We are facing a critical moment in preserving the heart of our student community: our beloved student bars. The threat of these spaces being taken away from us and handed over to profit-driven private companies is real, and it's a cause for concern for all of us. First and foremost, student bars are more than just places to grab a drink; they are the beating heart of our campus culture. These spaces have been managed by our student union, the QUT Guild for over 30 years. By keeping our bars under Guild management, we ensure that they remain accessible, affordable, and inclusive for all students. But why should you care about who manages our student bars? Because it's about more than just where we go for a drink after class. It's about protecting our student voice and agency on campus. The University's decision to take away Guild services and businesses like graduation gowns, The General Store, and social sport has already diminished our sense of ownership and control over our own student experience. What's next? Will the University continue to chip away at the resources and spaces that make our student union strong? Think about it: if our student bars are handed over to private companies whose primary goal is to maximise profits, what happens to the values and priorities that matter to us as students? Will these companies prioritise student welfare and community building, or will they prioritise their bottom line? The University's actions raise serious questions about their commitment to a strong student union and a vibrant campus community. By taking away essential services and potentially handing over our student bars to external entities, the University is sending a message that they do not value the role of students in shaping our own campus experience. We cannot afford to stand idly by while our student union and the spaces that define our campus culture are under threat. It's time to stand up and demand that our voices be heard. We must rally together to protect our student bars, preserve our student union's autonomy, and ensure that our campus remains a vibrant and inclusive community for generations of QUT students to come. Join us in signing this petition to show the University that we care about our student bars and that we will not let them be taken away from us without a fight. Together, we can send a powerful message that the QUT student body stands united in defense of our student union and the values it represents. In solidarity, QUT Guild

Australia is at an important juncture. It is long past time for the Federal Government and state/territory governments to work together to invest in and reform the early childhood education and care system, so that every child has a guarantee to the best start in life. When children attend preschool they can expect greater academic success, have better career prospects, better health outcomes and stronger family and personal relationships. Right now, access to two years of preschool is dependent on where you live. Because some states/territories are rolling this out, while others are not. Australia needs a national plan, so that all children around the country can access two years of high-quality public preschool, no matter where they live.

There are currently some misconceptions which surround how part-time and online student study. People choose to study online for a number of reasons but common reasons include; distance from campus, care responsibilities, looking after young kids, mental health barriers (e.g. severe anxiety), having access requirements because they are living with a disability and a range of other reasons. With the new University Accord just around the corner, the majority of the Federal Government's proposed suburban study hubs are in low-SES areas where many of the abovementioned barriers to education present a real challenge to students coming onto campus. This concession would largely affect these low-SES students and allow them to access such study hubs. Just because someone studies online does not mean they don’t leave the house, oftentimes these students will seek out study hubs, local libraries and other places with strong wifi, IT equipment and quiet spaces away from home. Unfairness also occurs where some students struggle and drop from a full-time to part-time load. This means they are no longer eligible for public transport concessions and must suffer as a result of taking a practical step to improve their grades and look after their mental and physical health. The public transport concession system should give concessions to all who forgo employment and income to seek a university education. We need a fairer public transport concession system for all students.

• Cleaners live in every corner of the state – cleaning over 2000 public schools, TAFE campuses and thousands of other government buildings • They are paid fractionally more than the minimum wage • Cleaners' excessive workloads can equate to as little as 43 seconds to complete each of the hundreds of tasks they are required to each shift • School cleaners have one highest workers compensation premiums in the state! Keeping our class rooms clean shouldn’t be a dangerous job! • NSW tax-payers are expected to pay the contractors more than half-a-billion dollars in 2024. Every dollar from this that goes towards CEO bonuses, share buy-backs and shareholders’ profits, is a dollar that isn’t going into a cleaners pocket. • 2024 marks thirty years since the NSW Government outsourced the cleaning of schools and government buildings. Cleaners can’t continue to wait for safe and secure jobs. All workers deserve a fair wage and to go home in one piece. The best way to ensure this is by bringing school cleaners back in house once again.

Unisuper members need to support divestment in businesses that are complicit in war crimes. Its our money being invested into supporting the killing of innocent people by Elbit Systems!

