The government cannot be allowed to ignore disabled people in the midst of a global pandemic. When the stimulus announcement was made we were shocked to learn we had been excluded. It exposes that the government just doesn’t get it – what it means for people who are disabled, and why the DSP is different to other payments. It costs more to be disabled. We are workers too, and disabled people and carers are losing income as a result of this crisis. Many disabled people are more vulnerable to COVID19 than other Australians. We face higher costs for specialised supports, healthcare, medication, housing and transport. There are many essential costs that the NDIS does not cover and during the pandemic people’s costs are only going up. The cost of support workers and other specialised services is increasing, some by as much as 10 per cent. NDIS invoice processing times are blowing out. This decision to exclude disabled people and carers exposes the government’s failure to understand our lives and needs. We must not let the government divide us into ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ groups. We must demand that our leaders immediately include the most vulnerable people in our community in the $550 per fortnight coronavirus supplement. We must stand together in the fight for disabled people and carers to be treated equally.

The Social Research Centre, a call centre located within inner city Melbourne, has been woefully unprepared for the recent unfolding CO-VID 19 crisis. The company, known for working on large scale government projects, has only in the past week implemented any social distancing and proper hygiene policy within the call centre, prior to this they failed to even provide alcohol-based sanitising wipes for equipment. The 200+ casual workforce has been given no clarity on what will happen with their jobs. The company has rejected calls to provide paid leave and allow employees to self isolate. Instead it gives vague promises that employees will be able to work from home without having any system in place to implement this. There is a social responsibility for all businesses and individuals to help ‘flatten the curve’ of COVID-19, to ensure hospitals are able to cope with the demand for treatment. Flattening the curve requires the implementation of social distancing measures which cannot be adhered to within the close proximity working environment of the call centre, especially considering the virus can live on plastic surfaces (like booths, headsets and computers) for up to 72 hours. Call centres are a known incubator of the virus, and workers are at particularly high risk not just of contracting COVID-19, but also transmitting it to a large number of people. The Social Research Centre clearly understands the importance of social distancing to protect employees and the wider community. This is evident in the fact that the staff at the Social Research Centre's office on Williams St are all working from home. We are asking this regard for workplace safety extends to the casual workers in the call centre. The company's response to the demand of paid leave, supported by the overwhelming majority of your workforce, has been unsatisfactory, with no attempt made to negotiate or evidence shown to back claims of insufficient funds. Centrelink is insufficient for many of your employees, such as those who are not Australian nationals, under 22, or new applicants who will likely be waiting more than two weeks to receive their first payment. Sign now to demand the Social Research Centre closes the unsafe call centre office and supports workers with special paid leave.

Our union’s primary concern is that schools cannot currently meet either their legislative Work, Health and Safety (WHS) obligations or their duty of care to both their employees and students while the school term continues.

People are dying in govt state homes due to not being able to control there body temperature because the Qld state government won’t install air conditioning into government housing. https://youtu.be/t-o-4xXMoM8 Also it’s unfair that homeowners are paying next to nothing for electricity because of solar panels and the Qld state is giving them all the rewards. For equality the low income earner should also be entitled to this as well. For those who are homeowners please read the article because there’s something in there for you that will also benefit you. Thank you and keep safe. https://youtu.be/Htfbo3A6BzQ http://3quotes.com.au/news/3-int-13-geo/index.html

Online and remote teaching is not equivalent to the service obtained from in-person classes. Students should not have to pay thousands of dollars in already-exorbitant fees for an educational service which is fundamentally different. International students, and students moving from interstate, did not pay large sums of money for learning to be delivered remotely. In the midst of a global health crisis, universities must use their vast sums of money to support all students – fee refunds now!

Working Australians have been dealt a body blow by the impact of the coronavirus. Millions of workers are facing the very real prospect of losing their job and they need the government to act. Sign our petition and tell the Morrison government it must provide a guaranteed wage subsidy to all working people immediately to save jobs. Other countries' governments have already done this. The UK government is guaranteeing 80% of people's wages. It’s time Scott Morrison gave Australian workers the same assurance that they are not being abandoned. Scott Morrison has announced a wage subsidy for Australian workers, but it excludes 500,000 casuals and over 1 million temporary visa holders. Let the Prime Minister know that it is only by keeping people in jobs that the future of Australian workers, their families and their communities can be secured. If we guarantee wages now we will keep people in jobs and out of welfare. Sign the petition for a guaranteed wage subsidy and let Scott Morrison know Australian workers need a government that puts the well-being of workers first.

This can happen to any visa holder. If you are charged with a crime you did not commit in Queensland you have three options. 1. Accept visa cancellation and deportation without conviction. 2. Accept a criminal conviction and deportation without trial. 3. Wait for in excess of four years remanded in custody, or in immigration detention for a trial date. Whilst you wait for four years you are unable to work and support your family. On conviction in Queensland, most people charged with murder are convicted of Manslaughter, and are sentenced to 8-9 years (2.5-4.5 years of which will be served in prison). This means someone wrongly accused of a crime who is a visa holder, on the most trivial charge, spends longer detained or incarcerated than almost any convicted person except convicted Murderers. This is unlawful, but is accepted best practice in Queensland. Surely no visa should be cancelled prior to a conviction bring recorded. Also a charge may never exceed 12 months progressing to trial for a detained or remanded person. Further, time in detention awaiting trial, should never exceed the base (incarcerated) sentence, let alone the head sentence. The Crown (Federal Government) interfering in a Queensland charge, by cancelling the visa of a defendant was expressly protected at the time the Criminal Code was written. Now QLD Police request that the Federal Government cancel any charged persons visa, as it gains them an insurmountable advantage. Clough v Leahy, Griffith CJ, speaking for the Court, had said[200]: "Nor can the Crown interfere with the administration of the course of justice. It is not to be supposed that the Crown would do such a thing; but, if persons acting under a Commission from the Crown were to do acts which, if done by private persons, would amount to an unlawful interference with the course of justice, the act would be unlawful, and would be punishable."

