Thousands of Australians rely on the advice and support of professional pharmacists every single day. Pharmacists work weekends because illness can strike at any time. They shouldn’t be punished because they put the health of the community first. Plus, the Chemist Warehouse Group is very successful, it sells $4 billion worth of medicines, vitamins and beauty products each year, so why not pay staff fairly?

Murray Goulburn’s proposal to close factories in Kiewa and Rochester, and also Edith Creek in Tasmania, and lay off more than 300 workers will have devastating effects on workers, families and regional communities. The proposal has been justified on the basis of wiping farmers’ debt. However, the farmers’ debts resulted from bad, short term decision making by the previous CEO and board of Murray Goulburn. Regional workers and families should not have to bear the brunt of Murray Goulburn’s mistakes. It is disingenuous to claim Murray Goulburn is helping farmers while devastating regional communities. Once again Murray Goulburn appears to be making short sighted decisions. While the decision to close sites may offer short term relief to Murray Goulburn, it will have long term damaging implications for regional communities, the dairy industry and farmers. I call on the Victorian Government to urgently convene a meeting with Murray Goulburn, the NUW and other stakeholders where the full and long term effects of this proposal can be discussed and alternative proposals considered. I call on Murray Goulburn to support the regional communities that have supported you for years, and commit to attending and participating in the meeting.

I’m Selina and I work at my local club in Queensland. At the moment I still get penalty rates, which helps pay my rent and put food on the table. But on July 28 Clubs Australia made a submission to the Fair Work commission to axe our Clubs Award and move club workers and managers onto the hospitality award, where penalty rates have already been cut. My husband and I are trying to save for IVF. But penalty rate cuts will make it even harder to put a little bit aside each week so we can reach our dream of starting a family. https://youtu.be/LzSP4EYQz20 Losing penalty rates will make life a lot harder for us. It’s a pay cut I can’t afford and I don't deserve. Keeping the Clubs Award means maintaining weekend rates for clubs workers as well as the safety net of pay and conditions for club managers and staff, from the person pouring your beer, to chefs, waiters, ops and duty managers. Clubs hold a special place in our communities. They provide good local jobs, are run by members, and put profits back into the community. We need to stand together to say “Clubs Australia, we want to keep the Clubs Award and protect the penalty rates, pay and conditions of clubs workers and managers”.

https://youtu.be/RdeFLgDFCts The Liberals have already made it clear who the first victims of the 2017 budget will be. It’s young people who will have money taken out of their pockets. It's students who will face higher fees and more debt, studying in underfunded institutions. It's universities put under even more financial pressure and asked to offer more. These changes will mean an 8% fee hike, earlier HECS repayments for students and funding cuts for universities. And all of it to pay for billions of dollars of hand-outs to multinationals. Similar cuts and policies were defeated time and time again under Tony Abbott. Students ran a massive campaign and we are ready to do it again. Find out more about our campaign here: https://www.facebook.com/makeeducationfreeagain/ For more information regarding the changes: http://thenewdaily.com.au/money/your-budget/2017/05/01/budget-2017-university-degrees/

I am one of thousands of school cleaners in Victoria. We’re proud of our hard work keeping our schools clean and bright for the students, teachers and parents of Victoria. We are already some of the lowest paid workers in the state. We have families and lives too. We don’t deserve this kind of treatment. We deserve respect, and good secure jobs. Please stand with us and ask Premier Andrews to do the right thing by your school cleaners.

We represent thousands of workers in the confectionary industry. Right now these workers are working hard to deliver good quality chocolate eggs to families this Easter. Senator Pauline Hanson has urged people to stop buying Australian made chocolate Easter Eggs because they are Halal-certified. At Cadbury alone, there are 1100 workers across Victoria and Tasmania We need to your help to tell Pauline Hanson to support Australian confectionary workers. Thousands of jobs are at stake. Senator Hanson can't be allowed to jeopardise thousands of Australian jobs just to make a cheap headline.

The cost of securing a parking spot at Monash is ridiculous, with permit and ticket prices rising significantly on an annual basis. A FREE carpooling service was introduced as an incentive for students to drive to university together. The reduced number of vehicles would lower Monash's carbon footprint, as well as free up parking spots across campus. Last year the university imposed a fee on the carpooling service, and as such it is being severely underutilised. The infringement system at Monash is also increasingly costly and harsh. The university are charging more for fines, and while first time offenders and ambiguous offences are issued infringement notices straight off the bat, the appeal process is so unduly rigid that it's almost impossible to successfully challenge an alleged offence. The cost of attending university alone is enormous. We do not need the added pressure of paying hundreds of dollars for parking when we're not even guaranteed a spot. Do One Thing Monash, fix the parking mess!

What would you have to give up if your pay was cut by $77 a week? We need to act now and tell the Prime Minister that we work too damn hard to get a pay cut. Hair Stylists Australia has launched this petition to send a message to Malcolm Turnbull. If you want to protect your pay, sign it now!

Malcolm Turnbull and the Liberal Party have a simple option: to stand up for working people or not. It’s never been more important to tell MPs our stories and demand they stand up for us. The more MPs who come out in support of penalty rates, the harder it is for Turnbull to remain silent.

