Thanks to the incredible efforts of Victorians, we have reached the 90% vaccination milestone, and moved to Phase D of the National Plan.

In Wyndham, more than 95% of the 12 and over population is fully vaccinated. 

Our state-wide vaccination rate means that Victoria is on its way to becoming one of the most vaccinated places in the world.

And it also meant that from 11.59pm on 18 November, nearly all remaining restrictions were lifted statewide for fully vaccinated people.

The vaccinated economy remain, as will masks in some high risk settings – as both are important in reducing risk as we get back to normal.

Non-essential retail settings across Victoria have joined the vaccinated economy and will only be open to Victorians who are fully vaccinated, under 12 years and two months, or have a valid exemption.

Self-quarantine obligations have been reduced across the board for COVID-19 cases and fully-vaccinated contacts.

For more information, read the Media Release here: premier.vic.gov.au/more-freedoms-come-victoria-hits-90-cent-vax-rate.

Information about COVIDSafe settings are also available at coronavirus.vic.gov.au/coronavirus-covidsafe-settings.

Air purifiers are on the way to 16 schools here in the Werribee District.

These include: Wyndham Vale Primary School, Westgrove Primary School, Iramoo Primary School, Bethany Primary School, Werribee Primary School, Our Lady of the Southern Cross Primary School, Corpus Christi Primary School, Woodville Primary School, Thomas Chirnside Primary School, Wyndham Park Primary School, Manorvale Primary School, St Andrew's Primary School, Little River Primary School, St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Riverwalk Primary School, and Riverbend Primary School.

51,000 air purifiers will be rolled out to all government and low-fee non-government schools from the start of this Term, to remove potentially infectious particles from higher-risk areas in schools.

This is just one of the measures we’re taking to make sure our return to classes is as safe as possible.

The Victorian Government is making schools safer for students and staff and reducing the disruption caused by coronavirus outbreaks, with the roll-out of free, at-home rapid antigen tests for schools.
 
With rapid antigen tests now approved for self-administered use across Australia, the tests will be rolled out to up to 20 schools affected by coronavirus outbreaks this week, before broader distribution to all schools – government, independent and Catholic – with students in isolation from 15 November.
 
At-home rapid antigen tests will be offered to unvaccinated students – primarily those aged under 12 – who are primary close contacts as a result of a positive case at school.
 
The program will allow them to return to school after seven days of quarantine, rather than 14 days, provided they take a negative PCR test on day six, and then complete negative rapid antigen tests at home each day and return a negative result before school on days eight to 14 of their quarantine period.
 
This will mean young students who can’t yet be vaccinated can return to school a week earlier than usual – bringing them in line with fully vaccinated members of the community and giving kids the time they need in class, while protecting school communities from the spread of coronavirus.
 
The Government has already secured 200,000 rapid antigen tests for schools, with more to arrive each week. The tests, which will be provided free of charge, can indicate a result for coronavirus within 15-30 minutes.
 
The program will run on an opt-in basis and fully vaccinated children, who are already only required to quarantine for only 7 days, will not participate.
 
The program will run alongside medical trials of rapid antigen testing in school communities, administered by nurses that are being conducted by the Doherty Institute to assess the feasibility of at-home test use.
 
The Government will use information from both projects to strengthen the use of at-home rapid antigen testing in school communities throughout Term Four, while continuing work to make schools as low-risk as possible.
 
The Therapeutic Goods Administration has approved rapid antigen testing for home use from November 1.

The tests are used to check whether a person is likely to have coronavirus, but a standard PCR test is still needed to confirm a positive infection.

Recently, I joined with the former Mayor Cr Adele Hegedich, CEO and councillors of Wyndham City, and Werribee City FC's President Giovanni Inserra and other representatives – to officially open the redevelopment of the Galvin Park Soccer Pavilion.

The world game is truly rooted in the fabric of this community.

That's why I'm proud of the Victorian Government and Wyndham Council's continued investment in community football here in Werribee and across Wyndham.

