Women at university are worse off under a Liberal government. Health The Liberal Government has scrapped bulk-billing incentives for pathology services and diagnostic imaging. This means that women may have to pay up-front $30 for a Pap smear, blood or urine test, and from January 2017 as much as $173 for x-ray or ultrasound imaging. Women regularly rely upon these tests for the prevention or early detection of pregnancy, obstetric complications, cancers, STIs and UTIs The Liberal Government freeze on indexation of the rebate for GP consultations under the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) until 2020 has already seen hundreds of practitioners around the country cease to offer bulk billing as they are forced to transfer increased costs onto patients. Most women students can not afford these increased costs of healthcare, and are forced to forgo necessary doctors visits, diagnostic testing and treatment. This poses critical risks for women’s health. Without early diagnosis and treatment, risk of poorer prognosis is high and the burden of disease, personal and financial costs on patients are increased. Education- cuts to funding The 2016-2017 budget revealed that Malcolm Turnbull and the Liberals want to decrease funding to tertiary institutions by 20% as well as lower the tax repayment threshold by 10%. It was also strongly indicated that the Liberals will bring back fee deregulation. Universities are unlikely to put their hands in their own pockets to make up for funding cuts, choosing rather to cut vital student support services than risk jeopardising ‘important’ business projects Cuts to higher education will mean that women who are already disproportionately affected but a lack of funding will take longer to pay off their HECS debt and face a greater pay gap in the workforce. Cuts to services Severe lack of funding available for women’s services on university campuses. When the federal government make cuts to the higher education sector, often basic services relied on by women are the first to go. Universities across Australia do not prioritise the welfare of students, this consequently has a greater effect on women due to structural barriers which make it difficult women to go to university and study. As revealed in the results of the 2016 ‘Talk about it’ survey women students are likely to face harassment and sexual violence on university campuses. Due to a number of factors, including inadequate help services, women are strongly deterred from seeking help from university. Women should be able to balance university life as well as home life, and should not be forced to choose between the two. Services focused on assisting students who are also mothers have been neglected for too long. Many universities are lacking parent rooms, for mothers to comfortably breastfeed. Underfunded services have a detrimental effect on those who use them most, women are already limited by a culture of misogyny on campus and an initial lack of policies and services to protect them. Due to the lack of services and policies, many universities do not adequately address incidents of harassment on campus, making university an unsafe place for women. Universities receive funding from the student services and amenities fee annually, a small portion of which is usually allocated to the student union on campus. The rest of the SSAF is allocated to funding university projects, a funding increase to women's services could be done through this avenue. When the Liberal government make cuts to higher education universities will make cuts to student services. The Solution In order to address the stark difficulties of women accessing higher education the NUS women's department is running an O week and semester one campaign which will encourage women to support, promote and attend the National Day of Action on March 22nd. This NUS women’s department campaign will aim to put pressure on universities to start addressing the specific concerns of women, through more funding to services that women access. The campaign will produce a petition and towards the end of the semester the NUS Women’s Department will be submitting a government submission. The campaign will Lobby federal parliamentary representatives for accessible health care and education for women in the lead up to the federal budget. Lobby universities to provide more funding for student services, especially services that women frequently use, e.g childcare services and parenting rooms. Encourage and promote the March 22nd National Day of Action Focus on supporting women in higher education in the face of an aggressive conservative federal government. Highlight the challenges that women face in higher education specifically around education and health. Produce a petition pushing universities to commit more funding to student services Produce a government submission detailing the need to adequately fund the higher education sector, and how funding cuts hurt women the most, particularly women from marginalised backgrounds. Get Involved Promote and sign the NUS Womens petition! Sign up to the email list to receive updates on the campaign! Attend and promote the March 22nd National Day of Action. Sign a letter on behalf of your student organisation, pushing federal MPs to commit to not supporting cuts to higher education and health. Sign a letter on behalf of your student organisation, pushing universities to provide more funding for student services, especially services that women frequently use, e.g childcare services and parenting rooms. Like the NUS Women’s Department page for updates Change your cover photo, like and share posts about the campaign.

Underpaying workers is wage theft pure and simple and it’s happening to hundreds of thousands of Australian workers every single day. Lawlessness is rampant in industries like fashion modelling, fast food, retail, hospitality, transport and aged care - where workers are being exploited and robbed of wages on a mass scale. These traditional industries are also facing cut-throat competition from the growing ‘gig economy’ which is driving down wages and smashing the concept of a permanent job into fragments. As a society we cannot sit back and watch as our world of work is atomised and our rights scattered to the wind. We want a royal commission now to expose wrongdoing and provide solutions on how to regulate and organise work in the future.

Honey Birdette and CEO Eloise Monaghan have repeatedly tried to ignore hundreds of claims by Honey Birdette workers of the bullying, harassment, abuse, and wage theft that goes in in their boutiques - but we won't be silenced. Eloise Monaghan and Honey Birdette need to know that if they don't take the abuse and harassment of workers in their boutiques seriously, we'll support lingerie companies that do! For more information, check out: https://www.megaphone.org.au/petitions/honey-birdette-workers-need-safe-workplaces

Everyday the CFMEU fights for the rights of workers. The union is committed to ensuring the safety of its members and ensuring that its members receive fair pay and conditions. The Union is committed to ensuring that all workers have equal access to rights and entitlements in accordance with the law. Craig and Cameron Zammit are committed dads and between them have 5 children, some at primary school. For the last eight years they have been picking up their children after school. Now, as a result of new management at Liverpool Hospital, they're being told that painters finishing at 2:30pm is incompatible with their job, despite working under these arrangements for eight years. This isn't fair. Family is everyone's responsibility and Craig and Cameron just want the opportunity to be there for their children.

