“I have a neurodiverse child with multiple diagnoses. He’s been on a waiting list since before Kindy. We’ve only just been able to start seeing a specialist – but not in Tasmania. We’re seeing a private specialist interstate, via Zoom. We desperately need more Allied Health Professionals to support kids who are doing it tough.” – Thirza, Parent, Secretary (CPSU Tasmania) Allied Health professionals in schools are essential to give kids with learning and developmental disabilities the best start in life. Getting access to quality care early in life gives kids the best chance to adjust, succeed and flourish. An estimated 1 in 20 Australian children struggles with an anxiety disorder¹; 15-20% of Australians has a language-based learning disability². Early years are our first and best chance to give kids dignity and support to succeed. Tasmania also has the third highest rate of children and young people in Out-of-Home Care. Only a fraction of those we miss will ever seek help later in life. They go on struggling, in silence. Getting access to a Social Worker, Speechie or Psychologist early on can make all the difference in the world. “1 in 8 Australian primary school students has a communication disorder of some kind. We have 31 speech pathologists to service every public primary school and support school in the state. That makes our ratio 116 to 1, at best. We’re not talking about a little bit of understaffing - we’re talking about chronic, long-term vacancies.” - Sarah, Advanced Skills Speech & Language Pathologist, Tasmania Please sign our petition to call on Premier Rockliff to ensure Allied Health Professionals in schools, child safety and youth justice aren’t left behind. ¹ https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/children-youth/australias-children/contents/health/children-with-mental-illness ² https://dyslexiaassociation.org.au/frequently-asked-questions-2/

The University has claimed that this will help reduce SR workloads but no SRs were consulted on the decision. No students were consulted on the decision! Students won't get locked out less frequently if they are charged more, they will just be more financially strained each time there is a lockout. Students will be incentivised by this change to take risky steps like 'carding' doors, or sleeping in common rooms or others' rooms. The University has not provided any evidence they have investigated these risks to student safety. Many disabled students have also raised concerns that the charge will disproportionally impact them. Forgetfulness is a symptom of many disabilities. ANU already has one of the lowest proportions of low-SES students in the country. Combined with the skyrocketing cost of living on campus, this change makes ANU accomodation increasingly hostile to low-SES students.

Online options were ‘too hard’ before 2020, and then they came within a week, and then they were taken away as quickly as they were given. Many members of our community depend on these options being available such as those who are immuno-compromised and cannot risk exposure to disease, especially when universities do not have open windows, air purifiers or a mask or vaccine mandate in the classroom. Universal Design (‘UD’) — specifically, Universal Design for Learning (‘UDL’) — is a research-backed pedagogy and curriculum framework which enables equitable access to education for all students, including students with disabilities and other students from diverse, minoritised backgrounds. For disabled students, implementing UDL would ostensibly ensure that they can ‘engage with the curriculum without having to seek adjustments’ (see ‘Recommendations for equitable student support during disruptions to the higher education sector: Lessons from COVID-19,’ Mercer-Mapstone et al 2022,). Hybrid, flexible education — also known as ‘hyflex’ education, as noted in Recommendation 2.1 of the ALSA-AMSA-NUS research report — entails offering educational delivery options for both in-person attendance and Work From Home (‘WFH’). Moreover, hyflex education can facilitate educational participation for not only disabled people but also women escaping domestic family violence (‘DFV’) or sexual assault, First Nations students in regional & rural Australia, international students, and other demographics for whom in-person attendance may not be the most safe & accessible. People from diverse backgrounds have value. Contrary to what many believe, disabled people can (and do) contribute to society and to building a better world. Imagine all the setbacks if Dr Steven Hawking couldn’t come to class because he couldn’t get his wheelchair in the door! Additionally, the tertiary education regulator, Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (‘TEQSA’), has announced that they will now enforce the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (Cth) (‘ESOS’). Under ESOS in s 8.19, TEQSA is mandating that no more than a third of the education delivered to overseas students can be online or by distance. This decision from TEQSA means that if international students want to access regional, globally ranked education, they must return to Australia whilst there are COVID-19 outbreaks overseas, a rental shortage of affordable, student housing and a cost-of-living crisis. This forces numerous international students into a tricky conflict between their future and their present happiness. TEQSA doesn’t take individual complaints so the regulator cannot protect international students. That is why the government must step up. Likewise, online learning can be better for university staff. University staff with disabilities also face many of the struggles that disabled students do. Likewise, staff with caring roles for children or other dependents benefit from increased access to them by providing education online. Some universities do not have child-care options after 5pm, meaning that staff cannot afford to work a 9-5 with children because they have to rush to collect them. The higher education system relies on these staff and their incredible work to upskill the next generation.

