More workers only road to restore declining mental health of young Victorians

A new survey today detailing the declining mental health of young people after the pandemic has further highlighted the urgent need to rejuvenate Victoria’s fatigued mental health workforce. The survey, conducted in February by research company Resolve Strategic, found a quarter of young Australians thought about suicide in the past two years. The highest number…

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Jobs, education, opportunity: Victoria’s path to Close the Gap

Local outcomes on better health, education, employment and housing for Aboriginal Victorians is in the spotlight today for National Close the Gap Day. Victoria has failed to close the gap in four of the seven original priority target measures and has recorded declining outcomes in education participation, Indigenous suicide rates and out-of-home care. Aboriginal Australian’s…

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Infrastructure Australia report confirms neglect of regional roads

A new report, released today, makes a mockery of the Victorian Roads Minister’s claim that our state’s road network is now ‘safer and smoother’. Infrastructure Australia’s Regional Strengths and Infrastructure Gaps report zeroed in on an urgent need to invest more into Victoria’s neglected and crumbling regional roads. It found a lack of adequate investment…

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Public transport network not fit for growing regions, Infrastructure Australia finds

Many communities in regional Victoria are “highly under-serviced” by public transport, with flow on effects to liveability acting as a handbrake on potential population growth, a new report today has found. Infrastructure Australia released the 2022 Regional Strengths and Infrastructure Gaps report today, shining a light on the poor state of transport infrastructure across regional…

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Workforce reform crucial to combat Victoria’s rise in drug abuse

Heroin abuse in Victoria has reached a national high, but vulnerable Victorians seeking help to kick these life-threatening addictions still struggle to access support. Data released today by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) paints a damning picture of illegal drug use in Victoria across Melbourne and regional Victoria. Abuse of heroin in Melbourne is…

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