The Premier cannot say Victoria is the ‘education state’ and promise parents fee-free 3 and 4-year-old kindergarten without the workforce to deliver it – and that can’t happen without investing in decent wages and working conditions. Delivering for teachers and educators who work in Victoria’s kindergartens means delivering for the children they educate. Everyone knows that for children to succeed at school they require access to high-quality kinder delivered by teachers and educators that are supported, respected and valued. Children benefit the most when their early childhood teachers and educators are well supported, paid a decent wage, and want a long term career in early childhood education.  Supporting the teachers and educators who work in Victoria’s kindergartens will benefit children, who will be ready to start school; and parents, who will know their child is getting the best start to their education.  - Tracey Webb, Early Childhood Educator and AEU Member

We reject the assumption that indoor protests are inherently unsafe. Staff and students have a long-standing record of cooperating with UTS to manage risks at protests, including ensuring access to buildings and emergency exits. A blanket ban is not a safety measure - it is an attempt to suppress dissent. Universities are meant to be places of free inquiry, challenge, and robust debate. Political protest has always been part of that tradition. UTS has legal and ethical responsibilities to protect freedom of political expression under: • The Higher Education Support Amendment (Freedom of Speech) Bill 2020 • The Enterprise Agreement between UTS staff and management • Implied rights of political communication under the Australian Constitution The current protest policy already allows UTS Security to manage risks appropriately. Clause 4.57, for example, enables the university to identify suitable spaces for demonstrations and implement safety plans. This balanced approach works. Replacing it with a prohibitive, one-size-fits-all ban threatens the ability of students and staff to protest openly and safely, and opens the door to arbitrary and punitive responses to any political expression inside university buildings. Students and staff will continue to protest when injustice occurs. But driving protest underground, or creating vague restrictions, makes it more dangerous for everyone. Cooperation is the safer approach. We stand for a UTS where safety and freedom of expression can coexist. We urge the university to work with, not against, the campus community to uphold these principles.

Public psychologists provide specialist assessment and treatment to people across the lifespan. We are essential for: 1. learning assessments, determining special school placements, behavioural consultancy, and mental health support in schools 2. developmental and autism diagnostic assessments in hospitals 3. mental health assessment and treatment for children, adolescents, adults, and older persons in hospital and the community 4. psychological and neuropsychological assessment and treatment in hospitals and community settings, for physical health and rehabilitation. 5. child protection and forensic assessments for children and young people where there is suspected abuse and/or neglect 6. forensic assessments in juvenile justice and adult corrections  7. psychological support for perinatal, infant, and child and youth community health  Imagine not having psychologists in the SA public sector to meet these critical needs!  South Australians don't deserve to miss out on specialist care. Instead, they are being forced to go without or to access psychological assessment or treatment from the private sector which we know is unaffordable for many.   Without our vital psychological services in the public sector, there will be even more pressure on the health, education, and child protection systems, and it places vulnerable children, adults, and families at further risk. There will be more children on wait lists for diagnostic assessments while missing out on important early intervention, and vulnerable adults will not have the care at the time they need it and fall into acute mental health crisis. SA cannot afford to increase ramping pressure or allow our children to fall behind.    SA psychologists feel privileged and honoured to serve the public; but now we ask for your assistance and support to keep our workforce strong and thriving so that we can continue to help you in the future.  Join the campaign. Sign the petition and let the SA Government know that you want them to respect psychologists and save public psychology. 

The university is undergoing a restructure, including significant cuts, that is opposed by the LTSU and is introducing another student body to weaken the union’s ability to oppose this. Elected representatives from “another student organisation” within the last two years are ineligible for a position on the new Student Council, preventing those who have already been elected by the student body to the LTSU or LTSA from running. Additionally, the Election Regulations allow the university to “remove candidates from the election process at any time at their own discretion”. The regulations also allow the university to “share information about individual candidates on the University website and/or social media”, purportedly to promote the election. Both of these policies could allow the university to influence the results of the election and have an influence in how the Student Council runs.  We, the undersigned, call on the university to cancel the formation of the Student Council as an attack on the LTSU and independent student organisation.

Here are the facts:  • 91% of the early childhood workforce is female. • G8 Education is one of the largest ASX-listed companies that doesn't offer employer-funded paid parental leave for their employees.  • In the 2024 Global Gender Gap Report, Australian women are ranked 42nd in the world for economic participation and opportunity (down from 38 in 2023). • In Australia, a third of the gender pay gap is due to the time women spend in unpaid care work.  • G8's current gender pay gap is 20.1% (of the average total remuneration according to WGEA's latest data) • By not offering employer-funded paid parental leave, G8 Education is helping to grow the gender pay gap. It is perpetuating the 'motherhood penalty' which sees the average 25-year-old woman make $2 million less in lifetime earnings than the average 25-year-old man who also becomes a parent.   • Degree-qualified early childhood teachers are leaving the sector to work in schools with better pay and conditions, including employer-funded paid parental leave. If this continues, the quality of early learning in Australia will suffer as we lose dedicated and highly skilled teachers.    Teachers, educators and young children deserve better.    It’s time for G8 Education to step up and show they value the essential work that their teachers and educators perform. Please sign and share this petition today. * This petition supports Sustainable Investment Exchange’s campaign to pressure G8 to fund paid parental leave for staff. Learn more about the activist shareholder’s campaign here.