The new pavilion replaces ageing clubrooms and features six new female friendly changerooms, large community social room, a large kitchen and canteen, public toilets, modern referee facilities and new parking spaces.

Better sport and recreation facilities such as the new pavilion make it easier for locals to get back to community sport and recreation, and lead healthy and active lifestyles.

The irrigation renewal project is now complete at Warringa Reserve, home to local clubs like the Wyndham All Abilities Football & Cricket Club. 

I joined with the former Mayor Cr Adele Hegedich, CEO and Wyndham City councillors, and representatives from Wyndham All Abilities Club to mark the official completion of this important project.

The irrigation renewal means a more reliable weatherproof oval capable of hosting sport throughout the year.

And it provides a real incentive for local clubs to ramp up their training and development – and for even more Wyndham locals to join in the fun.

It was great to meet the wonderful team and volunteers at Wyndham Park Community Centre.

The centre provides crucial food support to local families who need it most, including culturally and linguistically diverse members of our community.

Over the past two years, Wyndham Park Community Centre has received over $45,000 funding from the Andrews Government to help them continue their good work.

Thank you to Greg, Christine, and everyone at the team for the important work you do.

It was great to join with Wyndham Council CEO, former Mayor Cr Adele Hegedich, and Director City Life Allison Kenwood for a tour of the Wyndham Cultural Centre recently.

The Andrews Government invested $3 million towards the transformation of the Cultural Centre. Our shared plan is for the facility to be a welcoming, thriving, and creative hub for everyone.

Fast growing communities like Wyndham deserve the best local facilities. Since 2015, the Andrews Government's Growing Suburbs Fund has provided more than $31.5 million for the Wyndham community.

Photo courtesy of Wyndham Council.

More schools in Werribee will soon establish outside school hours care services, helping more parents and carers to get into the workforce while ensuring their children are cared for thanks to the Victorian Government.

Warringa Park School’s Warringa Crescent campus and Cayleys Road campus in the Werribee District are among 145 school sites across the state to share in almost $10.7 million to establish a new outside school hours care service at their school from the beginning of 2022.

These schools will receive up to $75,000 per year over the next three years for their outside school hours care services – helping to establish new services and cover the cost of resources or equipment, setup and administration, facility upgrades, small service viability and transport.

These grants will increase the number of schools providing outside school hours care by 5.8 per cent in Melbourne and 42.9 per cent in regional Victoria.

This is the second round of grants to be awarded under an $81.7 million investment in the Victorian Budget 2020/21, supporting the establishment of up to 400 new outside school hours care services at government schools.

The first round allocated $4.1 million in grants to 53 schools earlier this year, with another two rounds to follow in 2022 and 2023.

By creating more outside school hours care services, the Government is supporting more parents and carers to get back to work, study, training or as Victoria begins to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

Young Victorians in Wyndham are among more than 71,000 young Victorians who explored exciting new worlds and built their literacy skills this year as part of the Premiers’ Reading Challenge, now in its seventeenth year.

Victorian kids aged from pre-school to Year 10 collectively made their way through more than 2.8 million books between March and September for the Challenge, which this year celebrated the theme ‘Open Up a New World’.

The annual challenge receives support from the Andrews Labor Government’s Premiers’ Reading Challenge Book Fund to help meet the extra demand for books.

An extra investment of $1.1 million will ensure all children have access to the listed books. Wyndham Council will receive $34,959 so they can buy the materials they need to support the 2022 Challenge.

Well done to every child who has completed the Premiers’ Reading Challenge this year – I hope you had a great time exploring new worlds and improving your reading along the way.

Wyndham Tech School will soon be more high-tech than ever, thanks to an Andrews Labor Government boost to support Victorian Tech Schools to buy new equipment and deliver more innovative STEM learning programs.

Wyndham Tech School will share in $4.18 million through the 2021-22 Tech School Equipment Renewal Fund, helping them invest in cutting-edge equipment to help secondary students build their skills in science, technology, engineering and maths – preparing them for the jobs of the future.

