VCOSS congratulates Dan Andrews on an extraordinary nine years of service

MEDIA RELEASE

When Daniel Andrews was elected Victorian Premier in 2014, he said he wouldn’t waste a minute. 

He has lived up to this promise. 

Premier Andrews has had unwavering commitment to social equity and an ambitious reform agenda.

Over the past nine years, the community sector has worked closely with the Andrews Government on wide-ranging system transformation.

It’s hard to think of an area of social policy and service delivery that hasn’t been the subject of progressive reform over this period. 

VCOSS recognises the landmark achievements of the Andrews Government.

These include:

• Formal recognition of the status, rights, cultures and histories of Traditional Owners and Aboriginal Victorians through the Treaty process
  The Andrews Government has done what no other government did before it by establishing a Treaty process that seeks to reckon with the past and ongoing injustices of Victoria’s colonial history on First Nations peoples. This has included turning a spotlight on the Government itself through the truth-telling work of the Yoorrook Justice Commission and supporting representation of First Nations people through the First People’s Assembly of Victoria.
  
  
• Making Victoria the Education State
  Early on, Premier Andrews recognised the connection between postcode and educational outcomes. He built an explicit reform agenda around this nexus, in a way no other political leader had attempted previously.
  
  
• Putting TAFE back at the centre of the vocational training system
  The Premier oversaw significant investments in TAFE as a quality benchmark in vocational training and removed critical barriers to skills and training through making TAFE free.
  
  
• Tackling family violence
  The Premier prompted a radical re-framing of family violence when he declared it Victoria’s top law-and-order issue, kicking off a historic Royal Commission and the implementation of its 227 recommendations. In Victoria today, as the Premier has said, family violence is everyone’s business.
  
  
• The Gender Equality Act
  This world-leading reform has focused on improving workplace gender equality in the Victorian public sector, universities and local councils, with a dedicated Commissioner for Gender Equality tasked with making it stick.
  
  
• A just transition to a renewable energy future
  The Andrews Government has made important future-focussed investments in renewable energy and in coal-job reliant communities such as the LaTrobe Valley through community-building and transition support including the LaTrobe Health Assembly.
  
  
• Mental health reform
  Premier Andrews recognised the mental health system is broken, and initiated an ambitious reform to re-imagine the mental health system by putting wellbeing at the centre. This involved another groundbreaking Royal Commission, and a pledge to act on all of the Commission’s findings.
  
  
• Social housing
  The Andrews Government delivered a nation-leading investment in social housing through the $5.4 billion Big Housing Build.
  
  
• Making renting fairer
  In another example of nation-leading reform, the Andrews Government’s rental reforms addressed the power imbalance between renters and landlords. These changes recognised that many Victorians will rent their whole lives, and that measures to improve quality of housing (such as the introduction of minimum standards), security of tenure, and stronger rights were needed to provide fairer, safer housing for renters.
  
  

VCOSS sincerely thanks Daniel Andrews for his passion for social equity and for the vision he has shown during his time as Premier of Victoria.

Under his leadership, strong foundations have been laid for future reforms and continued progress.

VCOSS and the community sector look forward to continuing to work in partnership with the Victorian Government on implementation of the reforms initiated by the Andrews Government, to achieve a fair and equitable Victoria.

Daniel Andrews recorded a thankyou message to the community sector at the height of the COVID pandemic.