The cuts at UTS have the potential to devastate students, staff, and education quality, and marginalised students will be hit hardest. Join us to demand transparency, protect courses, and ensure UTS puts students and staff before the bottom line.

The ANU’s Socially Responsible Investments Policy, adopted after years of persistent student pressure, remains in shambles. The policy prohibits investment in companies that make 20% or more of their revenue from coal, but it says nothing about oil or gas. The policy prohibits investment in companies that make civilian weapons like handguns, but not companies which make military weapons which are many times more destructive. Recently, we found that the ANU was investing over $35 million in projects that break their own emissions rules. Also, ANU’s most recent documents show a $32.7 million investment in BHP, one of Australia’s biggest producers of thermal and metallurgical coal. They also show a $6.7 million dollar investment in Australia’s biggest oil and gas producer, Woodside Energy. We say all of those numbers should be ZERO. We need to sign this petition to signify to the university bosses that we're still not satisfied with their investment decisions.

No student should have to risk their health while paying rent. Overheated rooms lead to illness, sleep deprivation, and mental health struggles, especially for regional, remote, and international students who already face extra challenges. The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that extreme heat is a growing health crisis, worsened by climate change. Heat exposure can cause exhaustion, dehydration, and even death. It disrupts sleep, reduces focus, and harms wellbeing and academic performance. WHO stresses that safe indoor temperatures are essential. As temperatures rise, inaction is not an option. Students are paying too much to live in unsafe conditions. Real change happens when we push together. By joining this campaign, you’re demanding Curtin and UniLodge step up, stop ignoring student welfare, and provide real solutions. We won’t accept inaction. Speak up. Stand with students. Demand better living conditions—now!

13 Primary Schools utilise this pool for their learn-to-swim program, which equates to approximately 5,000 students per year. This means significant costs are now being put on schools to access pool time from Private Schools. Swim training is essential for all young Australians, particularly those without previous access to swim training.   Olympic medalist and swimming coach Peter Tonkin OAM has said every swim school in Launceston had a waiting list and the Glen Dhu pool had a shallower depth of 0.9 metres, making it safer to learn in. The message is clear, teaching children how to swim saves lives.   Tell Minister Jo Palmer the Liberals should keep their word and upgrade the Glen Dhu pool.

Young workers still face the same expenses as other workers in rent, groceries, education costs and more. But in our unfair system, an 18-year-old with years of experience could be paid less than their 21-year-old newly hired colleague just because of their age. Sign the petition today if you agree everyone should be paid fairly regardless of their age!

TAFE teachers like me are dealing with unsustainable workloads and massive administrative burdens. Too many of us are burnt out and leaving the sector in droves, contributing to a chronic workforce shortage that must be urgently addressed.  It’s no surprise TAFE teachers are frustrated and feel like they’ve been brushed aside by the same government who promised to save TAFE more than a decade ago. Without TAFE teachers like me and my colleagues, TAFEs cannot deliver the vocational education and training that Victorians need.  The teacher shortage will only get worse and the negative impact on our students and the Victorian community will only get bigger. To make matters worse, instead of saving TAFE the state Labor government has been responsible for vocational education and training in Victoria being the lowest funded in Australia every year for the last 10 years. Premier Allan and Minister Tierney: You need to fix the dispute with TAFE teachers and invest in them and our TAFEs.   Your lack of action shows you believe it is ok for Victorians to not have proper access to high quality TAFE programs delivered by valued and respected TAFE teachers. I am calling on Premier Jacinta Allan and Minister Gayle Tierney to: • Respect TAFE teachers and pay them what they are worth. • Address excessive workloads that lead to too many teachers leaving TAFE. • Create pathways for the next generation of industry experts to become TAFE teachers. • Deliver TAFE funding that covers the actual cost of course delivery.  Please, sign my petition to tell Premier Jacinta Allan and Minister Gayle Tierney that Victorian voters want action to support TAFE teachers! Mark Zelman, Teacher at William Angliss Institute of TAFE

In the OnCampus email on Tuesday 1 October, ANU announced that it was raising its parking rates without any consultation with students and staff.  These rates are being raised by at least 177% for surface parking permits.  • Student surface permits for off-campus students are going from 512.69 in 2024 to 1,416.20 in 2025 • Student resident permits are raised from 512.69 for several parking stations to 1,416.20. • Staff permits are going from to 1,025.39 to 2,839.70 These increases will make the parking on campus entirely unaffordable for huge groups of students and staff.  They will particularly impact vulnerable groups on campus, such as disabled people, parents and carers, and people from regional and rural areas, who are more likely to rely on cars and therefore need parking on campus. This potentially breaches ANU’s ‘’Procedure: Prevention of discrimination, harassment and bullying’ in relation to provisions relating to prevention of indirect discrimination. For students who live on campus, many face walks of over forty minutes to the closest shopping centre and cannot get to work without a car. Many students from interstate cannot visit home without a car. Off-campus students and staff may not have access to any viable public transport options. While we embrace better public transport options, particularly on-campus, many ANU community members do not have a choice and should not have to pay for it with these eye-watering prices. ANU already has the lowest proportion of disadvantaged students across the country and increasing the price of things like parking actively work against making the university more accessible to people from those backgrounds. We note that the benchmarking process the ANU undertook compared ACT government parking spots, including at the Parliamentary triangle. These communities are not the same as the ANU, particularly ANU students. It is important that the ANU understands that benchmarking rates against ACT government rates will result in harm to the ANU community when it results in massive hikes.