Tuesday, 10 May 2022

Ministers statements: Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority

Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (13:22): Last week it was a delight to join ESTA staff at the ESTA 2021 service and recognition awards to pay tribute to their hard work and the commitment that they make to the Victorian community every day. Of course we know that ESTA staff do incredible work on the front line of our emergency services, and frankly they are awesome people. The camaraderie, the support and the team environment of that group of people were fantastic to see firsthand on a night of celebration. I had the honour of recognising seven employees who have proudly reached 25 years of service, and there were a further 50 employees who received 10-, 15- or 20-year service awards.

In recognising their tireless work of course last week’s budget continues to support our hardworking ESTA staff to ensure they can continue to keep Victorians safe every day and every night. Right around the nation we know demand for health and emergency services is at an all-time high. Since the start of the pandemic 000 ambulance calls have increased by approximately a third, from a daily average of about 2200 calls in October to almost 4000 calls in December last year. This is unprecedented demand, but what we now know is that this is our new normal.

But when they call for help of course every Victorian should have the confidence that there will be help on the other end of the line, and that is why we are investing in practical and immediate measures to continue to build ESTA’s capability to respond to this demand. More than $333 million will be added. This will mean there will be an additional 400 new staff to increase 000 call services for ambulance, police and fire. It is the biggest ever investment in Victoria’s 000 capability.

This significant funding boost will bring on more call takers and dispatchers and more trainers and team leaders, build a better support and surge capability for busy times and provide further wellbeing support to look after these amazing people. The package of course builds on the immediate support that I announced in March, which is already seeing improvements in our call-taking times and workplace practices. I thank ESTA staff for their incredible work and will continue to support them and thank them.