The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the social inequality many young people have experienced for too long. While the world tries to manage an unfolding pandemic, this crisis has led to insecurity in housing, income, and study without action from our government. This crisis will affect all aspects of the lives of students and young people. Casual workers, most of whom are students, have no guarantee that they will get paid if their workplace is to shut down or they must self-isolate. Working people need to know they don’t have to make the decision between going to work sick, or self-isolating and not being able to pay their bills. At Universities, our campuses are closing and moving online, while ongoing fears about fees and future of study, especially for international students, remain unaddressed. So many questions remain unanswered, but what we know is that if this continues, bills will stack up, evictions will occur, and income support payments will be lost. In its silence, our government is finalising a generation of inequality for today’s young people. As they move towards announcing their second stimulus package, young workers and students are begging for support. The Morrison government is yet to respond to our concerns. Instead, focusing on lining the pockets of business and giving out one off welfare payments that will fail to bring students out of poverty. Students and young people cannot continue to be left behind. This statement is endorsed by dozens of student representatives from around the country, representing hundreds of thousands of students whose livelihoods and futures are under threat. We are demanding action. The government must finally take leadership during this crisis and support the Australians who have been forgotten. Workers, students, and young people need action to protect their income, housing, and study. To fail at this now will hurt this nation for years to come.

No university worker should be forced to choose between quarantine and feeding their family. The Coronavirus Covid-19 crisis is engulfing Australia - and our universities are in the eye of the storm. Right now, job security is health security and we need university Vice-Chancellors to do the right thing by staff, students and the public. That means securing our rights at work so we can protect our health at home. No-one can predict how long this crisis will continue - perhaps weeks or months. That's why we need to lock in firm commitments from university employers now to keep things fair, and keep us safe.

We are in unprecedented times and as workers, we are petitioning for the Government to introduce an Epidemic and Pandemic Special Leave Policies.  We encourage the Government to recognise that this is an unprecedented situation and as front line transport workers, working with people and their goods, and continuously exposed to the potentially sick patrons, we are at a heightened risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19.  We seek the Government to provide special leave to individuals who do not have sufficient sick leave to cover their absence or carer’s leave to look after an affected family member - be their employment contract a casual, part-time or full-time contract. Read more about the risk Qantas and Jetstar workers are facing here: https://www.theage.com.au/national/union-fears-deadly-risk-of-poor-cleaning-on-qantas-jetstar-flights-20200316-p54amu.html

We are saying with one big loud voice: it’s time for the Federal Government to step up and support casual workers and the businesses that employ them. Everyone besides this government understands that casual workers cannot afford to go into quarantine for two weeks without pay. Nor can these workers afford to go on Newstart which is just $40 a day and below the poverty line. And many workers aren’t even eligible. No one wants casual workers going to work who are sick simply because they can't afford to lose pay. Lots of businesses are doing the right thing and supporting their staff. But many small businesses are already on their knees from the bushfires and they face another massive blow from the Coronavirus. Now is the time for real leadership. We need this government to step in and ensure all workers forced to take leave because of Coronavirus can do so, and not be left out of pocket.

The possibility of university-wide shutdowns in response to the COVID-19 virus is a terrifying one for casual and insecure workers who have no sick pay or leave entitlements. In Australian public universities, more than half of all teaching at our universities is delivered by casual staff, we are not marginal we are the backbone of the sector. This means that in the event of a shutdown, thousands of university staff are facing the loss of income they rely on to pay the bills and keep food on the table or even job losses. Casual workers who become sick in the coming weeks and months will have to decide whether they can afford to self-isolate or quarantine. This is both unconscionable and dangerous. The responsibility for this disastrous situation lies squarely on the shoulders of university managements who have responded to declining public funding by building an insecure workforce – all while enjoying some of the highest salaries in the world for university executives. So far, only Macquarie University has guaranteed access to sick pay and leave for casual staff in the event of self-isolation or shutdown. This is a welcome decision and we call on all other universities to follow their example. Currently, universities remain open for business, but the COVID-19 travel bans and public health crisis have given spendthrift universities across Australia an excuse to cut jobs. Frontline teaching staff have already lost work and more job losses are threatened. At the same time, staff workloads have intensified as student support needs have escalated. Despite the number of unknowns facing Australian universities, one thing is certain: domestic and international students will need more support – not less – because of the disruption caused by COVID-19. A well-staffed university workforce is fundamental if we are to meet the needs of students during this public health crisis. Casual staff must not pay the price for the COVID-19 outbreak. We are not a ‘soft expense’ to be cut when convenient, nor should we have to choose between our health, the health of our students and colleagues, and putting food on the table. By March 18 all universities must guarantee: · Casual staff continue to be paid if they are required to self-isolate. This is a basic requirement to secure the welfare of casual staff and ensure the safety of the university community. · Casual staff continue to be paid in the event of university shutdowns, even if they are unable to work from home. Casual staff perform work in teaching and research that is core to the mission of universities. Retention and support of casual staff must be a university priority. · Stop job cuts and austerity measures. Universities need more – not less – frontline staff to support and retain students through this difficult time. Endorsed by: NTEU UniMelb Casuals Network, NTEU ANU Casuals Committee, NTEU UoN Casuals Collective, NTEU UQ Casuals Caucus