Thursday, 24 March 2022

Pascoe Vale electorate

Ms BLANDTHORN (Pascoe Vale) (14:49): (6293) My question is for the Minister for Workplace Safety in the other place, and the question I ask is: what will the Victorian sick pay guarantee mean for workers, their families and their workplaces and teammates in my community of Pascoe Vale? For so many low-income workers, particularly casual workers, there is no real choice when they are faced with the option of staying home sick or caring particularly for their children who might be sick. There is no choice between that option and the option of going to work, because they are simply dependent on their wages, otherwise they cannot put bread on the table. This announcement was particularly welcomed by members of my community, and I ask the minister if she could detail what this guarantee will mean for the eligible casual workers across the industries in my electorate that have such a high dominance of these types of workers amongst them?