The public services we all rely on - schools, hospitals, health care services, courts, child protection, fire and rescue, community services and more - have now faced staffing shortages and under-resourcing for many years, leaving Tasmanians missing out. Record vacancies, and an inability to attract and retain workers threatens to deepen the crisis in our public sector. The workers that carried us through COVID and support us when we need it most are also suffering from the skyrocketing cost of living that is hurting all workers. At the same time, many of Tasmania's public sector workers including firefighters and child safety staff are some of the lowest paid in the country. But they're being insulted by a Premier who fails to recognise that with a fair pay rise. Stand with us to demand a fair go for Tasmania.

Students should support Curtin staff fighting for better pay and conditions because: 1. Workers deserve a decent wage that goes up with inflation, at the very least.✊ 2. Because they are also fighting to improve the education quality they can provide for us too!🎓 Our staff are overworked, understaffed and increasingly facing unstable employment with casualisation on the rise. We know that staff teaching conditions impact student learning conditions. But we also think it's completely unfair for the staff who make our university run to be struggling with a cost of living crisis while university executives are making $300,000+ per year and the university is in surplus.

Murdoch staff have been hit hard during the COVID-19 crisis: enduring staffing cuts, taking on more work, keeping the lights on for students and the broader community while management are seemingly making decisions that don't improve staff conditions or well-being. A university is a place of ideas. Murdoch's 'tagline' is "A place for free thinking" but sadly free thinking comes at a cost and it is a cost borne disproportionately by staff. With an already lean Bargaining Agreement and no real cost of living relief in sight, it's time to support Murdoch staff in their entrenched right to bargain for a more robust Bargaining Agreement. You need to send a message to management – this isn’t good enough, we can’t afford to keep going backwards, we are struggling with the lack of support, and we demand that they begin bargaining NOW. Click the link to sign the petition - send the message to management that we're ready to bargain NOW!

Our universities are failing when it comes to building inclusive and supporting learning environments for transgender, gender diverse and non-binary students. A recent survey of queer students in Australia conducted by the NUS Queer/LGBTQIA+ Department and RUSU Queer Department identified that every single respondent regularly experienced some form of deadnaming at university. The results from the survey revealed that: 83% of students said there was a persistent deadnaming issue at their university 93% were deadnamed on student facing platforms 20% were deadnamed by staff 43% were deadnamed on university accounts 13% were deadnamed on their student ID With the constant misgendering and deadnaming that occurs on student facing platforms and within classrooms, it is time for this issue to be addressed. We are calling on universities to end deadnaming and change their ways to ensure that the wellbeing of transgender, gender diverse and non-binary students is a priority. Universities have a duty of care towards their students, a responsibility to provide a safe learning environment that minimises opportunities for psychosocial harm. They need to acknowledge that until action is taken to end deadnaming in Australian universities, trans, non-binary and gender diverse students will continue to be at severe risk of bullying, harassment, physical violence and psychosocial harm. It is time for universities to protect vulnerable students and allow them to bring their whole selves to their studies.

