Alice Jordan-Baird
Gorton · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“This includes incentives like the Commonwealth Prac Payment, which means students on their mandatory nursing and midwifery placements will be paid for their work, making life easier for our nursing and midwifery students.”
“We took health care to the election, and right across the board we're legislating change. We've capped the cost of PBS-listed medicines at just $25, the lowest it's been since 2004—when I was in primary school—which has seen a saving of more than $14 million in my electorate of Gorton.”
“With competing cost-of-living pressures, these families shouldn't be worrying about the cost of seeing a doctor as well. These families deserve regular access to affordable GP appointments, and that's why this bill matters.”
“Our green and gold Medicare card means opportunity. It means receiving high-quality health care, regardless of your bank balance. I'm so proud to be part of the Albanese Labor government, which is committed to strengthening Medicare for generations to come, and this bill, the Health Insurance Amendment (Incentive Payments and Other Measur…”
“It means that, in Melbourne's western suburbs, people in our community have access to free walk-in care when they need it. With this budget, we're making urgent care clinics like the ones in Melton and Sunshine permanent. Urgent care clinics play a really important role in taking the pressure off our emergency departments.”
“Our introduction of Medicare bulk-billing clinics is really making a huge difference in our communities across the country. I'm really proud to report that, in my community, there are now 24 Medicare bulk-billing practices—up from 13 before our bulk-billing changes were introduced.”
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“Low-income workers are too often undervalued in our society—retail workers, hospitality workers, administrative assistants, cleaners, disability and aged-care workers, and farm workers. They put food on our table, care for our loved ones, and keep our workspaces, schools and community facilities clean. These are people who have worked their whole lives in service of our community, and it's not fair that this sometimes means they don't get to have financial stability in their retirement. Our government's reforms to the low-income tax offset will give low-income earners more security and stability in their retirement. The changes announced by the Treasurer last month increase the offset from $310 to $810, directly boosting low-income earners' retirement savings and allowing them greater financial security in their future.”
“This motion goes to the reforms of the low-income superannuation tax offset, or LISTO that the Treasurer announced in October this year. These reforms will deliver a more secure retirement for 1.3 million Australians, of which around 60 per cent are women, with the total number of Australians eligible for the LISTO increasing to 3.1 million. Only the Albanese Labor government will protect Australian superannuation, because of our commitment that Australians earn more, keep more of what they earn and retire with more. I'm really pleased to move the motion before the House today, recognising the significant impact this reform will have for people across Australia and in my electorate of Gorton.”
“I move: That this House: (1) notes that the reforms to the low-income superannuation tax offset (LISTO) the Treasurer announced on 13 October 2025 will: (a) increase the LISTO by $310 to $810; and (b) raise the eligibility threshold from $37,000 to $45,000; (2) acknowledges that these reforms will deliver a more secure retirement for 1.3 million Australians, of which around 60 per cent are women, with the total number of Australians eligible for LISTO increasing to 3.1 million; (3) takes note of the legislation currently before the Parliament that ensures superannuation is paid on time to help more Australians get the secure retirement they need and deserve; and (4) further acknowledges that only the current Government will protect Australians' superannuation because of our commitment for Australians to earn more, keep more of what they earn, and to retire with more as well.”
“In addition to responding during times of crisis, the Aintree SES has become a visible and trusted presence at many local community events, promoting storm preparedness, raising awareness of flood risks and ensuring families know how to stay safe when severe weather strikes. I extend my sincere thanks to Micah for his exemplary leadership and to all SES volunteers who give so generously of their time to help others. I also congratulate Alex on his appointment and wish him every success as he leads the unit into its next chapter. Alex is an outstanding member of our local community. Together with his partner, Tanya, he has been determined to see the unit thrive and recruit more volunteers. I'm proud to commend the dedicated men and women of the Victorian State Emergency Service who keep our community safe.”
