Tuesday, 17 June 2025

 Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (18:41): (1714) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Mental Health and relates to the wages and working conditions of Victorian mental healthcare workers. Today on the front steps of this place, at the rally organised by the Health and Community Services Union, those of us in attendance heard of a crumbling mental health sector whose workers are at breaking point. Our mental health workers are on the front line, and they face Victoria’s worsening mental health crisis. Today on the steps we remembered the 772 Victorians who died from suicide just last year. Mental health workers have been engaging in industrial actions over the last 11 months while this government continues to offer them a subpar enterprise bargaining agreement. Half of all mental health workers reported being assaulted at work once a week, with one in 10 reporting them daily. A staggering 97 per cent of social workers and occupational therapists, who are core to the delivery of public mental health service delivery, have indicated that they will leave the public sector if key demands are not met. This is a scary proposition. Victoria’s mental health workers are overworked, underpaid and clearly undervalued by this government. Minister, the action that I seek is for this government to listen to the demands of mental health workers and deliver an agreement that rightfully compensates workers with the pay and conditions that they deserve.