VICTORIAN Premier Daniel Andrews has supported a call by Villawood Properties for the business community to follow the developer\u2019s lead in offering support packages for care workers.<\/p>\n
Villawood\u2019s Care Worker Support Program has set aside land at Geelong that has been taken up by nurses, firefighters,teachers, police, paramedics, and personal and aged care workers.<\/p>\n
The program has provided land for workers who might otherwise have been squeezed out of the market.<\/p>\n
Following its success in Villawood\u2019s Geelong estates, it has been extended to their Melbourne developments.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs Geelong\u2019s economy changes, care workers are a rapidly growing and increasingly important part of our community and our employment base,\u201d Villawood executive director Rory Costelloe said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to look after them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oliver Hume research shows Greater Geelong\u2019s health care and social assistance workers grew 40 per cent between 2011 and 2016 to become the largest local employment sector, at almost 16 percent.<\/p>\n
Mr Andrews congratulated Villawood for the Care Worker Support Program this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day, our nurses, teachers and first responders devote themselves to caring for our
\ncommunities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd through their Care Worker Support Program, Rory and his team are dedicated to making a real difference in the lives of these hard-working Victorians.<\/p>\n
\u201cI congratulate Villawood Properties on this program and commend them on their expansion efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Care workers buying into Villawood through the scheme have also praised it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you know people want to live in the community, and build their home there and be part of that community, it really makes a difference,\u201d Gurdeep Kaur, a driver for wheelchair-bound people, said.<\/p>\n
\u201cVillawood giving back to the community like this is a great idea.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under the initiative, 10 per cent of Villawood\u2019s land on public release is reserved for two months for care workers, regardless of demand.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose care workers working within a 10-kilometre radius of our Villawood community also save $10,000 on their land price,\u201d Mr Costelloe said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is to ensure they can live close to work and continue to nurture the local community.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone at Villawood has been very moved by what we\u2019ve achieved in a very short time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d love to see other companies jump in and replicate this care worker support initiative across broader sectors.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
VICTORIAN Premier Daniel Andrews has supported a call by Villawood Properties for the business community to follow the developer\u2019s lead in offering support packages for care workers. Villawood\u2019s Care Worker Support Program has set aside land at Geelong that has been taken up by nurses, firefighters,teachers, police, paramedics, and personal and aged care workers. The […]<\/p>\n