“I rise to acknowledge the outstanding service of the Aintree SES unit and its dedicated volunteers. After more than two years of leading the unit through its establishment in Melbourne's outer west, Micah Spedding has officially passed the torch to Alex Setterfield, who will now serve as the new unit controller. When Micah first took on this role, the unit was little more than a patch of land. Through his tireless effort, commitment and countless volunteer hours, it has grown into a thriving and fully operational service, proudly serving the people of Aintree and surrounding communities in times of emergency.”
“When women are forced to use inappropriate facilities, they are put in unsafe situations. This should never be acceptable as an adequate working environment. The RTBU national office is calling for a mandatory national standard for all transport workers, to guarantee them access to safe, clean and private toilets. I'd like to thank the RTBU for bringing such an important topic to light. I'd also like to give a shout-out to the mighty Transport Workers' Union, who also represent transport workers across the country. I was proud to stand in solidarity with the TWU and the SDA at their recent protest at Amazon in Ravenhall. These workers are fighting for better pay and conditions, and it's time for Amazon to pay up. (Time expired)”
“I rise to speak in solidarity with female rail, tram and bus workers all over the country. The Rail, Tram and Bus Union's recent report shows us the uncomfortable truth. Women's health is suffering because of a lack of access to workplace toilet and sanitary facilities. The report shows that, horrifyingly, 73 per cent of female transport workers have suffered health issues because they were not able to access toilets or sanitary bins. Women are forced to carry their used period products all day because there's nowhere to dispose of them. Women are being told by their managers that not having access to adequate facilities is just part of working in the industry. This is unacceptable, and it should concern all workers. This isn't just a matter of comfort; it's a matter of safety.”
“It's a moment to recognise that the Labor Party is doing really good things in people's lives right across Australia—for women and families in their most vulnerable moments. This piece of legislation will affect so many Australians' lives for the better.”
“It's just awful.' Instead of unequivocal support, this House and the Australian public have been subjected to some truly sickening comments from those opposite. Those opposite just don't get it. They don't get that for a parent to be told by their employer, 'No, you do not have the time and space to grieve,' or for a woman to be trapped without the opportunity to physically recover from a traumatic childbirth is abhorrent. The lack of compassion and empathy that has been shown by these members is astounding. Their comments are unworthy of this place and unworthy of the people they represent. But we won't let their comments take away from this moment. This is a proud moment.”
“You'd think this bill would have received unequivocal support from every member of this house, because the horrors that Baby Priya's family went through—those horrors that I saw my friends go through—are not something I would wish upon any Australian. A few weeks ago, I was speaking to one of my best friends—a wonderful doctor who works on maternity wards in Melbourne hospitals—about the legislation. As she was speaking, her eyes teared up, and she said: 'I look after patients who lose their babies. There's so much that we try to do to provide care to them and to try to help them in that moment. It shocked me that, after everything they go through, after all the care we provide, a workplace would actually expect them to go back to work within a few days of going through that.”
“When we define and protect this paid parental leave, we're recognising the experience of those families instead of erasing it. Going through pregnancy and childbirth and adjusting to new life with a baby is challenging. It's transformative and, for most families, it's joyous. But to go through that experience with loss instead of new life, with grief instead of joy, and to be forced to an immediate return to work is horrific. Friends of mine have gone through this experience. Colleagues of mine have spoken in this chamber about people in their communities that have gone through this experience.”
“It's not annual leave. What do you call it? This bill provides clarity for parents, employers and the whole workplace. It sets out shared expectations so that these moments can be handled with dignity and compassion. It leads to mutually beneficial conditions for both employers and employees, and it builds trust and dialogue in workplaces. The clarity this bill provides aligns with the clarity provided in existing unpaid parental leave entitlements, ensuring consistency across the workplace relations framework. Importantly, it doesn't interfere with bargaining in good-faith agreements. This means that the ability to bargain for pay and conditions above the safety net remains central to our approach to workplace relations.”
