Zahra Mustaf

Policies

NATIONAL MENTAL HEALTH PREVENTATIVE STRATEGY

  • Aim to reduce stress anxiety.
  • Mental health, focusing on the young generation.
  • Increase Medicare-subsidised mental health services and implement more integrated policies across all sectors, at all levels of the Government’s mental health care system
  • Implement comprehensive Mental Health and Wellbeing programs in all educational institutions.
  • Establish developmental and psychological health units across the country, especially at schools.
  • Facilitate proactive assessment and treatment for people with mental disorders in hospital or the community, especially if there is a significant risk to the individual of harm or poor self-care, or a significant risk of harm to others.
  • Invest heavily in suicide prevention, social integration and individual support across the various demographics; increase funding for Lifeline, headspace, Beyond Blue and Kids Helpline.

HIGHER EDUCATION

I will support and work with others in the introduction of legislation that:

  • ensures the Arts and Humanities areas are properly funded;
  • Secures subsided or free education for all and especially for those who cannot afford tertiary education. Social justice demands equity in the provision of all services to all members of the society;
  • Provides increased  funding for non-private educational institutions ensures we provide an important ladder for those who need to climb out of poverty.  Fair school funding is a crucial policy that is urgently needed. It is inexcusable that government funding for private schools in Australia has increased at nearly five times the rate of public-school funding over the past 10 years according to new analysis, with predictions of a $74bn shortfall in money for public schools this decade despite the shift to a needs-based scheme.

  • I stand for the implementation of needs-based education funding as legislated in the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS). Focus should be how much total public funding a school requires to meet its students’ educational needs, based on recommendations from the 2011 Gonski review.

OTHER POLICIES I SUPPORT

Family & domestic violence:

As a survivor of domestic violence, I aim to tackle systemic problems in this area by:

  • Working on introducing more robust legislation to address, manage and reduce domestic violence, and
  • Developing creative ways to deal with mental health issues leading to domestic violence.

 

Veterans:

Veterans administration and transition from ADF should be enhanced. Specific research into veteran’s support leveraging off capabilities at Latrobe and Melbourne Universities.

Establishment of a Centre of Excellence for Veteran Support that brings together multiple channels of care for Australia’s veterans.

Fighting  corruption:

Legislate federal ICAC and strengthen its power to ensure corruption is eliminated.

Small Business AND ECONOMY

  • Local Manufacturing
  • Small Business post covid 19 recovery and tax exemption for 12 to 24 month to allow them to recover the loss of past two years.
  • Tax big company that are not paying their fair share of tax
  • Support childcare
  • Abolish business taxes for firms with less than 20 staff (land, payroll, energy surcharges).
  • Establish a Small Business Support Agency in each federal electorate.
  • Twelve-month deferral of rental payments for businesses recovering from COVID.

 

Recognition Treaty of Aboriginal people in our Constitution:

I will work on ways to ensure this area receives the attention it deserves which has been overlooked over the years. The Aboriginal people are the custodians and have a lot of knowledge about the environment that needs to be preserved and made available to the relevant environment authorities.