I study at Murdoch University and the actions taken by Vice Chancellor Eeva Leinonen are shameful. The Vice Chancellor has seen fit to attack the work and pay conditions of the Murdoch University staff, this is especially raw as Murdoch senior officers are taking greater employee benefits and expecting staff to take pay cuts. This is a shameful act, and as a student of Murdoch University, I stand with the teaching and service staff. I stand with them because learning at an institution that has great employment conditions fosters a learning environment that benefits the students. As a student I also refuse to be part of an institution that so ruthlessly takes an axe to the workers terms and conditions. Not only is Murdoch's management trying to remove the conditions fought for by their staff, but they have also tried to put a gag order on the union to stop it communicating with its members. This is not a Vice chancellor that negotiates in good faith, this is someone who wants to employ snake tactics in order to gut what makes Murdoch a great university... Its staff! Murdoch claims it is the university of innovation, but there is nothing innovative about its underhanded tactics. Think Murdoch, Think Shame!

Another week and another assault on one of our bus drivers. Following the tragic death of one bus driver in October, attacks on bus drivers have not stopped. 29-year-old bus driver Manmeet Alisher was killed when he was set alight by a 48-year-old man in an unprovoked attack: https://goo.gl/g4ADeH A bus driver, just doing his job, supporting the community, had his life taken from him in what is a senseless and needless act. His parents have lost a son, and siblings lost a brother. Right now, police are searching for a male cyclist after a 60-year-old bus driver was repeatedly punched in the face just for doing their job: https://goo.gl/dSIqlP These aren't isolated incidents. Bus drivers are being assaulted every week. Enough is enough. It has to stop.

Right now 46 workers from the German Creek coal mine have been made redundant just before Christmas. Many are even facing a new year without homes. They need your help. The workers were fighting for increased job security in a town that is experiencing an unemployment crisis. In order to show who is boss — their employer Anglo American made 46 union members redundant. For 100 days these workers have been involved in legal industrial action fighting for steady jobs and improved mine safety. But Anglo decided to sack 46 of these workers — all union members — and replace them with labour hire workers on far reduced pay and conditions. Many of the sacked miners have not only lost their jobs but have lost their homes as well. Anglo owns the houses they have called home for years and now wants them out two days after Christmas. Many of these families have their kids enrolled in the local schools for next year! Central Queensland is undergoing an unemployment crisis and this will make things worse. The way Anglo American is behaving is unAustralian. You can also visit the Steady Jobs website of the CFMEU- Mining and Energy union who are campaigning to protect mining jobs from this increased insecurity. http://steadyjobs.com.au/

We are concerned about the voting process on our Enterprise Agreement for the following reasons: • Voting for the Enterprise Agreements will only be able to be completed online and that staff who do not have access to a computer will be denied a vote. • Staff need to input their employee number and Council will be able to track who voted “yes” and who voted “no”. • Many staff will be on leave when the voting takes place including School Crossing Supervisors and staff who work at two leisure centres that shut down for three weeks from 16 December. • Staff will be unable to scrutineer the vote as it will be counted electronically in Queensland. ASU delegates have always been present in previous years to scrutineer the vote count.

We all know people living in Country New South Wales struggle at the best of times, with the Liberal/National Party cutting funding for Hospitals, Schools, and Roads along with carrying out forced amalgamations of local Councils. THESE CUTS MEAN A LOSS OF REGIONAL JOBS. To add to the struggles in regional NSW, the Nationals and Liberal Parties are standing by doing nothing to SAVE REGIONAL JOBS, where the Government Owned electricity provider Essential Energy will set out to slash its workforce by some 1600 regional jobs by mid-2019. What can the National Party do: stand up to the Liberal party, and fight for regional NSW and save regional jobs and stop their own Government organisation from slashing regional jobs.

By 2020, approximately 40% of cars will be fitted with an electronic park brake. Practical Driving Assessors are being asked to conduct tests in cars fitted only with electronic park brakes. CPSU/CSA members are opposing the use of electronic park brakes because they are concerned about the safety of the communities they live and work in. Electronic park brakes are not as successful at stopping cars in an emergency situation. West Australians come to their driving assessment with a range of capabilities and in this stressful situation, safety should be paramount. A centrally mounted brake or dual control is the best method to ensure the safety of those being tested, those testing them and the communities in which they are being tested.

Many building and Construction workers spend long periods working away from home. This can badly affect the workers and their families. The CFMEU has made an application to vary the Building and Construction General On-site Award to improve the minimum standards to apply for workers engaged on distant jobs. The award sets the minimum standards that underpin EBA’s. The main changes we seek are: • R and R after 3 weeks work on the job, where the project is to run for more than 2 months; • Minimum of 7 days at home on R and R (exclusive of travel days); • Single room accommodation and same room for duration of the job (no motelling) • Employers not to put pressure on workers to give a false address (i.e. no pressure for gate starts) • Increase the minimum payment to $130 per day where no accommodation or meals are provided. Please support the changes.

The ASU and Victorian councils have shown real leadership on this issue recognising the importance of workplace based strategies to assist victims of family violence, 73 have a Family Violence clause in their agreement. However, there are many employees in this country not covered by agreements whose only hope of receiving any support from their employer is if Family Violence Leave is made available through the NES. I call on you to support victims of family violence to ensure that they can maintain their employment which is critical to putting the violence behind them and rebuilding their lives. A Family Violence Clause recognises that employees experiencing violence often need paid leave from their employment to keep themselves and their families safe. We know there are colleagues in our workforce that could need this leave to flee or take action to protect themselves. We are a better workforce and community when we support these people, usually women, without compromising their employment and economic security.