From Madrid to Mumbai, Michigan to Melbourne – the pandemic has laid bare the true cost of insecure work.
With no leave entitlements to fall back on, too many people have been forced into an impossible situation with impossible decisions.
Going to work ill or an empty bank account. The safety of your community or feeding your family. Your health or your rent.
Insecure workers shouldered the burden – but everyone paid the price. And pandemic or not, the principle's the same: no one should be put in this position.
That's why we're stepping in where no one else has.
Our Secure Work Pilot Scheme will provide up to five days of sick or carer's pay for casual and insecure workers in industries where it's needed most – and creating a safety net for those without one.
We'll be consulting with industry, workers and unions over the next few months to get this right. But we expect the two-year pilot will cover workers in occupations with high levels of insecurity – such as cleaners, hospitality staff, supermarket workers and aged care staff.
Because it's 2020 – not 1820.
No one should have to go to work sick because they can't afford not to.
No one should have to choose between caring for a loved one and getting paid.
And this way – they won't.
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And you can't wash your hands and protect yourself if you don't have access to soap and water.
This pandemic has laid bare some of the deepest inequalities in our society – not least the need for secure housing.
That's why back in April we made crisis accommodation in vacant hotels available to Victorians experiencing homelessness – so that everyone had somewhere warm to rest and stay safe.
And it's why today we announced a $150 million package to support them to move from that temporary solution into long-term housing.
Of the 3,810 Victorians who tested positive for coronavirus over the past three weeks, almost 90 per cent kept going about their business after they began to show symptoms.
That's 3,400 people who kept going to work.
Kept going to the supermarket. Kept caring for loved ones.
Then, after having a test, 53 per cent did not isolate at home while they waited for the results.
That means 2,056 people carried on as usual – despite being concerned enough or sick enough to go and get tested.
This is not about apportioning blame or pointing the finger.
Briefed the media earlier today on a major expansion of our coronavirus testing program – but I wanted to explain it to you directly.
We've already tested more than 100,000 Victorians over the past three months.
Now we want to double that number – in just under two weeks.
The rationale behind the blitz is this:
As you know, testing for any sort of disease or virus can be tricky.
By the time someone feels sick and gets tested, they've often passed it on to other people – which then requires more tracing and testing…and so on.
And with a highly infectious disease like coronavirus, you're always on the back foot.
We know that physical distancing has slowed the spread – so instead of someone with coronavirus having close contact with 20 or 30 people, it might only be one or two.