Students do not exist on a normal 9-5 schedule. We are not always available during 'standard' work hours to come into the library and study. With many of us in casual or irregular work, caring for loved ones, or taking classes at odd times, we need a University library that is as flexible as we have to be. La Trobe students are back on campus. We're trying to succeed in our studies and trying to access the necessary resources to do so. For many of us, the library is one of the few safe and secure places where we can do this. As major assessments and exams draw closer, we deserve the best chance of success - to deprive us of a safe space to study does not allow that. La Trobe University must extend the Library hours immediately!

Senior managers at the University of Queensland have proposed the outsourcing of language teaching from the Institute of Continuing and TESOL Education (ICTE) that will see job cuts, increased casualisation, and significantly reduced wages for the same work.   UQ Senior Management proposes merging ICTE with UQ College, a wholly-owned subsidiary company of UQ that currently sits outside of UQ’s Enterprise Agreement.   The current proposal will see the loss of 13 full-time continuing Language Teacher jobs and two Academic Managers. These cuts follow the loss of 43 jobs from ICTE in 2020.  It has been stated that UQ staff who transfer to UQ College will have their existing pay and conditions preserved under the current proposal. However, no guarantee has been given that these conditions and protections will persist into the future. As it stands, the management of UQ College may seek to terminate the Enterprise Agreement pay and conditions for transferring staff after 30 June this year. Additionally, existing UQ College staff and any new employees will not receive the same wages and conditions, creating an unfair, two-tiered structure for staff – those who have and those who have-not. If the management of UQ College does seek to terminate the Enterprise Agreement, this may result in: — Pay cuts of up to 23% for Language Teachers and on average 20% for professional staff despite the work being the same — The danger of current and future casual staff losing the job security protections they have in ICTE;  — Cuts to employer superannuation contributions of 7.5% for continuing and fixed-term staff;  — Significant reductions in redundancy entitlements;  — Cuts to other workplace rights and protections currently provided under The University of Queensland Enterprise Agreement.   Because of the calibre of its teaching and professional staff, ICTE is renowned both in Australia and overseas for the quality of its English language programs. Outsourcing this work to a UQ-subsidiary, and then employing staff on the minimum terms and conditions would mean ICTE would be unable to attract the best quality teachers and administrators. This would have a direct impact on the quality of students’ learning experiences and their success in meeting learning outcomes.  There is no justification, except corporate greed, for this proposal. This type of thinking is very short term and threatens to undermine the reputation of UQ and the quality of its pathways. UQ can — and should — deliver its revised Foundation Program along with its English language pathway programs internally.

We demand the University take action to develop a university-wide action plan that is victim centred and trauma informed: 1. Create a stand-alone sexual assault and harassment policy (including stalking and relationship violence), that is mandated across all UoM departments and affiliates, including residential colleges. This policy should be developed in conjunction with those with lived experience and subject matter experts. It should focus on reporting as a process, rather than a singular decision. 2. Move all reporting and therapeutic services, including anonymous reporting, away from University administrative premises into a stand-alone ‘Health and Wellbeing Centre’. All reporting and therapeutic services should reflect the diversity of the University community. 3. Publish clear guidelines, in multiple languages, about reporting, complaint, investigation, and adjudication processes. 4. Publish clear information about the breadth and diversity of sexual and relationship harms, to promote reporting from as many groups and communities within UoM as possible. 5. Publish annual figures (appropriately anonymised) for reporting, complaint, and adjudication, to promote transparency in decision-making and development of a genuine ‘zero tolerance’ approach. 6. Develop an independent investigative process, including appropriately trained staff, available to all departments and affiliates of UoM. 7. Maintain one investigative process for all complaints, whether student or staff. This should include all graduate students and those on placement with external agencies. 8. Develop alternative justice and resolution processes, with appropriately trained and supported staff, made available across UoM and affiliates. 9. Develop appropriate educational resources, alongside students, to define UoM culture and expectations, and assist students in developing positive relationships. 10. Develop a liaison committee, including representatives from key community agencies and services.

I am a TasTAFE teacher who works closely with local industry to deliver the training and education they need in a workforce. For years I've pushed TasTAFE management to deliver the courses demanded by students and employers and I've sat down with government to discuss how TasTAFE can provide flexible training options. Deliberate underfunding from governments has already resulted in TAFE courses being cut and smaller regional communities and businesses losing quality training options. TasTAFE teachers and support staff understand the needs of their industries and students. We know how important we are to Tasmania's economic recovery. Instead of working together to ensure Tasmanians have the training and skills for our COVID-19 recovery, the Tasmanian Liberal Government has declared war on TAFE teachers and support staff with an ideological privatisation plan that will only delay economic recovery. Let's rebuild with TAFE together and stop the Liberal Party's disastrous privatisation plan.

