Background: The Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation was established in March 2017. It’s funded by the $3 billion bequest of Australian businessman and top Liberal Party donor Paul Ramsay. The Ramsay Centre says it wants to “advance education by promoting studies and discussion associated with the establishment and development of Western civilisation.” Board member Kim Beazley also said the study of Western civilisation "needs a systematic voice" in Australian universities. In December last year, it was announced that ANU and the Ramsay Centre had opened negotiations about creating a degree. Overview of the Degree: The proposed undergraduate degree, titled 'Bachelor of Western Civilisation,' would offer text-based courses for yearly cohorts of sixty students. Thirty students each year would receive $25,000/year scholarships. The proposed program comprises 16 core courses, typically taken over three years, which will cover “great texts,” art and architecture from Western civilisation. The degree will be ‘elite but not elitist’; the ATAR required for entry will be 97. Negotiations are ongoing and both the Ramsay Centre and ANU have said academic independence will be respected. However, Ramsay Centre CEO Simon Haines has said they will review all course content, not hire teachers who have criticised Western civilisation and will withdraw funding if they think the course isn’t sufficiently pro-West. Our Stance: We oppose the ANU’s collaboration with the Ramsay Centre based on the Centre’s ideological bias and its stated aim to teach only the positive aspects of Western civilisation. We do not think that such uncritical teaching should have a place at our university. We oppose the reductive premises on which the Ramsay Centre is based: the idea of a ‘West’ and the assumption of its superiority.

The National Union of Students and the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations represent over 1.4 million students and are deeply concerned about this proposed legislation. This legislation would see the repayment threshold for student debt lowered to $45,000. This unfairly targets lower income earners and therefore disproportionately impacts women and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and graduates. This proposed bill would also create a lifetime student debt cap of $104k as we move into a future workforce where graduates will be expected to retrain or further specialise multiple times throughout their working life. We need to be preparing our generation for a lifetime of learning. The proposed legislation is shortsighted, and will fail to address escalating student debt. Help us #BuryTheBill and contact a member of the crossbench.

The Fairwork Commission is undergoing a review that focuses on swim teachers pay for the industry. Most of the swimming instructors we work with will train for anywhere between 6 and 12 months. The process to become a swimming teacher is quite long and arduous. We do internal train, we do training courses we must have Working with Children and CPR certifications. We would cover these requirements over the 6 – 12 month period. During this time, however, we would at times still be required to teach classes generally due to the lack of teachers on a given shift. So, there we are, teaching kids to swim but technically still a ‘trainee’ and being paid that way. Given their way employers want this sort of practice to be written into the Fitness Industry Award by having a ‘trainee swim teacher’ role at level one. Given that the words ‘swim teacher’ don’t come into the Award until level 3, this would blur the lines terribly for new swimming teachers coming into the industry. We want to make a difference. We want to change the rules, so they support young workers not exploit them. We would really appreciate your support!

Our school is vibrant and diverse. Our kids come from so many different backgrounds - over 50% speak a language other than English at home and around 8% are Aboriginal. The majority of our kids come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds but they deserve excellent classrooms and playgrounds as much as kids who are lucky enough to live in more affluent circumstances. It’s not fair that our kids have to learn in classrooms that leak when it rains, are hot in summer and freezing in winter, and which are falling apart. Other schools in neighbouring suburbs have received millions of dollars to fix and rebuild classrooms but Reservoir East Primary keeps missing out. All kids, including ours, deserve a safe and healthy school to learn, play and thrive in. Help us fix Reservoir East Primary!

PARSA provides students with information, advice and support to those relocating to Canberra, and offers emergency accommodation grants to students who require temporary accommodation due to unforeseen circumstances. However, the association’s funds are limited, and should only be relied upon as a last resort for our members. The results of the PARSA Accommodation Survey demonstrate the need for the ANU to acknowledge and respond to the concerns raised with prompt and meaningful action.

