Wednesday, 29 November 2023

 Michael GALEA (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:44): (592) My constituency question today is for the Minister for WorkSafe and the TAC on behalf of my constituents who work as frontline retail workers. The retail trade is the third-highest employing sector in south-eastern Melbourne and the peninsula, with around 62,500 people employed in retail shops and fast-food outlets. Post COVID, employment in the sector has dropped by 9.3 per cent. Around 22 per cent of this number are young people between the ages of 15 and 24, making retail the largest employer of young people in my region. One reason that many workers left the industry during and after the height of the COVID pandemic was due to the abusive behaviour of customers. Leading up to Christmas, retail workers often experience this same abuse from customers who have lost their patience and treated them poorly. No-one deserves to be treated this way at work, least of all our young people, who are often in their first jobs. Minister, what will WorkSafe be doing to help to protect our retail workers in the lead-up to the Christmas and New Year period?