State Member for Northern Victoria Tania Maxwell has called on the Victorian Government to support a new rural clinical school in Shepparton and to expand the number of cancers covered by firefighters’ presumptive rights.
Ms Maxwell said the new clinical health school proposed by Goulburn Valley Health, La Trobe University and Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE would grow the region’s future health workforce, which is facing a critical shortage of health, aged care and community care workers.
“A clinical school will increase GV Health’s reputation as an employer of choice and help attract student and workers to the region,” she said.
“This has an important flow-on effect for professional development and improving models of practice.”
Ms Maxwell said a new rural clinical school would deliver vocational, pre- and post-registration nursing and allied health programs to provide pathways for local secondary students into health services.
She said shortages of midwives and mental health professionals was a bad outcome for the region.
Ms Maxwell said for every $1 million spent on the project, the clinical school was expected to generate an additional $4.04 million of economic and community benefit.
Additionally, Ms Maxwell called for female-specific ovarian, uterine and cervical cancers to be added to Victoria’s schedule of firefighters’ presumptive rights.
Firefighters currently have rights to medical and financial help if they are diagnosed with several cancers due to career or volunteer fighting work.
“Only two months ago the World Health Organization cancer agency reclassified firefighting as an occupation carcinogenic to humans,” Ms Maxwell said.
“So, with more and more women becoming career and volunteer firefighters, it’s vital the government adds these three female-specific cancers to Victoria’s list.
“The state should have all firefighters’ backs when they’re protecting our lives, communities, property and environment. It’s simply a matter of safety and equality.”
Ms Maxwell encouraged firefighters and people in communities across Victoria to log in to her ‘Do Gooder’ campaign at https://presumptiverights.good.do/ and call on their MPs to back presumptive rights for these female-specific cancers.