Funding will enable Wyndham Tech School to finalise the completion of its space redesign.

The Esports Arena, a first in Australia, will significantly impact on the Esports program through the provision and access to specialist equipment.

The Production Studio will be an innovative learning space for students to create digital content/assets. Students will use the latest in video cameras, green screen, lighting, laser 3D scanning, motion tracking equipment and microphones to create content that will be edited, then published or broadcast to connect students to their wider community.

The Andrews Government has delivered a boost to the Werribee environment and economy with grants to Landcare Groups.

Congratulations to our local recipients of the 2021 Victorian Landcare Grants: the Little River Community Landcare Group, NatureWest, and the Werribee River Association.

More than 450 groups and community organisations across Victoria benefitted from $4.09 million in this latest round of Landcare grants supporting vital on-ground environmental works and community projects including weed control, pest animal control, protection of habitat, revegetation, and community education.

The more than $2 million distributed in Round 3 Camping and Caravan grants will fund works that improve the visitor experience and support local tourism and recreational activities.

Almost half of the successful projects funded in this round will improve all-abilities access and amenities at sites, enabling more people with a disability to enjoy our great outdoors.

This is the third and final round of the Camping and Caravan Grants, which have provided $6.6 million to support public land managers, such as committees of management and local government, to provide quality, affordable visitor accommodation across Victoria.

The Camping and Caravan Grants are part of the Victorian Government’s $105.6 million Victoria’s Great Outdoors, investing in better walking trails, campgrounds, four-wheel drive tracks and visitor facilities.

Construction of Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) East will be underway next year – with the Andrews Labor Government detailing the start of our investment into the state’s biggest and most significant infrastructure project – that will create up to 8,000 direct jobs.

We’ve delivered a massive pipeline of road and rail upgrades across Victoria, and now we’re getting on with delivering the project that will change how and where we grow in the decades ahead.

Just like London and many other great cities of the world, Melbourne needs to become a ‘city of centres’ if it’s to grow in a sustainable way that preserves all that we love about it.

Trains will be running on SRL East by 2035, transforming Melbourne’s public transport network and better connecting people to jobs, health, education, retail opportunities and each other.

Fast, efficient, high-tech trains powered by renewables will provide a turn up and go service – carrying around 70,000 passengers a day.

More than fifty of Melbourne’s most dangerous and congested level crossings are officially gone for good, marking a golden milestone for the Andrews Labor Government’s city-changing Level Crossing Removal Project – delivered 12 months ahead of schedule.

This includes the Cherry Street and Werribee Street Level Crossings here in the Werribee District.

In 2014 we promised to remove 50 dangerous and congested level crossings by 2022 to get people home to their families safer and sooner.

Since then, the Level Crossing Removal Project has changed the face of metropolitan Melbourne – taking 54 of these dangerous death traps off the roads, saving 37 hours each day in the morning peak, delivering 31 new and upgraded train stations, unlocking 14 MCGs of open space, putting more than 1.9 million new plants in the ground and building 42km of new walking and bike paths.

Importantly, over the past six years, the project has racked up almost 62 million work hours.

With more than 6,900 people currently working across 25 sites, level crossing removals are providing secure jobs for Victorians at a time when they matter most.

In the last 12 months alone, 15 level crossings have been removed and seven stations built – an unprecedented feat in such a short amount of time – improving safety, reducing congestion and allowing more trains, more often. 

Five more level crossings were consigned to history on the Frankston line this weekend – Edithvale Road, Edithvale; Chelsea Road, Chelsea; Swanpool Avenue, Chelsea; Argyle Avenue, Chelsea and Bondi Road, Bonbeach – with three new, modern stations springing up on the line following a 70-day construction blitz.

It means 16 level crossings are now gone for good on the Frankston line, with 20 due to be gone by 2025.
This week, level crossings have also been removed at Manchester Road, Mooroolbark and Maroondah Highway, Lilydale.