During school drop off and pick up times, the road surrounding the school becomes blocked, causing daily traffic jams, causing safety risks to children and others needing to use the road. Access of vehicles in and out of school premises has also been blocked; it would be impossible for emergency service vehicles to enter and exit, creating additional risk, with two aged care facilities potentially affected. It is only a matter of time that a child is injured, or worse. This dangerous situation is long standing, despite numerous attempts to address. We ask Moreland Councillors to explore suitable options to secure the safety of students and community through alternative traffic / road solutions.

Parking enforcers at Curtin University have a reputation for being highly efficient and predatory. If you don’t pay for parking, you will get fined—so why do people take the risk? The answer is they don’t. At the Bentley campus, the odds are stacked against you, and sometimes no matter what you do, you will get a fine. You’re invited to appeal them, but with a catch—if they reject the appeal they will reduce the amount of time you have to pay, leading to penalties being applied quicker. Is it worth the risk when few appeals are ever accepted? Curtin students pay thousands of dollars to study at this University, and it is often a requirement for their education that they come to campus. They are often getting by on Centrelink or working hard to stay above the poverty line. They are faced with a parking system that preys on them, takes every opportunity to make money off of them and refers them to debt collectors with the threat of further legal action, when they are struggling the most. Students are asking to be allowed to pay for parking, without the many barriers that the CellOPark app entails. 1. Phase out CellOPark. This app regularly charges users for premium service fees without permission, or logs them out of sessions, causing them to get fined. It is predatory and not user-friendly. 2. Reduce the cost of fines to $20. A $45 fine can be detrimental to students, especially when they are not at fault due to the CellOPark app. Curtin has absolute discretion over the cost of fines, and the deterrent does not need to be that high—Curtin University is using their captive audience, students, to raise as much revenue as possible. 3. Introduce a mixed PAYG/Permit system. A Pay As You Go system saves money for those who come to campus occasionally, but a permit system that discounts parking for purchasing for longer intervals is more equitable for students who need to attend campus more often, up to five days a week, for more intensive courses or as part of their studies

The child learns to find information faster and solve problems more effectively, and actively develops logical and algorithmic thinking. These skills will make him or her more successful at school and more competitive in the future. It is exactly the same as with English: children who learn it in a playful way from diapers don't need boring lessons and tutors later on. Another advantage of early programming is the opportunity to form the right habits straight away. Not watching cartoons, but creating them; not playing computer games, but programming; not just using, but creating. There is a risk that, being used to "fast food" from childhood, a ready-made game, a child will no longer want to switch to "cooking" - mastering the computer and writing programs. That's why it's important to get acquainted with the skill of programming as early as possible.

School cleaners have done everything asked of them during the pandemic to keep schools clean and healthy. But under the current contracting system they are underpaid and undervalued. In order to keep schools clean and safe cleaners need: • more time to do the job • decent equipment to do the job • a job they can count on • respect and fair pay This is why they should be directly employed by the State Government. Our children deserve Victorian Government cleaners.

Australia has a cost-of-living crisis. CPI is rising at 5% per annum, and Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe says inflation could reach 7% by the end of 2022. Staff need a pay rise to keep up with rising food and petrol prices, rising interest rates, and rising rents. Melbourne faces an acute rental crisis. Some staff are having their rents hiked $50 or $100 a week. Monash staff moved mountains to keep the University operating through the pandemic -- voting for a pay freze in 2020-21 to help the University through. While the Vice-Chancellor takes home $1.3m a year, many Monash workers are low-income casual teachers, librarians, and adminstrative and laboratory staff. Now we need the University to do its bit. Monash University can afford a pay rise. Monash made a $416 million operating surplus in 2021. There is more than $800 million cash in the bank. Since 2019, the University has tallied $1 billion in supluses. Normally, staff would negotiate a pay rise through enterprise bargaining. The NTEU has been trying to negotiate, but Monash University refuses to talk. Monash University's Enterprise Agreement expired on June 30. Monash management have refused to open pay negotiations, despite repeated requests from the NTEU for months. Every fortnight that Monash refuses to negotiate is a fortnight where real wages go backwards. It's time for Margaret Gardner to step in, and give Monash University staff some cost of living relief.