Basem Abdo (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Professionals across our allied health sector do incredible work, not only in supporting our health system and keeping it afloat but also through the vital role they play in preventive health care, helping people spend less time within that system in the first place. I've spoken before about how workers in this space are too often overlooked and underpaid, and I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the critical work they do in communities like mine supporting some of our most vulnerable people. When all else fails, when someone's health, ability or circumstance changes, when self-reliance becomes increasingly out of reach, it is our disability and allied health workforce who step in. They pick up the pieces for patients and their families during some of the most vulnerable and emotional times in their lives.

I'm an advocate for the dignity of work. It's what drives me every day in representing my community and in helping shape Australia and our economy. These workers not only carry that dignity with them every day but deliver it to others through the care and support they provide. That's why it's incumbent on all of us in this place not only to thank them but to support them, to stand by them, to back them and to deliver for them, just as they deliver for our communities. Nobody chooses the circumstances that place them at the receiving end of this care. When we talk about the dignity of work, we often mean the dignity that comes from employment itself. But we must also talk about dignity in work, which depends on fair conditions, proper staffing levels and fair pay.

As this workforce supports people through their personal struggles, I also want to recognise the Health and Community Services Union in my home state for standing with their members in their collective struggle for dignified wages and working conditions. To those who work in mental health, disability and drug and alcohol services, to the nurses, allied health professionals, lived and living experience workers, disability support workers, administrative staff, program and support workers: thank you—thank you for showing up, for your care and for your compassion. To all who serve others in their time of need, please know this: we see you, we stand by you and we support you. The trust that helps hold our health system together rests also on the shoulders of this workforce. We owe it to them—and to every person who depends on their care—to ensure that this responsibility is met with fairness. The quality of care we deliver can only ever match the value we place on those who provide it. Dignity in care also means dignity for these carers.

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