Traffic now flows freely beneath two new rail bridges and trains have returned to the Lilydale line – creating a smoother trip for more than 53,000 vehicles travelling in these areas each day.

We’re not finished yet – we’re determined to deliver our 2018 election commitment to remove 75 by 2025.

In addition to that, earlier this year, we funded the removal of 10 more level crossings – including another two on the Frankston line – pushing the total up to 85 by 2025.

The level crossings at Old Geelong Road, Hoppers Crossing and Ferguson Street, Williamstown will also be a thing of the past by the end of this year – putting an end to waiting at boom gates and boosting safety for these communities, with 56 level crossings gone by next month.

On average, one level crossing is being removed every four weeks in 2021.

Construction continues on 17 level crossing removals across Melbourne, with another 15 in planning – all to be gone for good in just under four years.

A boost for cafes and restaurants, bigger Christmas events, pop-up attractions and new business support will turbo-charge the CBD’s recovery as workers and visitors return to Melbourne’s heart.
 
A $44 million package unveiled by the Andrews Government and the City of Melbourne today will inject renewed life into the city as Victorians enjoy hard-won freedoms and look to celebrate in the city over summer.
 
The first initiatives from the $200 million jointly-funded Melbourne City Revitalisation Fund include a new Midweek Melbourne Money scheme, which follows the successful Melbourne Money program that generated $40 million in revenue for city cafes and restaurants in June and July.
 
As of Monday, 15 November, diners will be enticed into the CBD with significant savings when they visit destinations like Flinders Lane between Monday and Thursday. This program aims to boost foot traffic on weekdays.
 
This $5 million round of rebates will allow diners to claim up to $150 off their bill, with the 30 per cent saving up from the 20 per cent offered mid-year.
 
More than 200,000 rebates will be up for grabs at restaurants, cafes and bars where meals are served across the City of Melbourne – including the CBD, Lygon Street, North Melbourne, Southbank, South Wharf and Docklands.
 
A total of $10.4 million will go towards bolstering businesses, also including support for outdoor trading and dining through permit fee waivers and new infrastructure, and initiatives to boost the night-time economy.
 
An allocation of $15.7 million will bolster the city’s events calendar, with an expanded Christmas Festival starting two weeks earlier than usual.
 
New attractions include a Christmas Carnival at Birrarung Marr, floating art installations on the Yarra, a Christmas maze at Docklands, a Christmas night market at the Queen Victoria Market and augmented reality “Elfie Selfie” stations across the city.
 
The Christmas Festival will also see the return of family favourites including Santa’s Workshop at Federation Square and lighting projections on the Melbourne Town Hall, Hamer Hall and Chapter House Lane – plus thousands of street decorations and a 16-metre-tall Christmas tree at Fed Square.
 
Events businesses will be supported through grants, waivers of permit fees and charges, and sponsorships. On top of that, more than $14 million will be invested to enhance public areas, refreshing familiar places with pop-up libraries and creative spaces.
 
A further $3.6 million will provide city businesses with an enhanced Business Concierge service to provide greater support for new businesses and help existing city traders adapt to the post-COVID economy.

The Midweek Melbourne Money program ended Tuesday 30 November.
 
For more information on Midweek Melbourne Money, visit melbourne.vic.gov.au.

The Andrews Government is reigniting the state’s live music and festival scene, with new industry support and insurance measures to deliver a boost to shows across Victoria.
 
The $20 million Live Music Restart package has recently been announced, to support the exciting return of live music.
 
Beloved music venues will safely get live shows back on their stages thanks to an $8 million program to recruit and train new staff, invest in COVIDSafe infrastructure and get more musicians and industry professionals back to work.
 
Music festivals will receive a leg up with $8 million to help them recover from the uncertainty and impact of rescheduled and cancelled events due to the pandemic. A further $4 million will bring music performances to the CBD and inner-city, complementing a previously announced $5 million for regional and outer-suburban events.
 
Music events in laneways, public spaces and venues will enliven Melbourne, attracting visitors to the CBD and other inner-city areas and boosting local businesses, while towns across Victoria will see live music throughout summer. 
 
