Senior citizens registers: future
04-May-2011
Mr BURGESS (Hastings) -- I raise a matter for the attention of the Minister for Police and Emergency Services. The action I seek is that the minister urgently investigate the plan by Victoria Police to withdraw office space and support for senior citizens registers. The proposal is to transfer the registers to local councils. There are more than 40 registers across Victoria, with the three on the Mornington Peninsula -- Hastings, Mornington and Rosebud -- having more than 8000 elderly people registered. Hastings alone has more than 850. For many frail, lonely, elderly people, the register volunteers are the only contact they have with the outside world. There is no doubt that the home visits, phone calls and other wellbeing checks conducted by the register volunteers have saved numerous lives and extended many others.
At the heart of the service is the database that contains critical health, home security and next of kin details. This information is vital to those going to the assistance of an elderly person who is ill or in some other difficulty. This information is also of great importance to the families of the people on the register, reassuring them that they will be contacted quickly if something happens to their loved one. The critical and sensitive nature of this information and the requirement that it be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week are very strong reasons for the registers continuing to be based at police stations.
Our community is very fortunate indeed to have volunteers such as Richard Armstrong of the Hastings register, Yvonne Morrison of the Mornington register and Marie Parkinson of the Rosebud register, who so generously give of their own time to help some of our most vulnerable citizens.
These volunteers have nothing but praise for the hard work and dedication of our local police, and we must listen to them when they say that the registers must remain at the police stations. The senior citizens registers are a very important bridge between our police and the community they serve.
The Police in Schools program was a similar outreach vehicle through which students got to know their local police and came to understand that they were not their enemies. In a similar fashion to the current proposal, that program was ended because its true worth was not fully understood by those in charge. Over recent years there has been a regrettable trend away from programs that strengthen the relationship of our police with the community. These outreach programs are vital as they enable police officers to build positive and familiar relationships with their communities, strengthening their ties with youth, families, business owners and the elderly, allowing them to engage in a non-confrontational way whereby trust, respect and relationships are built.
It is a very real possibility that many of the seniors registers will cease to exist if this proposal is allowed to proceed. There does not appear to be any compelling reason to remove the registers from the police stations. It does not seem to be a funding or resourcing issue as the program is run by volunteers, with some registers fundraising to purchase their own vehicles. On occasion these vehicles are available for use by police where required. The register volunteers often reduce the workload of officers by absorbing inquiries from senior citizens who call police stations as well as by offering bereavement services and waiting with relatives, allowing the police to get back on the road more quickly. Neither does it appear to be a working space issue as the room required by the registers is small.
The removal of the Hastings register would have the potential result of 850 of the most vulnerable members of my community being left with no support. I have been contacted by many seniors from across my electorate who are terrified about what will happen to them should this relocation go ahead. I ask the minister to investigate this ill-conceived plan.