The Nationals’ Member for Shepparton District, Kim O’Keeffe has condemned the Allan Labor Government for cutting vital funding to the police mental health and wellbeing hubs, that were promised but never delivered to regional police stations across the state.
Ms O’Keeffe raised the matter in Parliament this week, calling on the Minister for Police, Anthony Carbines, to immediately restore funding for the hibs and to guarantee no further cuts to support services for traumatised officers.
“The government had announced and committed $1000 million to provide this critical mental health care and to think that they have now cancelled that support is astounding.
“The specialised hubs were designed to assist the growing number of officers on WorkCover and those suffering trauma related to their service, and were intended to provide early intervention, preventative care and ongoing psychological support for police officers.
“Frontline officers are the first responders and are faced with the most tragic of circumstances including road trauma, family violence, complex mental health incidents and the compounding social challenges created by limited local support service,” Ms O’Keeffe said.
With nearly 1,000 Victoria Police officers already waiting for support to return to duty, Ms O’Keeffe said that instead of strengthening assistance, the Allan Labor Government has effectively pulled the rug out from under them.
“Police chaplains who are mainly volunteers are doing all that they can to support our police officers, but they are not qualified clinicians and can only offer a certain level of support.
“I have been told that in some cases it has taken up to eight days for an officer experiencing severe workplace trauma to receive assistance from a clinician. That is simply unacceptable.”
With more than 1,100 police vacancies across the state, Ms O’Keeffe said it is crucial that support is being given to our frontline police who every single day put their lives on the line to keep the community safe.
“The least the government can do is to provide them with the mental health and wellbeing support that they desperately need and deserve.
“We will only continue to lose officers from the force if they are not given the mental health support and care that they desperately need.
“These cuts show that the Allan Labor Government either does not understand or does not care how traumatic and demanding the job of a police officer is.
“Our police deserve real support, not broken promises and reduced mental health services.”
Ms O’Keeffe called on the Minister for Police to immediately restore funding for the mental health and wellbeing hubs, provide certainty that no further cuts would be made and explain how the Allan Labor Government planned to support traumatised officers now left without the services they were promised.
