Thursday, 13 November 2025

 Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (19:34): (2115) My adjournment matter this evening is for the attention of the Minister for Health, and it is in relation to the Victorian Maternity Taskforce Report. As a former midwife I am very interested in this area, and I have met with a number of midwives and others who have been keenly awaiting the report to see what recommendations and findings are in it. As we know, the taskforce was established only after years of mounting failures across the system, with the government forced to respond to growing concerns from clinicians, boards and communities about unsafe staffing levels, closed maternity units and inconsistent care. The government have been in power now for 12 years. The government has ignored repeated warnings of these failures, and the report confirms what families, clinicians and regional communities have been saying for years: maternity care in Victoria is under strain, unsafe and unequal. Under Labor we have seen a steady decline in maternity services, with hospitals forced to close birthing units, staff burning out and women giving birth before reaching hospital. On too many occasions women are giving birth on the side of the road.

The report highlights that regional and rural hospitals have been left without the workforce or resources to keep birthing services open. It points to an alarming increase in births before arrival, particularly in regional Victoria, which is a direct result of Labor’s failure to maintain safe and local care. It is disappointing that the report does not address increasing access to continuity of midwifery care. That is something that I am very familiar with, because it provides better outcomes for women, their babies and their families. Families are being put at risk because this government refuses to invest in the basics. When women are giving birth in cars on the way to hospital, it is clear the system is failing them. The taskforce found critical workforce shortages and inconsistent clinical guidelines across hospitals contributed to poorer outcomes for mothers and babies. So the action I am seeking is for the government to restore local maternity services, rebuild the regional workforce and put accountability back into Victoria’s maternity system.