The Victorian Labor government has been forced to organise a cabinet reshuffle after four senior ministers announced their retirement. On June 24, Deputy Premier James Merlino, Health Minister Martin Foley, Police Minister Lisa Neville and Sports Minister Martin Pakula issued statements confirming their decisions to step down from the cabinet. They also would not recontest…

Schools in the Australian state of Victoria are struggling with temporary closures due to staff testing positive to COVID-19 after the government terminated over 120 unvaccinated teachers in April. In one particular case, year eight students at Greater Shepparton Secondary College in the north of Victoria had to learn from home on May 16 due…

The Victorian government has announced that it will spend $1.5 billion (US$1.12 billion) to reduce the state’s elective surgery waitlist backlog via a catch-up scheme expected to raise surgical capacity by 25 percent. The COVID Catch-Up Plan, which is designed to increase surgical activity across the state to 125 percent of the pre-pandemic level by…

The state Victorian government has announced a boost to mental health and wellbeing to support for Victorian schools following the 2022 federal budget announcement. “We want all Victorians to have access to the tools they need to be happy and resilient—and that’s why we’re bolstering mental health and wellbeing support at schools right across Victoria,”…

The Victorian government will remove hospitality density limits, retail and workplace QR check-ins, but will still keep indoor mask requirements in place as the state begins to relax COVID-19 restrictions. Premier Daniel Andrews said Victoria would start moving “back to normal” in the coming weeks as the state witnessed a downward trend in the Omicron…

The Victorian Labor Government has announced further funding for organisations that support the LGBTIQ+ groups in response to “unnecessary, hurtful public debate around legal protections for young LGBTIQ+ Australians,” following the shelving of the religious discrimination bill. The religious bill passed the lower house of the federal parliament on Feb. 10 after the Coalition agreed…

The Victorian Labor Government has expanded the twice-weekly rapid antigen testing to children aged 3 to 5 at childcare centres as news comes of possible ceasing RATs after the first four weeks of the school term. The Victorian Premier, Daniel Andrews announced that more than 1.6 million RATs will be delivered to childhood settings in…

Australia’s first locally developed mRNA COVID-19 vaccine has been created in Victoria and will begin phase 1 trials within months. Acting Victorian Premier James Merlino announced on Sunday that the state government would invest $5 million into the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS) to manufacture doses of mRNA vaccine candidates. “This is an incredibly…

Health Minister Greg Hunt confirmed that a total of 160 Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel would be sent to Victoria to assist with the state’s lockdown enforcement at the request of acting premier James Merlino. The total cases linked to the Whittlesea cluster of CCP virus has grown to 45, with five new cases recorded…

Victoria has recorded four more COVID-19 cases on the first day of its seven-day lockdown, bringing the total case of the Whittlesea cluster to 30. This is the fourth lockdown of the state in 15 months. It is also longer and more widespread than the one in mid-February, which lasted for five days. The Victorian…