The Australian Human Rights Commission’s 'Change the Course' report found that in 2015/16 51% of students surveyed reported that they had been sexually harassed at University and 9% of students surveyed reported that they had been sexually assaulted at University. The report also found that Women Students, Queer Students, Trans Students, Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander Students, Students of Colour and Students with Disabilities are more likely to be sexually harassed or assaulted than any other student. But perhaps the most alarming figures to emerge from this report is that 68% of students who had experienced sexual harassment at university and 40% of students who had been sexually assaulted on campus DID NOT report the incident to the university because they didn't think it would be considered serious enough. "I didn't think they would believe me. I thought they would think I made it all up" - (Student, 21) Universities have no reason for inaction. Students will not be silent - It’s time to end sexual violence

The number of full-time domestic postgraduate students in Victoria has more than doubled in the last 10 years—from 13,858 in 2005 to 28,798 in 2015 —while part-time domestic postgraduate enrolments have remained steady (1). The changing nature of domestic postgraduate study requires a different approach from the Victorian government, one that recognises that full-time students at all levels of study deserve the same support (2). Students often work jobs that are low paying. Furthermore, students often are involved in volunteering and unpaid internships. It is not sustainable for a person to be working full-time and studying full-time. These students are using their time to study, and will proceed to use these skills to contribute to the workforce of Victoria. While they are unable to work, but are refining these skills, they deserve the support of their government - like in every other state. Victoria, as seen on our number plates, refers to itself as "The Education State" - it's time that this is reflected in its policies. A myki full fare daily fare is (Zones 1+2) is $8.60. A concession daily fare (Zones 1+2) is $4.30. (1). University students generally have two 12 week semesters a year. If attending 5 days a week, that is a total of 120 days, the difference in cost is $516 a year. For those living out of home and not working full-time, that is a lot of money. 1. Department of Education and Training 2016, Higher Education Statistics Data Cube (uCube) 2. Fares Fair PTV position paper Public transport concessions for Victorian postgraduate students, March 2017. http://faresfairptv.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Fares-Fair-PTV-Position-Paper.pdf

Unlike the government's previous attempts to modify education costs, this funding freeze does not require formal legislation and therefore cannot be blocked by the Senate. Resisting these changes will require increased collective effort and orchestrated action to influence change. On top of funding cuts, the lowering of the HECS repayment threshold will see students forced to start paying back their loans at an income of $45,000 per year instead of $52,000. This threshold sits just above the minimum wage and presents as a huge blow to all graduates, particularly for lower income earners. This reform forces students to privilege their financial status above their education - an outcome that is plainly unacceptable and one which should not exist in Australia. This petition calls upon the Education Minister Simon Birmingham to stop these attacks on our education – no funding freezes and no cuts to the HECS.

Our group of early childhood educators will be meeting with the Minister for Early Childhood Education, Jenny Mikakos, on the 1st of December. We need to take this opportunity to show Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister Mikakos how important preschool education is to our children’s future. Currently we rank 33 out of the 36 OECD countries for participation in 3-year-old preschool education – this is disgraceful and we need to make a change. Together we can send a strong message to the Andrews Government to make sure they deliver funding for 10 hours of 3-year-old preschool per week, to give all children the best possible start in life. Please sign the petition to tell Premier Andrews and Minister Mikakos that all Victorian children deserve 10 hours of 3-year-old preschool.