Additionally, an Australian-first event interruption insurance product will give organisers of creative festivals, business conferences and sporting and community events the confidence to plan and stage future events.

Victoria’s health system will receive a $307 million boost to hold the line against COVID-19 to make the most of our resources within hospitals and increase in home and community care options to keep our critical care beds ready for those who need them most.

The package includes:

• An urgent injection of $87 million to increase hospital at home to free up more than 100 public hospital beds in metropolitan Melbourne
• $42 million for the COVID Positive Pathways program to employ more staff to support COVID positive patients to remain at home during their recovery, and additional staff to navigate COVID care from hospital back into their home. This funding will also provide oximeters and home oxygen units to positive patients, so their symptoms can be monitored remotely, and help to establish dedicated triage spaces in the program for people who deteriorate and require hospitalisation.
• More than $40 million for Ambulance Victoria to boost their capacity to manage increased COVID caseload and provide surge capacity for patients with less serious conditions that still require hospitalisation.

Other measures include additional workforce funding, funding for Aboriginal health organisations to provide more care, and to support patients with disability.

These measures will be critical to free up capacity in public hospitals, as we head toward an expected surge in COVID patients.

Personalised medical devices such as hips, spines and knees will be made in Victoria thanks to new support from the Andrews Labor Government to expand a world-class 3D medical manufacturing facility in Port Melbourne.

Life-changing devices already produced by 3D printers at the Port Melbourne facility include the Serkel orthopaedic helmet that encourages symmetrical head growth in babies.

The new investment will enable Melbourne-based 3DMEDiTech to transform its existing facility, supercharging Victoria’s advanced medical manufacturing sector and reducing wait times for Victorians needing implants.

Once complete, the 3DMEDiTech base will be one of the largest and most advanced 3D personalised medical manufacturing facilities of its kind in the world – and the only one in Australia.

The project will attract $27 million in private capital investment, create 91 new highly-skilled jobs for Victorians and provide opportunities to accelerate the commercialisation of new medical technologies.

The facility will allow 3DMEDiTech to grow production of Victorian-developed COVID-19 testing solutions including 3D-printed nasopharyngeal and saliva swabs.

The company has a contract with the Commonwealth Government to supply nasopharyngeal swab kits for the National Medical Stockpile.

The Andrews Government has announced a boost of $6.89 million to expand community perinatal mental health teams across the state.

This funding boost is in direct response to recommendations from the Royal Commission in Mental Health, as we continue to show we are committed to rebuilding our mental health system.

The Royal Commission recommended (Recommendation 18.1) that the Victorian Government expand and reform community perinatal mental health teams in each Adult and Older Adult Area Mental Health and Wellbeing Service across Victoria to adapt and deliver core functions, including providing consultation to primary and secondary care and related services for prospective and new parents, including maternal and child health nurses.

This new funding builds on the $20 million already allocated this year to deliver perinatal mental health services in Victoria – including six Parent Infant Units for women with severe mental health illnesses admitted with their infants, and support for the Perinatal Emotional Health Program.

Victorian students and teachers from primary through to senior secondary school now have access to new digital resources that will build their understanding of civics and citizenship, making young Victorians more thoughtful, passionate active participants in the democratic process.
 
The new resources have been co-developed by students, for students – alongside the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA), the Victorian Student Representative Council and Monash University.
 
Developed with a focus on fostering civic engagement for years 3 to 10, the Andrews Labor Government has invested $747,000 to implement the new non-partisan resources in schools.
 
The resources focus on five topics – voting, active participation, citizenship, policy and the media’s influence on the political environment – and are accompanied by videos of students interviewing experts and other students about their experiences and thoughts on the topics.
 
Students will develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of the political and legal systems, and the values which underpin a democratic society, to become informed and active citizens.
 
The course content is age-appropriate, teaching students about issues and processes like debates over changes to the law, elections, government responses to international events, basic theory of political and legal institutions, and democratic values like fairness, equality, representation and accountability and citizens’ rights.
 
