Victorian Election 2014: Liberal Party Initiatives Relevant General Commitments/Claims in Coalition plan Investing in infrastructure, big and small, to keep pace with a growing population, support productivity improvements, build new skills and boost employment opportunities. Reducing red tape and direct costs on business by more than $1 billion by cutting WorkCover premiums and Payroll Tax so it s easier for business to employ people. $100m Regional Cities Fund to keep track with the growing population in regional Victoria. Recruiting more health professionals to join the 1,222 more doctors, 2,681 extra nurses and 1,287 additional allied health professionals who have been recruited to the health system since 2010. $5.2 billion to deliver training for 850,000 Victorians to ensure they have the skills needed for jobs now and into the future. Specific Initiatives/Announcements Ageing/Seniors Victorian Dementia Action Plan 2014-18 Seniors Count! (Seniors Action Participation Plan) Community Based Mental Health Services for Seniors Access to specific elective surgeries for seniors Promotes the health and wellbeing of Victorians, aims to minimise the risk of getting dementia, and supports the ongoing independence, health and wellbeing of those who do have dementia Expansion of the Seniors Care Program Cyber savvy Seniors: technology training and online engagement Age friendly Victoria: local projects Supporting the mature age workforce a new hotline and information service for children and carers of older people with a mental illness $3.2m annum (existing) $5m $32.4m including procedures on hips, knees and cataracts $27m per Page 1 of 9
Dementia research, early intervention and support Support community participation and wellbeing Corrections Transitional Housing for Aboriginal Prisoners Community Services Pre and Post Release Prison Programs including funding for Men s Sheds and University of the Third Age (U3A) organisations Establish two new accommodation facilities one for men and one from women to support offenders moving from prison back into the community Greater specialist support $13.5m $12.1m Boost support for Lifeline Additional Lifeline services in Ballarat and Geelong $3.7m Disability Community Based Respite 400,000 additional hours of community based respite $18m New Respite Facilities New Respite facilities at Whittlesea and Mitchell $3.6m Social Inclusion Initiatives Response to Parliamentary Inquiry into Social Inclusion and Victorians with Disability Health Palliative Care services Supporting palliative care in home and community settings, expansion of specialist palliative care medical and nurse practitioner services Support Community Health Services Anti-smoking and tobacco control Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease $2.6m (out of existing funds) $26m reform of programs $260,000 $66m Integrated primary and preventative healthcare services $40m over 4 $32m over 4 $22m over 4 Healthy Together Victoria Planned population health intervention & scientific assessment $20m over 4 Page 2 of 9
Country Victoria community health services dietetics, diabetes education and nursing $5m over 4 Better Health Channel availability of information $4m over 4 Royal Flying Doctor Service expand their dental, diabetes and eye care into the Wimmera, East Gippsland and north East Victoria $2.8m over 4 Smoke free health services $1m over 4 Reduce hospital readmissions re: heart failure Warrnambool Upgrade Hospital Almost half a million dollars $100m Northern Hospital expansion $98m Expanded surgery capacity at Frankston Hospital Ballarat Base Hospital expansion Supporting hearing loss and eye health include additional cardiovascular diagnostic facilities and a kitchen upgrade Hearing loss initiatives and expand Vision 2020 Australia s Vision initiative Ambulance stations 2 new ambulance stations for Bellarine Peninsula? Bellarine Community Health Centre Stage 2 capital works at Drysdale $8.1m $75m $11m $1.3m New Ambulance resources Professional ambulance paramedics at Nagambie $2.1m Bush Nursing Hospitals Up to 10 publicly-funded acute hospital beds $10m Page 3 of 9
Real-Time Prescription Monitoring to avoid deaths from pharmaceutical drug misuse Link prescription records $6.98m over 5 Castlemaine Hospital Fit out of Castlemaine Hospital s second theatre $250,000 Maryborough refurbishment Information upgrades Hospital technology Resources for University Hospital Geelong Includes urgent care and medical centres, theatre, day procedure area and dialysis area Part of Victorian Innovation ehealth & Communications Technology Fund $10.3m $80m Includes helipad, expansion of recovery suite and renal dialysis $25m Page 4 of 9
Victorian ALP Election Commitments Relevant Commitments from ALP Platform Seniors and Ageing Invest in home based services to ensure senior Victorians can age in place and remain living independently in their own homes for as long as possible Promote positive ageing through activities and preventative health strategies Deliver e-health solutions to assist older Victorians, in their home and in aged care facilities, to access services including the personally controlled electronic health record, monitored medication records and tele-health services for specialist medical care; Provide additional personal alert service alarms to assist seniors to live securely and independently for as long as possible Fund seniors groups and U3As Improve coordination between hospitals, nursing homes and General Practitioners together with Medicare Locals so that older people receive better, fully coordinated care Build on the reforms of Federal Labor to acknowledge the special needs of LGBTI seniors in accessing appropriate aged care services free from discrimination Ensure that public residential care facilities are of high quality with appropriately qualified staff and provide a suitable environment for care, particularly for those who are frail and require support Work with the Commonwealth Government to ensure that standards of governance in privately owned residential care facilities are maintained to ensure that these standards continue to be met by rigorous accreditation and auditing Growing Rural and Regional Jobs and Economies Reinvigorate the successful Regional Infrastructure Development Fund to target priority infrastructure projects in each region Work with communities and councils to put in place individual plans to grow jobs for Regional communities, and where possible, boost public sector employment and access to services in regional areas Resource the implementation of regional strategic plans across the state Work in partnership with local municipalities and industries to ascertain the most effective use of State Government resources in supporting regional economies in transition Work with existing businesses in small rural and regional towns to utilise new processes and technologies to retain existing jobs and create new jobs. Page 5 of 9