Our librarians deserve reliable hours and satisfactory working conditions that they can support themselves with and which allow them to do their best work. They work hard to provide library services that students rely on for study. We need to push back against the cuts to library staff and stand up for our interests!

As your FUSA Student Council, we fight for all students, especially those facing financial vulnerability. Flinders University has announced a campus carparking price hike from $200 to $420 over three years. This will unequally impact lower socio-economic students, students with disabilities, students with families, and all those already facing financial hardship due to the effects of COVID19. These increases disincentivise student attendance on-campus, risking lower participation in both classes and community culture. Making parking unaffordable for many will also significantly jeopardise the safety of students, especially those forced to walk or take public transport after-dark. Increasing parking fees to a cost that many simply can’t afford will inevitably hinder accessibility to higher education for those most affected by the pandemic. In the long-term, it will create a significant barrier for prospective students. In addition to demanding the price hike is stopped, we’re also calling upon Flinders University to increase transport accessibility on campus that ensures the University is a place where we can all participate. To guarantee that Flinders is a place that we can freely access, we need your support to stop the parking price hikes.

1. Chinese and Japanese are "nationally strategic languages" --- Australia needs graduates who are culturally and linguistically competent. 2. As language students at Swinburne, we will be disadvantaged by not being able to complete our language studies at Swinburne.

The proposed cuts of all foreign language studies (Chinese, Italian, and Japanese) at Swinburne Uni will be detrimental to students, denying them the possibility of learning critical languages skills. Current language students will be disastrously impacted as the proposed changes do not offer a teach out of language units leaving the more than 100 students enrolled in languages with nowhere to go to finish their studies. It will also impact the University’s reputation as a University that puts the needs of its students first. We the undersigned ask the VC Professor Pascale Quester to reconsider this decision, and ensure Swinburne University’s reputation as a University that cares about its students.

So far this year Swinburne Council have; 1. embarked on a mass voluntary redundancy round that was not needed while taking on millions of dollars in debt to fund the redundancies – debt the union says the university will be continuing to pay off well after the Covid-19 crisis has passed. 2. Started another University wide sacking, sorry as Pascale says 'optimisation opportunity', while trying to tell NTEU they don't have to consult with anyone about that (yes we have put Swinburne in formal dispute) 3. Make big cuts to STEM while publicly announcing they want to be STEM focused. This includes cutting the only public health program in Victoria that teaches research and responses to pandemics. We urge all NTEU members and university staff to sign this petition in solidarity with Swinburne colleagues and to #defendhighered

La Trobe Uni has a moral obligation to provide good-paying jobs and a quality education to all regions. The proposed cuts will have a disproportionate impact on regional Victoria. Regional students will be missing out on an important on-campus experience compared to their metro counterparts. It is vital for a functional society that the University ensures a diverse range of education and humanities subjects are offered.

As an apprentice, I spend one day a week at TAFE and the other four days learning on the job. I can't imagine what an apprenticeship would be like without on the job training. Stripping away on the job training would be disastrous for our skilled tradespeople. We are calling on the Government to commit to keeping on the job training for all apprenticeships.

Re-employing, recognising, and providing Deakin casuals ongoing access to University systems is essential for ensuring that Deakin is strongly positioned in 2021 and beyond, to educate the new influx of domestic students, carry out research, and build community connections in a post-Covid environment. Before Covid, around 6000 sessional academics, casual professional, casual research and fixed term staff were employed by Deakin, carrying out the bulk of teaching, student support and research assistance. Following Covid, the jobs of approximately 2500 insecure workers were cut. The mass job losses sustained by Deakin casualised staff haven’t, however, been mentioned in the University’s official figures of job cuts, and the way in which the employment of casuals and sessional staff was terminated at the Faculty-level, as part of Deakin’s response to Covid-19, has for the most part been demeaning and disrespectful. In some Faculties, casual professional staff were informed in a proforma email by their line manager that they had been laid off, while in other Faculties casualised staff members only found out they had lost their job when they received an email from E-solutions advising that their email account would be closed down in seven days. This brutal treatment of Deakin casualised staff is incredibly short-sighted because casuals will play an important part in supporting the University’s vital role of rebuilding Australian society and the economy post-Covid-19. Vice Chancellor Professor Iain Martin himself has acknowledged the important role of Deakin casuals in a letter to staff on 18 June: “Deakin recognises the important contribution of our sessional academic staff … I am sure that when student demand increases, Faculties will be keen to re-employ those sessional staff who have previously been employed by Deakin and know the way our systems and processes operate.” Professor Martin indicated on 28 April that the University can give preference to any non-ongoing staff who were cut during the COVID-19 pandemic, when engaging staff for these roles in the future, in a meeting with NTEU Deakin Branch representatives. Please join with us by signing this petition calling on Professor Martin to take the ‘Deakin Casuals Pledge’ to ensure casuals are re-employed, casual staff’s contributions are recognised, and casuals are provided ongoing access to Deakin systems!