VCOSS

State election focus on cause, not consequence

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This year’s State election must focus on fairer outcomes for all Victorians by tackling the causes of the issues that face them, including poverty, disadvantage and crime.

The Victorian Council of Social Service today released its 2010 State Election Platform, calling on parties to look at the ‘cause, not consequence’ in developing their election policies, from housing and planning to health, education and wellbeing.

VCOSS Acting CEO Carolyn Atkins said, ‘A big focus must be on addressing growing disadvantage, particularly on Melbourne’s urban fringes and in rural and regional Victoria, instead of sparking another bidding war on police and prison numbers.’

‘It’s not acceptable that how much parents earn determines how well children and young people do in school in Victoria,’ Ms Atkins said. ‘Families needing parenting support shouldn’t sit on waiting lists until problems become crises, people with mental health problems should get care when they need it, and renters must get priority when it comes to addressing housing affordability.’

VCOSS’s platform lists 20 key challenges for the 2010 State election. They include:

• Deliver an additional 29,000 affordable housing properties by 2014;
• Arrest alarming growth rates of chronic disease, particularly in disadvantaged areas, and terrible gaps in mental health services across Victoria;
• Get the right support at the right time, for as long as necessary, for children and families – including on Melbourne’s urban fringe and in rural and regional areas;
• Massively expand the bus network in outer suburbs and regional Victoria, including opening up the rural school bus routes to others; and
• Fully fund the pay equity outcomes for all community services in Victoria to ensure high quality services for all Victorians.

For more information, or to arrange an interview
contact John Kelly – M: 0425 701 080

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VCOSS
Level 8, 128 Exhibition Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
T: 03 9654 5050 F: 03 9654 5749 W: vcoss@vcoss.org.au E: vcoss@vcoss.org.au