2026-11-11
The Victorian Greens have backed calls from frontline doctors and nurses for specialist security, more staff and urgent action on overcrowding, warning that the major parties' heavy-handed responses to escalating hospital violence disregard what frontline staff are calling for and miss the mark on what will actually work to reduce violence.
Shocking new figures reveal violence in Victoria's public hospitals has surged by more than 60 per cent in four years, with a record 26,730 incidents last year - an average of 73 every day.
The Greens have backed calls from the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and the College of Emergency Nursing Australasia for 24/7 specially trained security staff who are part of clinical teams in emergency departments, and the re-establishment of the Victorian Violence in Healthcare Taskforce.
The Greens say these measures must go hand in hand with addressing staffing shortages, overcrowding, long waits for beds and inadequate access to mental healthcare, which frontline workers have identified as key drivers of increased violence.
This means significantly increasing investment in preventative health care and community health services to bring down demand for emergency care, and more investment in rehabilitation, aged care and allied health so people can get out of hospital sooner to free up beds for those who need them.
But instead of listening to frontline healthcare workers, Labor has proposed 12-month hospital bans, while the Liberals want to deploy armed protective services officers who don’t have clinical training across major hospitals.
Quotes attributable to Victorian Greens health spokesperson, Dr Sarah Mansfield:
“These figures are so distressing. As a doctor, I know how frightening and unpredictable an overcrowded emergency department can become. The work that happens there is literally life or death, and no one should have to fear for their safety while caring for others.
“Nurses and doctors are on the frontline of this violence, and they're telling us what they need - evidenced based responses, including more staff, prevention of overcrowding and long waits, and specially trained security staff who understand complex medical and mental health crises.
“Instead of listening to what frontline nurses and doctors are saying, Labor and the Liberals have rolled out these knee-jerk election promises that completely miss the mark and won’t reduce violence. Hospital bans don't make people's healthcare needs disappear, and armed guards risk making situations worse.”
“We owe our healthcare workers more than knee-jerk election promises. We need properly staffed hospitals, specialist security trained to de-escalate dangerous situations, and critically, we need to fix the overcrowding crisis in our hospitals. That’s how we actually deal with this.”