“This bill means that, unless employers and employees have expressly agreed otherwise, employer funded paid parental leave cannot be cancelled if a child is stillborn or passes away. This is for the six babies who are stillborn in Australia every day and the more than 2,000 families each year who face this loss and heartbreak. It means parents can rely on their paid parental leave entitlements regardless of the outcome of the pregnancy or birth. This bill is about dignity, it's about compassion and, from a legislative perspective, it's about defining a grey area of the law and giving families financial security at a time when they need it most, because, even if a person experiencing the loss of a child does have supportive employers, those employers do not have a defined category of leave to give them. It's not bereavement leave.”
“I rise today to speak on a really important bill that was recently passed in this parliament in memory of little Baby Priya. Heartbreakingly, Baby Priya lived to just 42 days old. Instead of having the freedom to grieve her baby's death during this difficult time, Priya's mum faced distressing negotiations with her employer about a return to work she hadn't planned for. I don't have firsthand experience of childbirth and losing a baby at the same time, but I do know grief. Grief can be overwhelming, paralysing and raw. Some days, it is truly debilitating. For pregnancies that reach 20 weeks, one in every 135 will end in stillbirth. Baby Priya's bill introduces a new principle into the Fair Work Act to protect families during the most difficult time of their lives.”
“We are a government that cares about what makes a real difference to the lives of Australians—cost of living measures, Medicare, affordable housing—and a government that knows the transformative quality of access to education, not just for individuals but for all of Australia. I commend the bill to the House.”
“With this bill, we are ensuring the programs and processes that bring out real outcomes for Australians are compliant and administered with integrity, down to the very last detail. The bill before us today speaks to who we are as a Labor government. We are a government that pays attention to detail, that acts on advice from the Public Service, that knows the importance of integrity and transparency in everything we do, that wants to build confidence and improve trust in government, and wants to earn that trust by doing right by Australians. We are a government that invests in Australians—our people—unlike the opposition, who believe that if you don't pay for something, you don't value it. We know that when we invest in our people, our society, our economy and our future all benefit, many times over.”
“When the Albanese Labor government came to power in 2022, we promised Australians we would make government work for them, not the other way around—no more secrecy, no more scandal—and we have delivered key pieces of legislation to give Australians confidence that government does work for them, that our democracy is by the people, for the people, as it was intended. We have created the National Anti-Corruption Commission, the first of its nature in Australia's history. We strengthened protections for public sector whistleblowers. We have committed to releasing an annual report on trust in the Public Service to increase transparency and trust in public servants. We are delivering on the things Australians care about—cost of living, housing and education, Medicare—and putting real outcomes for Australians first.”
“Labor is the party of education and we are building on our commitment to education with this bill. The bill is important because it works towards ensuring the administration of crucial programs like the VET Student Loans program is compliant and administered with integrity. We know that trust in government isn't where it should be. It's been eroded over the last decade when those opposite were in government—those opposite, who presided over robodebt; those opposite, whose former leader swore himself into five additional ministries during his term without even informing his own cabinet, much less the public; and who voted against things that are making a real difference to Australians, like energy bill relief, cheaper child care, cheaper medicines, and cheaper health care.”
“He's a mature-age electrical apprentice who studies at Victoria University in Sunshine a day a week while completing his apprenticeship with a third-generation small business called Rizzo Electrical in Airport West. Free TAFE is life-changing for so many families, including mine. Frankly, it shows how out of touch those opposite really are. They voted against training more tradies to build the houses we need for our growing communities. They voted against the cost-of-living relief that free TAFE provides for so many Australians, particularly in the outer suburbs. They are out of touch with the needs and interests of suburban families, while we on this side of the House are doing everything we can to help Australians get better jobs with higher wages and give educational opportunities to Australians that would otherwise miss out.”
“We're giving early education and care workers a pay rise. We're subsidising additional hours of care for about 100,000 families under the three-day childcare guarantee. And we're putting TAFE back at the centre of Australia's vocational education and training sector. We passed the Free TAFE Bill, which has seen more than 685,000 enrolments in free TAFE. The Leader of the Opposition famously said, 'When you don't pay for something, you don't value it.' Tell that to the 685,000 people taking up free TAFE around Australia. Tell that to the 1,420 apprentices in my electorate who are in training, right now, thanks to free TAFE. They include my husband Chris, who was able to make a career change later in life as a result of Labor's free TAFE.”