There are hundreds, if not thousands of local families that will suffer because of the decision to slash Sunday and public holiday penalty rates. People across the North Coast and Northern Rivers are demanding action. In fact, A survey by ReachTel found that 66.4% of voters in the seats of Page, Dawson and Corangamite think their local MP should support changes to the law to protect penalty rates.

Read some more #Liberallogic here: http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/coalition-mp-tasked-with-improving-housing-affordability-says-highly-paid-job-is-first-step-to-home-ownership-20170220-guhboc.html See the disaster interview here: http://www.smh.com.au/video/video-news/video-nsw-news/sukkar-get-a-highly-paid-job-20170220-4qt8i.html

Fixing the mess that is Centrelink will improve the lives of some of the most vulnerable in our society, giving them the best leg-up to start and in many cases, rebuild, their lives. It’s time to: SCRAP THE CENTRELINK AUTOMATED SYSTEM The automated system is flawed. The system is a debt recovery scheme that cross-references employment data through the ATO and Centrelink, which has created large room for error and is falsely attributing debt to vulnerable Australians. Although Labor has called for a national audit of the system, we believe enough is enough and it needs to be scrapped. The recovery of legitimate debt is important and should be done by paid staff at the Department of Human Services, not a machine! Links to relevant articles: http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/students-accused-of-welfare-fraud-say-centrelink-is-wrong/8127550 http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/centrelink-faces-sustained-criticism-over-its-new-automated-debt-recovery-system-20170102-gtkpq8.html STOP THE CENTRELINK PAY DELAYS In 2016 it was reported that up to 90,000 new applicants were left waiting months for income support, resulting in many being unable to afford necessities like rent and food. Centrelink is designed to be a safety-net, and leaving thousands with support at the start of the year needs to end. According to data collected by our Student Wellbeing Survey, run in 2016, 32% of students on Centrelink have experienced delayed payments, forcing them to borrow money from family, friends and in some cases, take out loans to make ends meet. Last year, when the delays were reported in the media, it was also reported that this had gone on for several years due to a lack of staff at the Department of Human Services, enough is enough! Links to relevant articles: http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/students-waiting-four-months-centrelink-payments-delayed/7346960 http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/centrelink-backlog-to-be-solved-in-two-weeks/7360760 LOWER THE CENTRELINK AGE OF INDEPENDENCE TO 18 The Centrelink Age of Independence for Youth Allowance sits at 22, making income support inaccessible to the majority of university students, particularly those starting their degrees who may have moved out of home to attend university. According to data collected by the 2016 Student Wellbeing Survey, 62% of respondents were unable to receive financial assistance from Centrelink due to the Age of Independence being set at 22. Regardless of living out of home, many students are still assessed on the basis of their parent’s income because they are under the age of 22. Young people who decide to attend university do so in the hope of educating themselves for future careers, they are the future of this country and deserve to be financially supported regardless of their age! DITCH CASHLESS WELFARE CARDS Cash welfare cards are not a new policy from the Federal Government, they have been used for years to police the spending of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on income support. The scheme is already in use, acting as a form of compulsory income management that is policing the expenditure of those in receipt of Centrelink, blocking them from spending their payments at particular stores. If introduced for students, cashless welfare cards will not effectively stop addiction to alcohol, drugs and gambling, but will instead police the behaviours of vulnerable people! Links to relevant articles: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/malcolm-turnbull-alan-tudge-flag-national-rollout-of-cashless-welfare-card-met-by-protests-at-cashless-debit-card-trial-20161030-gsdytb.html https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jan/09/ration-days-again-cashless-welfare-card-ignites-shame STOP CALL CHARGES AND IMPROVE CALL WAITING TIMES Due to funding cuts to the Department of Human Services, call-waiting times are longer than ever, which only exacerbates call charges as calls to Centrelink are charged at timed rates. According to data collected by the Student Wellbeing Survey, run in 2016, 57% of students in receipt of Centrelink have been left waiting on the phone for excessively long periods of time. Students trying to do the right thing by reporting changes in their circumstances or seeking assistance are being priced out of chasing up Centrelink and are left to the whims of an automated system! Links to relevant articles: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/centrelink-call-waiting-racks-up-costs-for-poor/news-story/e0a01674c64da6dc605c58d45a139005 AND ALLOW MORE DISCRETION IN CENTRELINK POLICIES For many students on income support, the policies Centrelink is governed by often make their lives much more difficult if something goes wrong. If there is a personal or medical situation and a student needs to shift from full-time to part-time study, their payments can be lowered and in many cases cut entirely. This lack of flexibility can exacerbate an already difficult situation, putting further unnecessary pressure on individuals. We must not criminalise unemployment or mental health and the lack of flexibility with Centrelink does just that! - If you believe it’s time to #FixCentrelinkNow, sign our petition to demand the Australian Government reform the system that is putting already vulnerable Australians into more unstable times and condemn Social Services Minister Christian Porter for attacking our lowest income earners whilst the Federal Government allows corporate giants go tax free! Contact: NUS National Welfare Officer, Jill Molloy Email: [email protected] Phone: 0423 507 010