CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS

Ms CHESTERS (Bendigo) (09:53): I'm pleased to stand here today to update the House and let people know that headspace Bendigo will be one of the first headspace Plus centres rolled out in our country. The team at headspace Bendigo are extraordinary. In the past financial year they have delivered more than 5,700 sessions to over 1,100 young people at no cost.

They are a respected service for our young people. They work closely with sporting clubs, schools and youth organisations to ensure our young people know that they are not alone. That is why I campaigned and advocated so heavily for them to be made a headspace Plus.

Our headspace Plus will allow the expansion of headspace Bendigo to grow its specialist workforce. It will increase its capacity to support young people and help more young people not just in Bendigo but throughout the region. It will deliver high-quality care closer to home for so many.

I acknowledge the extraordinary leadership of Hayley and Lindsay and their partner agency, Bendigo Community Health, for the extraordinary work that they do to help young people in our area. I look forward to seeing what will develop in this space and how we can help more young people into the future. I'd also like to take a moment to acknowledge that our government has expanded the Commonwealth prac payment.

It is a payment that is making a difference to so many people currently studying teaching, nursing and social work. It is a payment that recognises their prac and gives them the financial security to complete their compulsory prac placements. Already we have seen, at the Bendigo La Trobe campus, where we deliver teaching, nursing and social work, over 1,000 applications and 763 approvals.

I know, from talking to these students, it is making a real difference. Across La Trobe, $6.6 million has been delivered from the Commonwealth to eligible students, helping to reduce the financial barriers to their completion of professional and compulsory placements. Now we're expanding this to 10 new courses.

I know that the students in these fields will also benefit. For regional universities like my own, where we have so many first-in-family or families that are living on the margins, knowing that they have the opportunity to apply for this payment will help students make ends meet while they complete their courses. This is real change making a real difference, ensuring that students are able to complete their courses.