“We've locked in 100,000 free TAFE places each year, from 2027. We've cut 20 per cent off all student debts, and we'll raise the minimum repayment threshold so that repayments are lower and only kick in when you earn more. Our 20 per cent reduction of student debts will benefit VET students in particular, applying to more than 280,000 VET Student Loans and Australian Apprenticeship Support Loan accounts. It'll cut more than $500 million from VET Student Loans and Australian Apprenticeship Support Loan balances, giving VET students a leg-up when they enter the workforce. We're working on all levels of education. We're committing $16½ billion to fully fund all public schools over the next 10 years, tied to real and practical reforms. We've legislated paid prac payments for teaching students to help with the cost of placements.”
“They're able to provide commercial catering at local events through these student programs. They're learning the hands-on skills while they're still completing school so that they can go on to do TAFE or go straight into work. CRC Sydenham also has a great VET Salon Assistant program and has offered me a haircut one of these days, which I'm very much looking forward to. CRC is just one example, but there are so many schools in the western suburbs of Melbourne that have embedded the need for hands-on learning in everything they do. This sets our students up for success in whatever they choose to do. This bill, which ensures confidence in our VET Student Loans program, is part of Labor's larger commitment to education. Labor is the party of quality and accessible education, and in our commitment to education we're leaving no stone unturned.”
“We reformed the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning to become the VCE Vocational Major, providing students with practical skills, hands-on experience and a pathway to further education. Bringing this pathway into the VCE was much more than a name change or a rebrand. It reformed the curriculum to ensure that there was an option within VCE that focuses on vocational and applied learning. We have some incredible school based VET programs as well, we students are taking up hands-on subjects like automotive, engineering studies, building and construction, hair and beauty, and so much. I recently visited Catholic Regional College in Sydenham, a fantastic local school in my electorate that has a VET hospitality program and a VET food processing program. Their teachers and kitchen facilities at the school are incredible.”
“And, at the last count, more than 3½ thousand of my constituents were studying in a vocational education institution. Apprenticeships change lives. They connect students with employers, while building confidence and ambition. I recently visited CMV Truck & Bus in Derrimut with the Minister for Skills and Training and met a number of these amazing apprentices. CMV Truck & Bus have a fantastic program supporting 103 diesel mechanic apprentices across their operation, including 34 in Derrimut in my electorate. They're training the next generation of vehicle technicians. Free TAFE and good employers like CMV Truck & Bus make dreams like this a reality for so many young people in my community. I previously worked in education policy.”
“As we strive to increase housing supply, care for our ageing population and ensure that our children receive the best start in life, these workers will be even more critical. For the future of our country, it's imperative that we ensure that the supply meets the demand for these workers, and safeguarding our VET Student Loans program, which gets people into VET courses regardless of their means, is a core piece of this puzzle. But the importance of the VET Student Loans program doesn't end there. Trades are a really important part of my electorate of Gorton. More than 13 per cent of my constituents are technicians and tradies. More than 10 per cent of my constituents are machine operators and drivers. Another 10 per cent are labourers.”
“It strengthens the administration of the VET Student Loans program, a program that has been and will continue to be instrumental in building the skilled workforce Australia needs. VET student loans make vocational education and training more accessible to Australians and ensure that Australia has enough skilled workers to meet industry demand and address skills shortages across critical industries. A study conducted by Jobs and Skills Australia last year confirmed that many of Australia's current job shortages in trades, care and education roles rely on the VET system and its workforce to teach and train future workers. Australia has persistent shortages in tradies and technicians, as well as community and personal service workers, including aged-care workers, disability support workers, childcare workers and nurses.”
