Emma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) Share this | Hansard source

Well done, PK! The Albanese Labor government is strengthening Medicare and delivering more services in the heart of communities, including on the Central Coast of New South Wales. At the 2022 election we committed to opening two Medicare urgent care clinics on the coast, delivering care for urgent but non-life-threatening conditions—open seven days a week over extended hours. In 2023 the Lake Haven and Umina Medicare urgent care clinics opened. Since then they have seen significant demand, supporting more than 58,000 local people. Importantly, one in four of these visits are by children aged under 15, demonstrating that, for local families, our clinics are a trusted alternative to the emergency department.

Understanding this need, at the last election we committed to opening a third Medicare urgent care clinic on the coast. Just before the busy Christmas-New Year period, Dr Gordon Reid and I had the opportunity to open the new Medicare urgent care clinic at The Hive in Erina Fair. In just a few short months, the clinic has already seen 2,800 visits. I'm proud that Gordon and I have delivered these three clinics across the coast, providing people access to free health care closer to home.

The Wyong Neighbourhood Centre continues to play a vital role in the heart of my hometown of Wyong, offering a range of support from youth activities to financial counselling. That's why I'm proud to announce that the Financial Counselling Industry Fund will provide $479,000 over three years to the Wyong Neighbourhood Centre. This funding will better support the centre to continue to deliver targeted support through dedicated financial counselling to those who need it in our community. The CEO of the Wyong Neighbourhood Centre, Kylie Hopkins, said:

We are thrilled to have been awarded the Financial Counselling Industry Fund Expansion Grant. This vital funding will provide access to financial counselling support for an extra 3 days a week across our two CBD locations in Wyong and Gosford.

Additional support will be available with access to a financial capability worker two days a week at our Wyong CBD Community Hub. The financial capability worker will assist people to manage debts, bills and general spending through budgeting, education and support.

On the Central Coast we have hundreds of community groups. At the heart of these groups are the selfless volunteers who day in, day out, show up to make a difference in the lives of others and help to build a better community. Since being elected, I'm proud to have delivered more than $542,000 in volunteer grants. The volunteer grants offer between $1,000 and $5,000 in funding to eligible not-for-profit community organisations to support the work of their volunteers. I'm pleased to announce expressions of interest are now open, and I encourage any and all not-for-profit community organisations in Dobell to register their interest with my office.

See this speech in context