Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I bring a note of celebration and excitement. The great Southern Hemisphere metropolis of Frankston has done it again, achieving two awards in the National Awards for Local Government. I am delighted to share with the parliament that the Splash Card has won the National Awards for Local Government National Award for Excellence and also the National Awards for Local Government Inspired Cities category. This is an enormous tribute to Frankston City Council and to all of the team involved in this outstanding initiative. Essentially, the Splash Card is a student discount card and it is leading economic development and also local employment, local shopping and youth engagement initiatives in Frankston city. The program predominantly operates through online mediums such as websites, email, SMS, Facebook and Twitter, connecting youth, through these avenues and the avenues that they prefer, with our community. Not once has the program been marketed through the traditional media—it simply has not needed to be done. Instead, this innovative approach is engaging people, particularly young people, and sets an excellent example for social media strategy for other local governments. The concept behind it is for the council, through this Splash Card, to engage youth and alert them to local employment opportunities, in a no-nonsense fashion that reduces bureaucracy and provides opportunities for local business and local employers, and also to engage local people in what is going on in their community, the great city of Frankston.

The Splash Card provides secondary and tertiary students with discounts at over 50 street-side business in Frankston City Centre. Students are required to register online, they provide the council with information for ongoing interactions and then they are on their way. Students can receive their cards online, or they are posted to them within 72 hours. The great idea about this is that those holding a Splash Card are in a position to take advantage of in-store discounts. It provides an avenue for them to be updated about new commercial offers from local small businesses in Frankston city, and it also lets them know about events and competitions that may be of interest to them. A very exciting part of it, though, is that it also alerts young people in our community to local employment opportunities, and we have already seen some examples where, by learning about employment opportunities through digital media and online services, young people have been able to find employment in Frankston city. So far, in just 15 months of operation, the Splash Card has been distributed to over 25,000 students, 20,000 of whom are tertiary students. Over 2,200 students have registered online; that number continues to grow, and the council has a useful database to engage with local people about issues of concern to them.

So there are a few elements to the program: the activation of the Frankston City Centre through a creative engagement means and marketing means; an opportunity to encourage students to shop in Frankston city; a way of sharing information about events and opportunities and discounts; a way of retaining talented local people in the area as they are alerted to opportunities for employment; and also a way of engaging with the community in Frankston city. Rather than just hanging out in the streets of Frankston, young people are encouraged to engage, to shop, to support, to look for employment opportunities and to be connected with what is going on in their city. This is a fantastic initiative of Frankston City's and they have well deserved the recognition that they have earned. To the economic development team, particularly Jonathan Reichwald, Samantha Jackson and others that are active in this area, my strong, hearty congratulations for their win.

On a slightly less exciting area, there is some concern about government pondering changes to type 1 diabetes carers allowance. I know the minister has met with a number of people in the local community who are concerned about a proposal that would see parents of children with type 1 diabetes losing some of the carer allowances and benefits when those young people hit 10 years of age. The thinking behind it, as I understand it, is that at that age a 10-year-old should be able to manage their medication, but parents are telling me that the challenges get harder and more demanding as parents are actively involved with their pre-teenage children, making sure that they make good dietary choices and good healthcare arrangements. There is also the issue of the cost of medication itself. Under this measure, if the government proceeds with it, some may lose their healthcare card and see medications costing $268 rather than $5.50. So I urge the government to think carefully about that issue.

In the few seconds that are left I want to thank Minister Roxon's staff for meeting with me about the area of workforce shortage challenges in the Dunkley electorate, including at the Belvedere Park clinic, where Dr Hura and the other doctors have been looking after my family for many years. A number are retiring, Dr Barry being one of them, and we need to make sure that we can replace those doctors. You can see the area of workforce shortage. (Time expired)

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