“The VET Student Loans program is an important part of the education policy landscape in Australia. It commenced in 2017 and was passed with bipartisan support. It was an overhaul of the previous system, strengthening integrity and oversight and restoring confidence and trust in loans for VET students. Since this program was implemented, more than 324,000 VET students have accessed loans. That's 324,000 VET students trained in trades, technical skills, engineering, nursing, early childhood education and more. That's 324,000 more opportunities to help build Australia's future and critical skills. This bill, which addresses a misalignment between the program's legislation and its administration, is important for a number of reasons.”
“VSL providers currently need to handle student tax file numbers, with TFNs being essential for ensuring students loan application details match with their ATO accounts. During a review of this program's administration, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations identified that there wasn't a clear role in the legislation for VSL providers to handle students TFNs. The bill before us today clarifies the basis for this necessary practice and, in this way, ensures the program remains compliant while being accessible to students. So, in essence, this bill is about two things. It's about safeguarding student loans for VET students, and it's about strengthening confidence in government by paying attention to detail and making sure every process is up to standard.”
“This group quickly identified that we must address the disconnect between what students are studying now and where jobs and skills of the future will be. Since then, we have undertaken a massive piece of work to strengthen vocational education and training in Australia and to ensure that students are studying and training in the skills that will be vital for our future. This bill is another step in our broader efforts to ensure that Australia is equipped with the skilled workforce we will need for the future. The bill before us is about ensuring that the VET Student Loans Act and the administration of the VET Student Loans program are aligned. Last year, the VET Student Loans program assisted more than 24,000 VET students to pay their student loans.”
“If we as a country are going to rise to these challenges, we need to ensure that the VET programs that support us are as strong as possible, that VET is accessible to people regardless of their means and that the programs supporting VET have the social licence to operate. Our work in this space started by putting TAFE back at the heart of Australia's vocational education and training sector. We did this because TAFE is vital for the next generation of skilled workers. For too long, students studied courses or undertook training that did not lead to secure jobs or the skills that employers need. Jobs and Skills Australia is the body established by this government to provide independent advice on workforce skills and training needs.”
“I rise today to speak in support of the VET Student Loans (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2025 put forward by the Minister for Skills and Training, and I commend him for doing so. To build Australia's future, we need vocational education and training. We need VET to solve big national challenges in the labour market. There's no doubt we have a need for greater housing supply, for more workers in early education and aged care and for skilled technical workers to support the transition to net zero. That's right—net zero. That's because we on this side of the House actually believe in climate change and we want to prepare our country for a changing climate.”
“The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, cheaper child care, the carers payment, the parenting payment, the indexation of pensions to inflation, the JobSeeker payment—these are all services that were introduced by Labor, and they exist in their current forms today because we are here to protect them. That's the difference between our side of the chamber and theirs. Labor builds social safety nets. Liberals oppose them and cut them. This bill is just one part of that. As long as there's a Labor government, Australians can trust that those valuable safety nets will be not only protected but strengthened. We as Labor know what it means to advocate for Australians, to maintain the privileges we experience as Australians for the next generation and to build a stronger, fairer Australia for all. I commend this bill to the House.”
“While I repeated the minister's words to our new Australians—that, as citizens, we take on these immense privileges—I knew it was us, the government representing our communities, who take on a responsibility in return, because it is our government agencies who are responsible for delivering the social safety net that we as Australians hold so dear. Let me be clear. These safety nets are the product of the Australian Labor Party. It's no secret that the coalition has opposed the creation of social safety nets at every turn. Robodebt happened under their watch. Meanwhile, Australia's healthcare system exists because of the Labor Party. Our social safety nets exist because of the Labor Party. We built Medicare from the ground up, and, today, we're delivering the biggest ever investment in Medicare in its history to bring back bulk-billing.”
“The privilege is in the safety nets we have access to when life doesn't go according to plan: access to health services like Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme; access to cheaper child care and the parenting payment for families juggling it all; access to the indexation of pensions to inflation to make things fair; access to the carers payment, because caring for loved ones takes a toll; and access to the JobSeeker payment to keep Australians afloat during life's most unpredictable periods.”
