Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority
Ms CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (12:02): My question is to the Minister for Emergency Services. Minister, in your press release on Monday you again blamed Victorians for the surge in calls to 000. Instead of apologising for the state that your government has allowed ESTA to reach, you again told Victorians effectively that it was their fault. Minister, why haven’t you invested properly in ESTA until now, instead blaming the Victorian public and sitting on your hands for over two years, since the pandemic began?
Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:03): Ms Crozier, I certainly do not blame Victorians for unprecedented demand on ESTA. It is offensive to suggest that. At all times I approach this role with compassion for those that have experienced a call delay and a stern commitment to improve it. On that basis, at every step of the way since being minister I have gone in to bat for ESTA and supported their request for funding. I secured $27 million in October, and I announced a package of $115 million just on Monday. This is going to deliver an extra 120 new ongoing positions, and it is flowing right now. More call takers than ever are available at ESTA, and our training schedule is full. We are right behind ESTA in making sure that they can improve their call response times, which are under strain because of more people calling ESTA.
I do not blame Victorians for calling ESTA when they need it, but I do remind people about calling for an ambulance when they do not need one. The direct feedback from ESTA call takers is that they answer calls when people should not be calling ESTA—when they could go to the GP or they could go to the pharmacy to access some medication. It is a real strain on these hardworking call takers when they are trying to help Victorians. ‘Sorry, you really shouldn’t be calling us; you should be calling someone else’ would be what they would be thinking. There are about 20 per cent of those calls, and they do tie up the lines for some of the emergency responses. Of course, if you are in distress, please seek help, but please consider your alternative appropriate mechanisms, whether it is the police assistance line, Nurse-on-Call or indeed accessing your own GP.
Ms Crozier, there is significant funding going into ESTA. We are right behind the interim CEO, Stephen Leane, and his deputy, Deb Abbott. It is an organisation that is full of amazing people that are committed to protecting Victorians, and they have my full support.
Ms CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (12:05): Minister, there have been men, women and children who have died because of the failures in 000. You have had two years to prepare and plan and have failed to do so, investing only this week. That is shameful. Minister, will you apologise to Victorians for blaming ESTA’s issues on them and instead admit your government got this wrong?
Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:06): Ms Crozier, I addressed these issues in the answer to your previous question. What I remain concerned about are the claims that you make about attributing deaths and adverse outcomes to our hardworking call takers when that is not your role. It is not my role. We have appropriate independent oversight bodies to look into these matters, such as the inspector-general for emergency management and indeed the coroner. I do not wish to engage in this continual attack on our call takers, attributing blame to them for people’s—
Ms Crozier: On a point of order, President, this is not an attack on the call takers, it is an attack on the government’s failures.
The PRESIDENT: There is no point of order.
Ms SYMES: Of course, Ms Crozier, as I have said in this house, as I have said on the public record, any family enduring a call delay is completely unacceptable, and that is why we are committed to making sure that ESTA get the support they need. We want to do everything so that families do not have to go through this, and we want to give Victorians the confidence that they deserve in a system that is full of people that are committed to— (Time expired)