The resources include a Teacher Guide, alongside a series of workshops to introduce teachers to the new materials as part of a professional development learning program.
 
The new resources are available online at vcaa.vic.edu.au/curriculum.

A Jobs Victoria partnership with Box Hill Institute is creating 75 in-demand hairdressing jobs, providing training and employment for people who have been out of work for an extended period, young Victorians, and women over 45.  
 
The need for skilled workers in the sector is real, not just because Victorians are racing back to hairdressers and barbers but also because many hairdressers left the workforce during the pandemic.  
 
Participants in the program are learning as they earn, studying a Certificate III qualification while receiving on-the-job support and skills development.

The initiative is supported by the $250 million Jobs Victoria Fund, which is creating 10,000 steady and secure jobs for those people most impacted by the pandemic. 

Jobs Victoria is helping Victorians get back to work and employers find the right staff for their business.

For more information, visit jobs.vic.gov.au.

The Andrews Labor Government’s $12 million Business Recovery and Resilience Mentoring Program has provided more than 9,000 individual sessions for 3,000 small businesses.  
 
Run in partnership with the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the program matches businesses from across the state with experienced mentors. Through the program, business owners work with their mentors to make informed decisions about the future of their business, including the development of business action plans, improving time management, identifying new opportunities and rethinking marketing strategies. 

Victor Diaz’s Mexican wrestling business Lucha Fantastica regained its strength with the help of one of our programs. Victor took part in four two-hour sessions with the Business Recovery and Resilience Mentoring program run by Business Victoria and the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

He worked with his mentor Jeff Webb to expand his business to celebrate all things Mexican and showcase the culture of his country.

Business Victoria offer a wide range of courses, workshops and training to help businesses thrive.

Visit business.vic.gov.au for more information. 

The Andrews Government has announced a funding boost of $40 million for offshore wind projects to drive jobs and bring forward the next wave of renewable energy opportunities.

As part of the Energy Innovation Fund, the Labor Government is kickstarting three major offshore wind projects – from Star of the South, Macquarie Group and Flotation Energy – which have the potential to create up to 5,600 jobs, bring more than $18 billion in new investment to Victoria and power around 3.6 million homes.

Rental providers are now eligible for a rebate to upgrade inefficient heating and cooling systems to make homes more comfortable, drive down power bills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
 
The Andrews Government has announced $1,000 rebates from Solar Victoria to install energy-efficient reverse-cycle air conditioners in rental properties. This rebate could help average renters save up to $300 on their annual power bills.
 
For more information, visit heatingupgrades.vic.gov.au. 

The second round of grants in the Building Blocks Inclusion fund is now open ─ helping kindergartens provide a safe and inclusive learning environment for every child.
 
Kindergartens across Victoria are invited to apply for grants of up to $200,000 for building or playground upgrades that make them more inclusive of children of all needs.

Grants of up to $10,000 are also available for specialist equipment like mobility chairs or sensory tools for kindergarten programs.

Applications close 15 March 2022.

For more information about Building Blocks Inclusion grants stream funding, visit schoolbuildings.vic.gov.au/Pages/Building-Blocks.aspx.

More Victorian students have access to vital music education at school, with expressions of interest for the 2022 Music in Schools Teacher Professional Learning Program now open.

It’s so important for kids to have music included in their education from a young age, and this program will support schools to make that a reality.

Since 2015, Music in Schools has supported more than 2,000 classroom teachers from more than 1,100 Victorian schools to ensure quality music programs aligned to the Victorian Curriculum can be delivered to Victorian students.

Music education improves academic achievement, builds communication skills and creativity, develops teamwork and increases engagement in school – and that’s why we’re investing in a music education for every Victorian child.

Vaccination is the best way to protect ourselves and our communities from COVID-19 and to allow us to safely return to work, study and spending time with friends and family. That’s why it’s important to ensure that every Victorian can access a COVID-19 vaccination.