Infrastructure Identify and prioritise infrastructure needs of state and national significance Advise government on appropriate funding and financing models for infrastructure investment, or any impediments to infrastructure delivery Health Services Strengthen hospital networks linking local providers of primary health care with specialist aged care, mental health and disability services Primary Health Care through Community Health Fund community health services properly so that they deliver quality primary health care at the local level, especially to those most in need Support the development and delivery of integrated and innovative primary health care through community health services Enhance the role of community health services to deliver more comprehensive preventative health programs, such as diabetes management, dental health programs, physical activity and osteoporosis prevention programs, self-esteem programs, healthy mother healthy baby programs, chronic pain management and a wide range of other health promotion activities. End of Life and Palliative Care Support better community education efforts to improve knowledge and use of the existing legislative provisions of the Medical Treatment Act, particularly for institutions, health professionals and the wider community Support the introduction of statutory recognition so competent Victorians can use an Advanced Healthcare Directive to refuse or request treatment for a future condition. These arrangements should be subject to appropriate checks and balances, including regular reviews Work to help people understand treatment options to ensure they can have informed discussions about their future preferences (including end-of-life care) with their health professionals, families and carers Expand palliative care services and options across Victoria, such as in-home palliative care, to ensure it is culturally and age-appropriate and accessible in rural and remote areas Specific Health Priorities Promote the development of culturally relevant services for those who are now ageing Page 6 of 9
Mental Health Services Disability Improve early mental health identification and assessment services across the age range Ensure that aged Victorians who cannot be managed in mainstream aged care residential services, due to their level of persistent cognitive, emotional or behavioural disturbance, have access to Aged Persons Mental Health nursing homes and hostels Expand access to appropriate care for young people who require supported accommodation, removing the need for young people to be accommodated in aged care facilities Quality and Sustainability of Services Workforce Actively engage with unions, health services, community services and disability services to develop a strategic response to emerging workforce issues Consumer Affairs Improve protection of people living in residential villages (that is where the resident owners the demountable building but rents the land) through new standalone legislation. Implement improved protection for older renters Local Government The Suburbs Housing Recognise there is an appropriate role for local governments in the provision and funding of home and community care (HACC), acknowledge the diversity of Councils across the State and encourage the continued involvement of local government as a HACC service provider and funder Develop and implement a plan for the delivery of key services and infrastructure to Melbourne s suburbs Continue to expand Victoria s social housing assets through the National Affordable Housing Agreement and State initiatives Promote and expand not-for-profit, community-based Housing Associations Continue the practice of spot buying to ensure the diversity of housing throughout the community Page 7 of 9
Encourage local government to develop initiatives that facilitate greater private and community investment in affordable housing Homelessness Improve and expand the service response to homelessness, with the goal of providing long-term, integrated support to those in need Multicultural Communities Assist isolated CALD elderly people to connect with their communities through use of computers (through public/private partnership) Relevant Funding Announcements Aged Care Chinese Aged Care Aged Care Land Bank $2.5m Health Latrobe Valley University Training Clinic in Churchill Investigate Future Needs of West Gippsland Health Care Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery Improve Safety for Nurses and Doctors Expand the cardiovascular service at Ballarat Health Services Develop a world-class health training centre, boost primary health care services and support a dental prosthetics manufacturing facility Comprehensive study to identify the health care needs of the growing population in West Gippsland Australia s first research and education centre for biomedical engineering $1m? $60m Improve facilities in hospitals and mental health services $20m Building and equipping a new, $10 million cardiac catheterisation laboratory ( cath lab ) $10m Page 8 of 9
Regional Victoria Mental Health Independent Expert to Find Missing Hospital Beds Regional Infrastructure Development Fund Regional Jobs Fund Stronger Regional Communities plan Mental Health Plan Respected surgeon and former AMA Victoria President, Dr Doug Travis, will conduct a state-wide census of bed and theatre capacity, and provide recommendations about how to increase the capacity of Victorian hospital Invest in projects that create jobs, support population growth, change our economy, and meet the needs of our cities Help companies grow their workforce, expand their markets and create the jobs of the future $250m $200m Including creating more training opportunities closer to home $50m Rebuild services and provide certainty and stability for their clients and workforce? Justice Community Legal Centre Assistance Fund $2m Employment Back to Work Act Provide payroll tax relief to companies hiring unemployed youth, the long-term unemployed and retrenched workers into full time work Housing Protect the Gatwick Grants over four to St Kilda Community Housing to improve the shared facilities and rooms $100m $600,000 Page 9 of 9