Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The COVID crisis has impacted the lives of everyone, not just here in Australia but right around the world. It has, tragically, taken lives, crushed businesses and resulted in many job losses. In the wake of Victoria now getting its second wave under control, we as a nation are building back. Businesses are reopening, jobs are returning, and there's real hope for not only my electorate of Higgins but indeed all of Australia. From the Reserve Bank there have been welcome comments that a revival is in the air, the recession may be over, and we've had growth in the September quarter.

The Morrison government has had the back of Australians during the COVID lockdowns by preparing our hospitals, deploying ADF support and financially backing us in the form of JobKeeper and JobSeeker. The government had our back then and it has the back of every Australian as we build back our economy and our future. My electorate of Higgins has been affected by two lockdowns and the many local restrictions, but we are resilient and we are wanting to find a new COVID normal.

Through this bill, we intend to provide even more support to those within our economy who may be struggling with the new COVID normal. This bill has a diverse range of measures because our country is diverse. The Morrison government is not taking a single-handed approach to the recovery of our economy. We understand our COVID recovery is complicated and needs a nuanced response. That is why we are responding to the complexity of the COVID recovery with this bill, which responds to the needs of Australians in their time of need. This bill aims to help some of our most vulnerable citizens. It will help those who are suffering through no fault of their own, those who battle with finding themselves in completely unexpected circumstances. 2020 has been an extraordinary year because of the COVID pandemic, which is changing the very fabric of society—not just here, but all around the world—and we've had to make changes to keep ourselves, our families and our communities safe. This bill will help veterans and those on social security. It will help the young. It will help those who are grieving for the loss of a child.

The first of these new measures is to provide two further economic support payments of $250 to around five million social security and veterans payment recipients and concession card holders in the lead-up to Christmas. Christmas is a time of hope and happiness, a time for family and sharing, a time for gift-giving and cooking up a storm. I'd like to reflect on the buoyancy of Victorians, as they are so excited in this lead-up to Christmas that the lockdowns are lifted. You cannot understand how exciting this is, particularly for Melburnians. The payment will help make Christmas just that bit brighter for those who've suffered a really difficult and long winter, a winter that has been particularly difficult through the long and hard COVID lockdown in my home town of Melbourne. Not only will this $250 payment help those in need have a better Christmas; it has the multiplier effect of helping our local businesses and thus our overall economy in the lead-up to Christmas. My electorate of Higgins has many small, medium and family-sized businesses, and they know that they will all benefit from this additional support payment coming through our local economy.

We aren't just stopping there. Many young Australians have been very adversely affected by the COVID pandemic. We know that, when there's a recession, the young are those that are hardest hit. This bill will temporarily amend the circumstances in which a person may be regarded as independent for youth allowance purposes. This has been designed to assist young people to qualify for youth allowance who would have qualified if they had not lost or been unable to attain employment because of the economic effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Morrison government has already announced and implemented many support measures to support our struggling young Australians, including JobKeeper, JobSeeker and the JobMaker hiring credit. This last initiative brings huge hope to our young as they look to their future. We are also creating a temporary pathway for young people who are seeking to qualify as independent for the purposes of youth allowance. This will encourage young people to undertake seasonal agricultural work. This will jointly help alleviate concerns regarding workforce availability for the upcoming harvest season, terribly important in my home state of Victoria.

I'd like to turn to a part of this bill which seeks to introduce a revised paid parental leave work-test limit for a limited time to enable people to access to parental leave pay, and dad and partner pay, who do not meet the current work-test provisions because their employment has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. I'd also like to turn to another part of this bill and to talk about stillbirth and infant death leave. While it's been a year mostly consumed by COVID-19, the Morrison government has not allowed other important matters and the need for amendments in legislation to go ignored. Indeed, taking care of our most vulnerable remains a priority and this includes those affected by stillbirth or infant death. As not only a paediatrician, but a mother of four children the thought of losing one is unimaginable. As I said in my first speech, words like 'widow' and 'orphan' describe our losses but there is no word in the English language to describe the loss of a child. However, this is sadly the reality for too many Australians.

