The Allan Government must urgently address the ongoing shortage of maternal and child health nurses, as councils scale back services across Melbourne’s outer suburbs.
Despite agreeing in 2016 to fund 50 per cent of the cost of these vital services, the Labor Government has failed to maintain this level funding.
As a consequence, services are being cut back across several outer suburban communities, meaning parents and children are missing out on critical early development interventions and diagnoses.
While the Allan Government has directed concerned parents to their local GP, this is not a long-term solution and comes amid Labor’s new Health Tax, which will put many GP clinics out of business.
Shadow Minister for Outer Suburban Growth, Evan Mulholland, said: “Local councils are being forced to reduce services due to the lack of funding and subsequent shortage of nurses, and parents and children are missing out.
“It’s also completely disingenuous for the Allan Government to redirect concerned parents to their local GP clinic while hitting them with a new Health Tax at the same time.
“Labor cannot manage money and once again young families living in Melbourne’s outer suburbs are bearing the brunt.”