The Local Communities Access Grants Program will provide grants of up to $20,000 to eligible community organisations and neighbourhood houses to deliver tailored support to Victorians who face additional barriers to getting vaccinated.

The $2 million grant program will support activities that reduce COVID-19 vaccine misinformation and hesitancy, remove practical barriers to accessing vaccines and support increased uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine amongst priority groups.

Applications will be assessed on a rolling basis until funding is exhausted.

I encourage eligible service providers and community groups in Werribee to apply early.

For more information, visit vic.gov.au/local-community-access-grants-program.

The Andrews Labor Government is ensuring the achievements of inspirational women are better represented and recognised, with a new program to fund and deliver more public art by that depicts and is made by women.
 
Currently, only 9 out of 580 statues across Melbourne depict real women. Victorian women have achieved amazing things in politics, activism, literature, civil life, science, medicine and on the sporting field – these achievements should be celebrated just as equally as those of men.
 
That’s why applications are now open for our $1 million Victorian Women’s Public Art Program to support projects that recognise women and their achievements through mediums such as statues, sculptures and enduring public art.
 
Grants of $50,000 - $200,000 are available to organisations across Victoria, with applicants strongly encouraged to work in partnership with community or interest groups such as local sporting and advocacy groups or arts collectives.
 
Applications close on 10 January 2022.

For more information about the grants program, visit rav.net.au/funding-opportunities/victorian-womens-public-art-program.

Victoria is a proudly multicultural state, and much work has been done in recent years to tackle racism in our society, but there is still more to do.

The Andrews Labor Government is working on an Anti-Racism Strategy to respond to and reduce racism and discrimination across the state.

To create the most effective strategy possible we want to hear from all Victorians, so we're opening an online consultation so we can better understand your experiences and ideas.

Your feedback will help shape the focus and direction of the strategy.

Have your say – head to Engage Victoria to complete the online survey at engage.vic.gov.au/anti-racism-strategy-public-consultation-survey.

Consultation closes 6 December 2021.

Grants through the Building Safer Communities program are now open.

They provide funding of up to $300,000 to councils and community groups to help tackle the root causes of crime.

There are two different categories of grant:

Stream 1 – Creating Safer Places
Grants of $25,000 - $300,000 for Councils to apply for urban design projects that apply an inclusive environmental design approach to deter crime, increase safety and activate public places.

Stream 2 - Crime Prevention Innovation fund
Grants of $25,000 - $300,000 for Councils and not-for-profit organisations to test new partnership approaches to address crime and community safety issues, build capability within the community and contribute to the crime prevention evidence base.

Applications close 11 February 2021.

For more information, visit crimeprevention.vic.gov.au/buildingsafercommunities.

Great news today – a new round of the Victorian Medical Research Fund is now open. This year we’re also adding a new mRNA grant program in recognition of its important role in protecting Victorians against future pandemics.

We’re also doing more to encourage projects that are led by women or that can show 50% women in their research teams.

Women historically share in less of the total funding awarded to health and medical research in Australia despite making up over half of the research sector so this is an important initiative that will help to close the gender funding gap.

Applications close on 17 December 2021.

For more details, visit djpr.vic.gov.au/acceleration-fund.

Nominations for the 2021 Premier’s Awards for Health and Medical Research are now open. 
 
The awards recognise early-career health and medical researchers currently completing their PhD studies making exceptional contributions to health and medicine. 
 
Five categories reflect the breadth of evidence-based analysis being undertaken by researchers across Victoria. The categories are : 

• Basic Science Researcher 
• Clinical Researcher 
• Aboriginal Researcher undertaking research in any field of health and medical research 
• Health Services Researcher 
• Public Health Researcher 

Category winners will receive $5,000, with one category winner to be selected to receive the coveted Premier's Excellence Award and an additional $15,000.The Premier’s Awards were established in 1995 in partnership with the Australian Society for Medical Research.  

Applications close 17 January 2022.
 
To find out more, visit djpr.vic.gov.au/medical-research-awards.