Minister for Crime Prevention
Minister for Corrections
Minister for Youth Justice
Minister for Victim Support
Abortion services
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (17:24): My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Health, and the action I seek is for the minister through the department secretary to amend the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Regulations 2017 to ensure nurse practitioners, nurses and midwives are able to prescribe medical abortion medication and allow specially trained nurses and midwives to obtain, supply and administer medical abortion medication for the purposes of an early medical termination.
A shortage of trained providers is a significant barrier to accessing abortion care services in Victoria and in particular in rural and regional areas, and I know; I spoke to a sexual health nurse last night who was also lamenting this. By expanding the providers to nurses we would dramatically increase the efficiency of our sexual and reproductive health hubs. This is a recommendation from Women’s Health Victoria. It has the support of the Centre of Research Excellence in Sexual and Reproductive Health for Women in Primary Care, the Australian Women’s Health Network, Marie Stopes and many more. Abortion access is a human right. Victoria has some of the best abortion laws in the country, but this has to be backed up in practice. Across Australia only 5 per cent of GPs are registered to prescribe abortion medication, and this drops to below 1 per cent in regional areas. We know that nurse-led models are not new, and we have seen great success in this when we look at HIV medication and hepatitis C medication. Nurse practitioners have been providing PEP and PrEP—the HIV prevention medication—for quite some time, and that is literally saving lives.
Women’s health organisations are frustrated that there continue to be restrictions on medical abortion medication. They believe—and I am with them—that these restrictions are based on morals, not on medical advice. Abortion drugs are no more harmful than their equivalents for HIV and hep C. Victoria would lead the country if it adopted a nurse-led model. If we implemented a model once again, other states could follow in this much-needed reform. The debate about abortion is over. It is time we ensured access is not based on postcode. It should be up to the medical colleges to decide who is a suitable prescriber, and it is up to us to provide the legal framework to allow that. The action I seek is for the Minister for Health to amend the drugs, poisons and controlled substances regulations to enable nurse practitioners, nurses and midwives to prescribe medical abortion medication and suitably trained nurses to administer this much-needed medication.
Fiona Patten MP
Leader of Reason
Member for Northern Metropolitan Region
Adjournment matter 29/4/21
Answer
Any proposal to amend the legislation should consider existing TGA and PBS regulation to ensure medical termination would remain affordable and accessible. The existing issue of the PBS subsidy being limited to medical practitioners is an issue for the TGA and the Commonwealth.
Martin Foley MP
Minister for Health
Minister for Ambulance Services
Endometriosis
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (19:16): My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Health, and the action I am seeking is for the government to establish a centre of expertise in specialised endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain diagnosis, treatment and management.
March is Endometriosis Awareness Month, and it is estimated that one in nine Australian women are diagnosed with this condition by age 44. Studies show that the economic burden associated with endometriosis is high and similar to that of diabetes, Crohn’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Endometriosis costs the national economy $9.7 billion every year from the loss of productivity and direct health costs, or $30 000 per person per year. What seems to be lacking in our current health system are proper care pathways and evidence-based approaches to the delivery of care. There are simply too many stories of patients being poorly managed and the severity of their disease not being understood.
I must say I was completely horrified to read the experience of one of my constituents, Caity Howes. I was just re-reading it here in the chamber. Over 17 years she endured surgery after surgery, including in the end a total hysterectomy. It cost her approximately $50 000 over those 17 years. Katie says many of her issues may have been prevented had her initial surgeon used specialised best practice treatment. She also experienced, as she puts it, gaslighting from health professionals who told her that everything looked fine and she should not be experiencing the pain she was experiencing.
I must say, I raised this a couple of years ago in this place, calling out the stigma of chronic pain in health. It may be the reason one in eight women with endometriosis use cannabis to alleviate pain and other symptoms. Caity’s story is not unique. So many Victorians are suffering as a result of not knowing where to go to receive specialised care. So the action I seek is for the minister to work with the commonwealth on the implementation of the national endometriosis action plan National Action Plan for Endometriosis and specifically point 2.1 of the priorities, which is to:
Define and establish Centres of Expertise in specialised endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain diagnosis …
This recommendation of multidisciplinary teams working in partnership with individuals presenting with endometriosis, chronic pelvic pain or period pain requires support from the states. Victoria could be the first state to establish such a centre and show real leadership on this condition affecting so many Victorian women.
Fiona Patten MP
Leader of Reason
Member for Northern Metropolitan Region
Adjournment 18/3/21
Youth unemployment
Ms Patten: My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Employment, Minister Pulford, and the action I seek is for her to meet with the Youth Affairs Council Victoria, YACVic, to discuss their youth employment recovery plan and the establishment of a Victorian youth employment commissioner.
The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically affected everyone’s lives, but young people have been disproportionately impacted.
This generation was already facing the prospect of being the first to be worse off than their parents, and the pandemic has exacerbated this generational inequality.
Young people are facing rising unemployment, declining mental health and unprecedented interruptions to their education and lives.