Interestingly, last week I represented the Minister for Health, Mr Greg Hunt, for the launch of the UNICEF and World Health Organization global reduction in stillbirth goals. I was proud to represent Australia and to discuss the road map of the Australian government National Stillbirth Action and Implementation Plan, which is being developed in close consultation with stakeholders. I asked the question of those on this Zoom call, of several hundred people from around the world, whether they had a word for the loss of a child in their language and no-one was able to provide that. It's interesting that that was seen around the world.

The national stillbirth action plan, which is expected to be publicly released later this year, will ensure efforts to reduce stillbirth and support bereaved families are strategically planned and delivered. The national stillbirth action plan includes priority and action areas, goals and implementation tasks, including reducing disparities in stillbirth rates between population groups. Importantly, this includes groups at increased risk of stillbirth in Australia and this includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, some migrant and refugee groups and women living in rural and remote communities. The plan includes actions focusing on culturally safe haven health services, addressing language barriers, health literacy and providing culturally appropriate bereavement care and support.

As a medical professional in my former life, I heard of a case of a woman from a refugee background who had no English. She presented to a hospital in Melbourne heavily pregnant. She was put under general anaesthetic, unable to communicate in an emergency setting, and woke up losing a child and having had a hysterectomy. It's difficult to imagine how a woman like this has had to face such incredible tragedy in the face of not having any English whatsoever. I welcome Minister Tudge's recent announcement of uncapping English lesson placements, because I think that ensuring that women and families, and men, coming to this country have the ability to access English lessons is incredibly important for their own health, welfare and wellbeing and for the social cohesion of our country.

I presented to the UNICEF, World Health Organization global audience examples of activities that the Australian government is currently funding to reduce stillbirth amongst high-risk groups. These include translation of the Safer Baby Bundle stillbirth resources into 23 languages, a really welcome initiative; co-designing stillbirth prevention resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people; webinars and resources targeted at rural and remote clinicians and families; and developing a stillbirth education program, using bicultural workers, for migrant and refugee women.

I would like to take note and congratulate Professor Vicky Flenady of the stillbirth centre of research excellence for her amazing work and the centre's amazing work in raising awareness of stillbirth in Australia, and the excellent work that they are doing to not only promote Australia's work in this area internationally but to ensure that women in Australia get the best possible care. These activities complement our other Australian government initiatives that aim to improve maternal and infant health. Reducing disparities remain a key focus as Australia continues its focus post COVID to prevent stillbirth. While this is our goal unfortunately the reality in Australia is that one in every 135 pregnancies results in stillbirth. These events are tragic. They are tragic to the parents, they are tragic to their families and, indeed, they are tragic to the wider community, and that is why this bill is so important.

This bill will improve assistance for families affected by stillbirth and infant death in respect of payments for newborn children, by increasing the maximum amount that eligible families are able to access after a stillbirth and up until the first birthday equivalent. This one-off payment of $3,006 will be provided to the family as a support payment. The last thing any Australian should have to face during such a traumatic time in their lives is additional stress caused by financial burden. The payments can be used in any way to support the family. Some families need time off work to grieve. Some will seek mental health support. Some need the time to organise funerals. I welcome Minister Ruston's excellent work in this area.

This bill will also remove discrepancies within the payment system with respect to multiple instances of stillbirth or infant death within the same family. For families who've tried multiple times to start their dream of a family that has ended tragically in multiple stillbirths, this will be welcomed. This, within itself, is heartbreaking. Many of us in this chamber will know of someone with this struggle or possibly have faced it ourselves. That is why it's so important to pass this bill. By passing this bill today, it will help ensure these payments are made available to those heartbroken families on 1 January 2021 and into the future. 2020 has been a tough year for Australians. This bill will help ensure that no-one is left behind in our economic recovery. It will help ensure that those in need can have a good Christmas, that our young Australians can have a go and that parents are supported, in particular with financial support, in some of the most testing times anyone can face.

By passing this bill, we will help those in need to have a better start in 2021. I'm sure we can all agree across the chamber that Australia looks forward to a better year in 2021 than we've seen in 2020. We are a strong and resilient country. We're a resourceful country, with resourceful citizens, and I'm proud to say that we've worked together to face the COVID crisis. I look forward to a buoyant 2021 ahead.

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