Ms THEOPHANOUS (Northcote): It is with great pleasure that I rise to speak in support of the Social Services Regulation Bill 2021. Before I begin I would like to flag with the house that the minister has circulated amendments that aim to clarify elements of this bill following further consultation with key stakeholders over the parliamentary break. This is of course on top of the very extensive consultation that has already occurred in the development of this bill. The amendments include additional objects and guiding principles, further requirements for consultations on guidelines and codes and a commitment for a review of the act in the fourth year of operation.

I note the anxieties of the member for Gippsland East regarding the scope of services under the reforms. I would refer the member to the minister’s second-reading speech, where this is made very clear, but if he needs something more succinct, he can also refer to the media release of 4 August with these details included. As the second-reading speech states, those services that are already required to comply with the human services standards will transition to the new Social Services Regulator. The member might be, in his own term, ‘wondering what the hell is going on’, but he might want to reserve that comment for speaking about himself. The government has been very clear that consultation with the sector will be a critical part of the development of the regulations. That is what the task force will achieve. But I will move on.

At its heart this bill is about protecting the most vulnerable people in our community from harm as well as providing clarity and certainty to those services providing care to them. Our social services sector is made up of some of our most critical providers: family violence services, supported residential care, homelessness services and community support for children and families. As the member for Northcote I have had the honour of getting to know many of the local providers within my own community in the inner north as well as many of our statewide social services, and can I say these are some of the most hardworking, dedicated and compassionate people that you will ever meet. Not a day goes by when they are not opening their arms and their hearts to people within our community, when they are not actively working to reduce disadvantage and when they are not making our community a more caring and kind place to live.

As the pandemic has compounded and amplified so many of our social challenges, it has perhaps never been more evident how vital the role of these services is in supporting the most at risk members of our community, because Victorians are reaching out to these services when they are at their most vulnerable, and when they do it is so incredibly important that they receive the care that they need in an environment that is safe and protects them from harm. When a woman fleeing family violence reaches out for help, she needs to know that she will be heard and offered safety from further harm. When a family member or loved one moves into residential care, they and their family need to be assured that they will not be at risk of abuse or neglect.

As a government that cares deeply about the rights and dignity of all Victorians, we have an obligation to ensure not only that these expectations are met but that they are seen to be met, to grow trust and accountability in the system itself. We know the vast majority of social service organisations share a deep and strongly held commitment to protecting the rights and dignity of their clients. However, the truth is that the current regulatory environment does not adequately support these important goals. It was developed in a piecemeal way over a decade ago. For service providers it is fragmented, inconsistent and confusing. For people using these services it can mean there are no clear standards for their care. For example, some social services, including family violence and homeless services, are not currently subject to legislative regulation, relying rather on funding agreements to set safety standards.

Over the years a move towards integrated service delivery has also meant that many organisations now provide services across a range of different sectors. For example, an organisation which supports women escaping violence may also be likely to provide community support for families and children and provide homelessness or crisis accommodation services. This move towards integrated and wraparound service delivery is a hugely positive step forward, acknowledging both the complexity of needs experienced by people accessing these services as well as the ‘no wrong door’ model, which helps ensure people do not fall through the cracks.

But the rise in multidisciplinary services in the current regulatory environment creates overlapping or doubling of obligations for service providers, which can also impact their clients. Frankly, there is just a lot of red tape. Services may be regulated under a number of completely different schemes, and the administrative burden and complexity of that can be immense. It can also mean that people in the service system do not have the protection of clear regulations or compliance and enforcement powers when services are failing their clients. Sadly, this can and does occur, and when it does some of the most vulnerable people in our community become further hurt and marginalised. That is why we need a regulatory system that is consistent, that responds to the risk settings and that has powers to intervene when things go wrong.

This bill will replace the existing fragmented regulatory system with one single scheme: a single registration process, one set of standards and one single regulator. Service providers across disability, residential care, family violence, children and families and homelessness will all need to be registered and comply with a common set of standards to support safe service delivery. The standards embedded in the bill go to safe service delivery and a person-centred approach that protects the rights and dignity of clients, safe and secure environments that are fit for purpose, support for clients to provide feedback and make complaints, effective and accountable governance of service providers and a workforce with the knowledge and skills they need to deliver services safely—all things I hope that we can all agree on.

One of the key aspects of this bill welcomed by the sector is the introduction of an independent regulator to replace the human services regulator that is currently within the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing. The new Social Services Regulator will be a separate statutory body. It will enforce compliance, monitor conduct, promote safe delivery of services and protect the rights of service users. This has been a key element of the reform, because currently there are just not sufficient powers there to respond quickly to reduce the risk of harm, even when a problem is identified. That can have tragic consequences—some of which we have seen during the pandemic—when rapid responses are needed to keep people safe or move people to a safer environment. Our regulator needs to be able to take strong action when providers do the wrong thing or when systems fail or are under pressure. That is why we are delivering this bill today.

With monitoring and enforcement powers, the regulator will be able to respond quickly and effectively to risks of harm. It will also be able to respond to less serious non-compliance, through measures like warnings and infringement notices, and it will have proportionate and appropriately targeted powers which will allow it to enter and inspect sites.

The amendments tabled by the government following more consultation provide some important clarifications around the role of the regulator in assisting service providers to comply with and understand the act by providing them with guidance and education. Fundamentally this bill will reduce the red-tape burden for our hardworking service providers and will reduce and prevent harm to people accessing social services. For Victorians this means better quality care within a framework that protects their rights, their dignity and their wellbeing. For families it means a greater assurance that their loved ones are safe and well cared for and that their concerns will be heard and acted upon.

Importantly, Victorians with lived experience of accessing social services will play an important role in developing the regulations that flow from the new social services standards. Indeed they have already played a critical role in the high-level development of the standards themselves.

In the final minute that I have got left: I think that everyone agrees that protecting vulnerable Victorians from harm is vital. To achieve this outcome we need a regulatory social services framework that is integrated and modern, and that is what we are delivering. In closing, I do want to take this opportunity to thank all the incredible social service organisations who support the members of my electorate and Victorians across the state. There is no doubt that the pandemic has created unique and additional pressures for those organisations, for their staff and for their clients. These have been an incredibly challenging 18 months, and the vast majority of services have pushed on with resilience, empathy and passion. This bill will provide the tools and clarity they need to ensure our shared commitment to protecting Victorians is made even stronger into the future. I commend the bill to the house.