Sick pay guarantee
Bronwyn HALFPENNY (Thomastown) (17:20): (36) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Employment regarding the Labor government’s $245.7 million sick pay guarantee, which aims to reduce workplace illnesses and injuries and keep businesses safer and more productive. The action I seek is for the minister to provide me with the number of Victorian workers living in my electorate who have been supported through the sick pay guarantee program in 2022 and how this investment has benefited them. Many residents of the Thomastown electorate are employed in industries across manufacturing, retail, health and social assistance, with a significant proportion employed on a casual basis. These are all occupations which are included in the first phase of the scheme and represent the highest percentage of workers who are registered for the program. This Australian-first initiative was launched in March 2022, and after only four months more than $6 million had been paid to workers in frontline jobs. Recently the minister announced that the program has so far supported more than 80,000 claims from Victorian casual and contract workers who do not have sick leave entitlements. I have spoken to many casual workers who have told me how important this program has been in both recognising the important contribution they make and ensuring that if they do have time off due to illness they can still feed their families and pay their rent.