Critical supports on which young people rely have been taken away, and the next step in this crisis is occurring now as income support payments are cut, leaving tens of thousands of young people without adequate financial support.
Near the end of last year, the unemployment rate was 16.2 per cent for young people, compared to the general population at 7.1 per cent.
This is partly because young people comprise more than half of the employees in the industries which have been devastated by the pandemic, including hospitality, retail, tourism and the arts.
Without action, a generation of young people will be lost.
YACVic has identified that Victoria urgently needs a recovery plan for young people to address the impacts of this pandemic, which for many have been life changing.
Past recessions have shown that young people are more likely to experience the long-term effects of unemployment when compared to older people.
I urge the minster to meet with YACVic to run through their proposals that seek to create a whole-of-government youth employment plan for Victoria. Their idea to establish a Victorian youth employment commissioner who will be responsible for developing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating youth-focused employment policies, and embedding youth participation in policy responses, is a great initiative that I urge the government to back.
Fiona Patten MP
Leader of Reason
Member for Northern Metropolitan Region
Adjournment debate 4/3/21
Answer:
Answered: 29 April 2021
Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Minister for Small Business):
Thank you to the Member for Northern Metropolitan Region for her question and suggestions.
I am pleased to note that I met with Youth Affairs Council Victoria (YACVic) in January 2021 to discuss their youth employment recovery plan. As YACVic notes, COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted young workers, in particular young women. Young people who were already struggling before the crisis are now experiencing even higher rates of unemployment and underemployment. To address this issue, the Victorian Government is making significant investments to support young Victorians including with job searching, accredited training, apprenticeship and traineeship pathways, and direct job creation.
Since 2016, the Victorian Government has supported over 9,000 jobseekers aged 15–24 through Jobs Victoria—with more than 4,000 of these having been supported into work so far. The 2020–21 Budget invested a record $619.4 million to deliver expanded support to jobseekers, including a trebling of face-to- face advice and support. This investment will enable thousands more young people to receive assistance over the next three years.
The Budget also allocated $5 million to support youth traineeships across the public sector and $250 million in wage subsidies to help create around 10,000 jobs over the next three years. Young people are a key target group for this investment.
Through the Working for Victoria Fund, around 500 young Victorians have found work via the Youth Employment Program (YEP)—with these young people placed into six to 12-month roles in numerous Victorian Government departments and agencies. In addition, 300 apprenticeships and traineeships are being funded through the Victorian Apprenticeships Recovery Package for young people state-wide—again through the Working for Victoria Fund.
I am aware of YACVic’s role in supporting young people across our state and am pleased that Working for Victoria has directly invested in expanded youth services delivery through a grant of $6.775m to a youth consortium led by YACVic. This funding is delivering new jobs in youth outreach, engagement and support services that will continue throughout 2021.
The Member may also be aware that the Hon. Ros Spence MP, Minister for Youth, is working closely with YACVic and other youth bodies to develop a new whole of Victorian Government youth strategy. A discussion paper on the strategy was released last year and consultation has been extensive. The youth strategy will help us improve outcomes for young people across all domains that affect them, including employment. I am looking forward to the strategy’s release later this year and I anticipate targeted youth employment support and outcomes will be a key feature in its implementation.
I thank the Member for her input and interest in this area. Like her, I am keen to ensure our recovery is inclusive and young people, particularly those that experience significant barriers to gaining and retaining employment, will be a key focus. We need to make sure that we harness the potential of all young people.
While I am not currently considering the establishment of a Youth Employment Commissioner, I am considering how we can best promote and drive our agenda for inclusive employment across business, the community and government. I look forward to discussing further plans in this area with the Member and other colleagues.
Aboriginal Legal Services
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan)
My adjournment matter is for the Treasurer, Tim Pallas, and the action I seek is for the government to fund a further four community legal hubs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Victoria.
In last year’s budget the government delivered $2.176 million for the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service to develop two hubs for Aboriginal communities across Victoria.
While this funding was welcomed, it will not meet the demand.
The Legal Need and the COVID-19 Crisis report by the Federation of Community Legal Centres Victoria highlights the following concerns regarding the pandemic and associated legal need:
• The number of legal problems experienced by Victorians will increase.
• The proportion of Victorians who need free legal assistance to handle their legal problems will increase, as more Victorians become unable to afford private legal representation.
• The consequences of unresolved legal problems will become more severe, as people lose sources of financial and health resilience to the adverse effects of their legal issues.
Nerita Waight, the CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, is adamant the two hubs are not enough to service the legal needs of Aboriginal Victorians. In their budget submission VALS requested funding for six community legal hubs.
Nerita is the expert on this. She knows the legal issues of the Aboriginal community better than anyone else in this state.
Therefore the action I seek is for the government to support Nerita by funding a further four Aboriginal community legal hubs across Victoria in consultation with the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service.
Fiona Patten MP
Leader of Reason
Member for Northern Metropolitan Region
Adjournment matter raised 4/2/21