“Last week, I attended a citizenship ceremony in the city of Melton, where we welcomed 400 constituents from my home in Melbourne's west into our broader Australian community as new Australian citizens. At the ceremony, I read out a statement on behalf of the Minister for Home Affairs, Tony Burke. In this statement, the minister reminded our community that, when you make a citizenship pledge, you take on the privilege that it is to be an Australian citizen. I want to echo that sentiment right now because it is truly a privilege to live a life in Australia.”
“We established the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme to rebuild public trust and make sure that what happened is never allowed to happen again; we rebuilt the Australian Public Service, which had been hollowed out by an overreliance on consultants and contractors; and we're reforming the NDIS, a scheme that the coalition didn't want to see succeed and made cuts to every step of the way. We made integrity and delivery the central priorities of government agencies, and the Australians who rely on these services are now better off under Labor's reforms. But we didn't just reform the way these agencies deliver support; we also increased the level of support they provide.”
“When the Albanese government came into office in 2022, we took on the job of rebuilding the capability and capacity of our government agencies following nine long years of cuts and neglect. We added 3,000 staff to Services Australia. This reduced backlogs and improved service access for people across Australia, including in my community. We also directed Services Australia to release quarterly performance data to increase transparency. Where the coalition neglected, we built.”
“Across Centrelink, Medicare and the NDIS, for nine long years, backlogs grew and Australians suffered. People in Melbourne's western suburbs suffered. Government agencies weren't just failing Australians; they were actively harming them too. The appalling robodebt scandal should not be forgotten. It will never be forgotten, and it should never be repeated. Robodebt was designed to raise revenue by clawing back debt from people who never owed that money, preying on some of our most vulnerable Australians. The impacts of this tragic coalition government failure are still being felt in communities across Australia, including my community in the western suburbs.”
“These are all commonsense changes that will make a genuine difference in people's lives, including the lives of people in my community in Melbourne's western suburbs. The changes streamline government processes so people spend less time filling out superfluous paperwork and spend more quality time with their families instead. While the opposition has been divided and distracted since the opening of the 48th Parliament, we have been getting on with the job, and we know how important our job is. For almost a decade, the now opposition ran a government that was incapable of delivering the services that Australians expected and deserved. Across Centrelink, Medicare and the NDIS, the previous government's time in office was defined by delays and inefficiencies.”
“This means that, if you see one doctor in Deer Park and then change to see a different doctor in Caroline Springs, your health data will be shared between clinics, meaning your GP will have better historic healthcare data when you're in the assessment room, providing a more accurate diagnosis and overall better health care. It will improve the regulation of Medicare to clamp down on fraudulent claims so fewer people will be taking advantage of our system through deceptive conduct. It's a multitude of measures which will benefit a multitude of government processes. It's an all-encompassing bill including 60 measures. It amends 28 acts and repeals two redundant acts. Through all of this, it will deliver real improvement to the operations of 13 federal government agencies.”
“This bill will make sure NBN mapping is publicly available online so that Australians will have better information about their NBN rollout and can have greater visibility of when the NBN will be coming to their community. It will grant fuel companies greater flexibility to respond to fuel supply disruptions, which will allow greater knowledge for communities when they're filling up at the petrol station. It will increase information sharing between healthcare providers, to make sure that Australians receive the highest-quality care.”
“Right now, Australians still need to submit hard-copy documents to prove details about themselves or their identity in a number of different situations—for example, when they get married, as I did last year. That means getting out your passport and texting Mum frantically to ask what happened to the hard copy of your birth certificate. We know that this system is out of date, and we need to keep up with a world that's gone digital. That's why this bill would modernise some of the processes to allow secure digital options to be used where they're suitable. With this bill, we'll also continue to increase productivity and government efficiency from several different angles.”
