Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Fighting COVID has been a marathon event, not just here but right around the world. With every vaccination, COVID becomes a less-deadly disease for all of us. But we can't forget the shadow impacts that COVID lockdowns have on mental health, particularly on our young.

Today, the Murdoch Children's Research Institute released a report outlining the enormous impact COVID is having on the mental health and wellbeing of our young, particularly the most disadvantaged. It says that prolonged school closures and lockdowns can exacerbate these impacts. The report backs the prioritisation of vaccination of teachers, early educators and school staff to help kids to get back to school sooner—and so do I. The students of Victoria have missed 146 days of face-to-face learning, one of the highest rates in the world, and they are facing a second year of lockdown, more than any other state in this country.

A petition circulating now from concerned parents, many from the electorate of Higgins, '#VCEwhereistheplanDan', is calling for a COVID-safe plan for when and how their children will do VCE in just under 10 weeks. The Victorian Premier should be leading with a plan, not waiting for parents to petition him. I call on the Victorian government to act and to develop a COVID-safe plan now so that Victorian students can resume their education journey as soon as possible.