The people of the Hinkler region ( Hervey Bay-Bundaberg) are feeling threatened , scared and worried for their financial futures and inclusion in our communities. Our population of people on legal eligible centrelink payments across the board, from youth allowance, newstart, dsp, carers etc should not be feeling like they are being excluded from our society and fear losing their sense of self. The insults that we cannot manage our funds, that we are all drunks, druggies and pedos are unjust and not true. People cannot be held responsible for gov't failures to create sufficient jobs and training for people who are isolated and are limited in their prospects. People with addictions need the funding put back into the services that have been removed and treated under the health system, not pushed onto a fantasy card that is being touted as the cure all for all of social ills, at the same time the mantra being pushed that only people on centrelink suffer those ills! Common sense is to provide help to those who need it, and not allow the privatisation of our Social Security sector to a private corp, ready to make big $$ off of the backs of our battlers. The added costs to the tax payer per person per year could be better spent in inclusive public service funding, not a punitive, segregating punishing, dehumanising boot being put down on people who have committed no crime. Australian citizens deserve to feel safe from their own gov't The current gov't is attempting to split our citizens into segments who are judged by their circumstance as to what level their citizenship counts for them. People on Centrelink payments are not "lessor" people just because they receive their rightful payments. Workers who cannot access enough hours are not lessor citizens, and current workers should not be placed in situations where they accept lessor protections at work, in order to stay employed in fear of , if they lose their jobs they will be on the card ! This card threatens our small business, markets and public events . Tourism cannot support these regions alone and the "cash flow" that circulates through our regions economies keeps people going, it keeps our centrelink recipients from becoming destitute, as they have access to secondhand items, cars, and are able to pay their cash rents. We have a large amount of older workers doing their mutual obligations, free labour hours to receive their payments, our younger out of work workers are also doing their work for the dole, part time work and studies, The cashless welfare debit card will completely destroy people on so many levels and we don't have the mental health services to cope with the loss of self and autonomy. This is not how any gov't should be treating any of it's citizens. The card does not care what colour your skin is, your religion, or your circumstance, it is about profits for private business. Indue Terms and Conditions show no mention of any persons health, mental health or general well being, it only has terms and conditions that remove peoples' right to privacy, contract and consent laws, it is about control. If the gov't was serious about helping people overall, they would lift the amounts of centrelink payments to make sure people can keep up with the modern costs of living and provide the health services that all of our community should have access too. The moral of the people is important to how a country works, removing the worth of so many and then the media and the gov't backing of the media "welfare bashing" is causing a great deal of distress across the country as whole. We in the Hinkler region want JOBS not CARD ! Training and PAID work for able bodied people, for older out of work workers and DSP need to be treated with respect too, Dignity NOT Poverty. The card will segregate people and cause more than just financial difficulties for recipients . Stop the Card!

The University of Sydney must owns up to its colonial history, to truly move forward we must first truthly acknowledge the past. William Wentworth is a colonial figure whose notability came through his "discovery" of a crossing through the Blue Mountains. In 1838, 7 white stockmen were convicted of murdering a large number of Gamilaraay people at Myall Creek in north-west NSW. A further 4 participants were identified by an Aboriginal witness, but the law of the time did not allow Aboriginal people to give testimony in court. A bill was introduced to the Legislative Council to rectify this and allow the white men to be tried, but the bill was defeated after Wentworth gave a speech describing Aboriginal people as “wild men” and comparing their testimony to “the chatterings of the orangutans.” At many other points in his legal and political career, Wentworth vociferously argued against Aboriginal people’s right to justice and expressed a hateful bigotry against them, providing a legal cover for the brutal dispossession and genocide occurring in the state at the time. This campaign is about more than Wentworth, it is about decolonising our university and our education. We must challenge our own complicity in the ongoing colonial oppression of Indigenous people. Decolonisation demands an Indigenous framework and the centering of Indigenous land, Indigenous sovereignty, and Indigenous ways of thinking. We call upon the University of Sydney to decolonise their buildings, practices and teaching. We call upon this institution to remove the statues of William Wentworth, remove his name from the building on City Road, and consult with local Indigenous communities on finding a replacement name.

Faculties across the university are currently in discussion around standardising late penalties, with daily penalties up to 10% on the table. University is a place for learning and education NOT arbitrary punishment that attack the most vulnerable students, such as parents and students who work to support themselves in already strenuous labour conditions. A late penalty of 2% is strong enough incentive to hand assessments in and anything above takes away from the quality of student education as our focus is placed on the anxiety of failing and our work becomes no longer an exercise in learning but in handing in sub-par assessments in order to avoid cruel penalties. In signing this petition I call for faculties to implement a 2% late penalty for the reasons stated above.