“That's why we're doubling the amount of time that patients have access to imaging services when they get a referral. This means families will have additional time to make appointments for scans or medical imaging before they expire, and, when there just isn't time to get that scan or imaging done, they won't have to start the whole process all over again. This makes the system work for Australians and helps to reduce the demand on GPs so everyone can get into a doctor when they need to. Third, this bill will further reduce the regulatory burden on Australians and on industry by working to make processes simple, intuitive and up to date, as they should be. One type of regulation that will become much easier to navigate under this bill is legislated document requirements.”
“On this side of the House we've put access to medical care at the top of our agenda. We've given Medicare the biggest boost since it was created, and opened more than 90 urgent care clinics, including two accessible to my constituents in Gorton. Getting in and seeing a doctor is one part of the picture, but sometimes medical care needs to go beyond that. We're making primary medical care more accessible for constituents, but the steps after that first doctor's appointment need to work for Australians as well. We've heard Australians when they told us that under the existing legislation there sometimes just isn't the time to get scans and imaging done—work gets busy, family needs you, life gets in the way. We get that making time for that appointment isn't always that easy.”
“That's why this legislation is so important; it lightens the load on everyone, from staff in our service centres and government departments to everyday Australians navigating these agencies and systems. This bill amends several acts to expand the situations where information can be shared between government agencies. Ultimately, these reforms will mean that someone applying to receive their Medicare rebates and Centrelink payments won't have to hand over the same personal details repeatedly. They will need to advise Services Australia once—just once—and it will be sorted, improving the experience of government services and agencies for all Australians and lightening the load on everyone. Further to this point, the bill before us will make our medical system work better for Australians.”
“Not long ago, a constituent living in Truganina brought in a document detailing the more than 20 interactions with Centrelink and other government services she'd had while trying to get the support she needed after her redundancy. This shouldn't be happening. In times like these, having to communicate new information multiple times to multiple different agencies compounds the stress that constituents are already feeling, creating frustration and disillusionment. This frustration puts more pressure back onto our government agencies like the team at the Watergardens Service Centre, and makes their work of trying to support constituents and get them the assistance they need all the more challenging.”
“While I was there I heard about all they do to make the system work for the people they support, from having an ATO officer in-house to bridge the gap between Services Australia and the ATO, to arranging in-person language support for members of our CALD community in the Western Suburbs. But there are serious limitations as well. Constituents who contact my electorate office are often fatigued by interacting with multiple agencies and communicating the same information again and again. Oftentimes it's stressful situations and unexpected life events that create a need people for to communicate new information to government services—financial hardship, housing challenges, family breakdowns.”
“That's evident every day in my electorate of Gorton, from the young families getting that little bit extra they need from the family tax benefit to workers affected by redundancy who are supported by JobSeeker to find work again, to older Australians accessing all-important health care with their seniors healthcare card. My electorate is home to some of the most dedicated, responsive and genuinely caring Services Australia staff I've ever come across. The team at our local service centre—the Watergardens Service Centre—are there every day supporting our constituents, and we couldn't be more appreciative of the work they do. I had the pleasure of visiting the Watergardens Service Centre and meeting the staff in person recently.”
“On this side of the House, we take responsibility to work through the challenges that have arisen in our economy, whether those challenges are inflation, business investment or strengthening budget sustainability, and that is exactly what we're doing here today. The bill before us now would make government work better for Australians in a few different ways. Firstly, the bill supports Services Australia moving towards a 'tell us once' approach for how it delivers services. This will reduce the number of times Australians have to provide the same information to government agencies such as Centrelink to access basic services. Centrelink does incredibly important work for Australians.”
“What we heard, time and time again, was that our economy needs better regulation, our government services need streamlining and compliance costs need to go down. This bill is a result of a massive body of work, but the positive change it will create across the country will be so much greater. In our first term the Albanese government fought inflation and reformed the budget, and in our second term we are focused on making our economy more dynamic, resilient and productive. We've worked together with the Australian people to deliver two surpluses after nine years of deficits. We've got real wages growing again after a decade of deliberate wage suppression and wage stagnation. Living standards are recovering after falling sharply under those opposite.”