Dozens of residential aged care facilities across metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria will share in more than $10 million from the Andrews Labor Government to make vital upgrades.

Member for Dandenong, Gabrielle Williams, today announced the local Chestnut Gardens Aged Care Home, in Doveton, is one of 38 facilities to receive the funding from the Government’s Significant Facility Refurbishment Initiative.

Chestnut Gardens Aged Care Home will receive $748,853 to upgrade its facility. The project totalling $1 million has a number of design element improvements, including the replacement of ageing environmental systems as well as the installation of a system to provide securely controlled electronic access for individual residents.

The refurbishment projects include improvements to common areas that support better social spaces, bedroom or bathroom refurbishments that improve resident privacy and independence, and upgrades to outdoor activity areas to make them more accessible.

The upgrades will not only modernise facilities but also improve the comfort and safety for residents and staff, and assist public sector aged care facilities to be sustainable into the future.

The Labor Government is also providing funding of $1.1 million which will see up to a thousand public sector health and aged care nurses receive specialist training to improve the treatment and care of our elderly Victorians.

The training will help nurses better identify and manage a range of physical and mental health issues commonly experienced by older people.

The training will be led by the Australian Nurses and Midwifery Federation in partnership with La Trobe University and will begin in September.

This will be complemented by training being rolled out by the Public Sector Residential Aged Care (PSRAC) Leadership Committee targeting senior nurses about how improved practice can be embedded in operations.