QUT Guild currently receives 25% of student SSAF fees, which is below the national average, and well below the average SSAF given to student unions at Australia’s top universities. This discrepancy weakens the Guild's ability to provide essential services and independent support to the student body. Does QUT even want a strong student union? Doesn't look like it... Up until 2006, student unions received 100% of a similar kind of student fee – which meant that student money was 100% in student hands. These days, it’s up to each university to decide how much SSAF their respective student unions receive. At QUT this is decided by the SSAF Advisory Group. Only one student, the Guild Treasurer, has a vote in these decisions. QUT’s plan for the $9.3M in the SSAF you will pay next year essentially keeps things at the status quo, and indicates that QUT seemingly has no intention to hand over a larger percentage of student money back into student hands. The Guild currently provides a wide range of services and initiatives to students, such as the Clubs & Societies programme, Foodbank, transport support, Academic Advocacy, events, our student representatives, independent student media, and support for our Collectives. We believe student money should be in students’ hands. Without a SSAF allocation more aligned with other major universities in Australia, QUT students have a weakened student union and are at a huge disadvantage. QUT is required by law to seek student feedback on how their SSAF is spent. QUT students have been given less than two weeks to give their feedback during one of the busiest and most stressful times of semester. We urge all QUT students to sign this petition to have your voices heard. If you want to provide QUT with further feedback about how your SSAF should be spent you can email the Registrar ([email protected]) with your thoughts by COB Monday 13 November.

Right now, only 1.3% of public schools are funded at the benchmark set by governments. Just imagine if public schools were fully resourced. That would provide more teachers, smaller class sizes and more specialist support for children needing extra help, and the PM's promise could become reality.

Providing truly flexible work arrangements engenders staff goodwill and loyalty by: a) trusting us to make conscientious, responsible decisions about when it is more productive to work remotely and; b) acknowledging that some of us may find it more productive to work fewer days on campus at different times, for example during school terms, over semester breaks, according to our health status or cultural commitments and/or depending on the type of work we are doing at the time. By enabling less commuting, more flexible remote working options also enhances our sustainability strategy and improves work/life balance. Whereas, the VC’s proposal to work more days from campus than from home contradicts The University’s: • commitment to “support flexible working arrangements where reasonably possible” in the latest EBA (Clause 215) and explicit commitment to “providing flexible working options for all staff”; • aspiration to be an “employer of choice for people with disability”; • commitment to “equity, diversity and inclusion throughout the University”. We, the undersigned University of Sydney employees reject the Vice Chancellor’s “general expectation… that colleagues will spend more of their time on campus than working remotely.” We instead demand that management honours its commitment in the clause 215 of the Enterprise Agreement to allow professional staff to work remotely where “the staff member is able to satisfactorily complete the requirements of the role” and to also trust academic staff to choose when and how often to work on campus, thus ensuring an inclusive, progressive, supportive and productive working environment for all of The University of Sydney’s highly diverse workforce.

For too long LGBTQIA+ and Gender Diverse Students have been hidden away, given a space with a lack of accessibility and pushed a position of shared sentiment in regards to marginalisation. By not having a location where their community can come together in safety these issues are being perpetuated.

Visiting teachers play a crucial role in supporting students, staff, and families. Cutting many of these roles will directly affect students’ learning and wellbeing. Premier Andrews and Minister Hutchins must stop these cuts and instead invest in teachers and students. Visiting Teachers are highly trained experts who work directly with students with disability and complex needs. They support students who are vision and hearing impaired, have physical disabilities, autism, and health impairments. Visiting teachers also work alongside classroom teachers providing advice and support, and model best practice. In addition, they provide direct support to families so their children can access school and thrive. Premier Andrews - you said that you would not cut frontline jobs but by sacking teachers that is exactly what you and your government are planning to do. By adding your name to the petition together we can tell the Premier and Education Minister to reverse this decision immediately.

At the IEU, we believe that everyone should have a say in the issues that affect their communities. As unionists we know the importance of being listened to – and that when we listen to those impacted by our decisions, we get better results. That’s why this referendum is Union business. A Yes vote will be a powerful and unifying moment for our country. Proudly pledge your support today!

As students we should have a say in our learning conditions which is what the University is denying us. The subtraction of individual written feedback is a subtraction to our university & learning experience. This is why it is necessary to take action on stopping this ban.