Access to abortion is at risk in Queensland.   If the LNP get into power this October, Queensland women’s rights will be taken back to the dark ages.   It has come out this week that the Katter Party is seeking a “clean repeal” of the 2018 abortion decriminalisation bill as soon as possible – and multiple LNP members have recently reaffirmed their support to wind back abortion laws in Queensland.   The Katter Party have committed to introducing a private members bill to repeal the decriminalisation of abortion as soon as possible. That leaves the door wide open for the LNP to vote to make abortion a crime under a conscience vote.  Day after day, David Crisafulli refuses to answer questions about whether or not he would allow a conscience vote. Last time the LNP had a conscience vote on abortion, 36 out of 39 voted for abortion to be a crime. Since then, they have continued to vote against access to abortion for regional & rural Queensland women and have hand-picked extreme anti-abortion candidates, like Amanda Stoker, to run in this election.

At 1:30 am on 27 June 2024, an ambulance rolled in Myrtleford trapping paramedic Jim Avard. Patient Transport Ambo, Andrew Bishop responded to the scene and cut Jim free, helped him exit the ambulance safely and into the care of other paramedics.  As an active union delegate and safety rep, Andrew later took a picture of the rolled ambulance and sent it to the union and his employer National Patient Transport. That picture went viral and highlighted the risk of fatigue faced by paramedics and ambulance workers across Victoria.  Within a few hours of the story going public, National Patient Transport stood Andrew down from duty. He has since had his employment terminated from National Patient Transport.  Andrew has worked as a fire fighter, a first aider and in the safety industry for over 40 years. He did his best to use his skills and experience to rescue a workmate and get him to care safely. He also helped expose the serious risks faced by ambulance workers across Victoria. Sacking an ambo for trying to do the right thing is unfair, harsh, and unreasonable and this decision should be reversed.   Have a heart NPT. Give Andrew his job back.

Queensland women, especially women living regionally, are at risk of losing their legal right to access abortion services as well as cuts to critical funding to provide the healthcare required across all regional hospital and health services. We know their voting record: • The LNP and conservatives voted against decriminalisation of abortion in 2018. • The LNP went to the 2020 state election pledging a review of the laws which gave Queensland women abortion rights. • In 2022, they refused to rule out future attempts to unpick them in the midst of the Roe v Wade publicity across the world. • And in 2024, they voted against the introduction of the MS2-Step abortion pill. Now David Crisafulli is hedging his bets saying it wouldn’t be on the first term agenda if he’s elected as Premier but will not rule out supporting a private member’s bill. Queensland women deserve respect and better healthcare rights than this.   We call on David Crisafulli, the Liberal National Party and all other conservative political parties to commit to protecting our hard-fought rights to access reproductive healthcare and abortions. So that wherever someone finds themselves in Queensland, they can access safe, funded and legal termination of pregnancy services. Authorised by J. King, Queensland Council of Unions, 16 Peel St South Brisbane.

Why Reproductive Health Leave is Essential • Promotes Health and Well-being: Ensures workers can manage their reproductive health without compromising their employment. • Fosters Inclusivity: Recognises the diverse health needs of all employees, promoting a fair and supportive workplace. • Encourages Preventative Care: Allows time for necessary health screenings and treatments, reducing long-term health risks. Take Action Now Sign this petition to advocate for the inclusion of reproductive health leave in the National Employment Standards. Your support is vital in creating workplace rights that values the health and well-being of every body.

Medical librarians are highly skilled and specialized Allied Health Professionals who deserve to be treated with respect. The plan to transition the library to an infrastructure-only service (focused on e-resources, document delivery, and interlibrary loans) is short-sighted and disregards the valuable contributions of these dedicated workers. We, the undersigned, demand RMH reverses this decision and takes immediate steps to support Medical Librarians and all Victorian patients by committing to maintain the essential library service.

Our hospitals rely on support services to keep running. If we don't have enough cleaners, infections in the hospital increase. If we don't have enough storepersons, the hospital runs out of medical supplies. If we don't have enough wardspersons, patients can't move around the hospital. Staffing levels are already dangerously low in Western Sydney. Allowing HealthShare to take over these jobs will only make things worse for our community.

To help bring a fair pay upgrade to the covid class of 2020. 

We’re urgently calling on our Arts and Entertainment industry to make shows safe and accessible for everyone.  Getting infected with Covid can have dire and incurable consequences for anyone, but especially for the most vulnerable in our communities.  As an industry whose work predominantly occurs indoors and in crowded spaces, accessing Arts and Entertainment is currently a high risk activity.  This has seen many people decrease the amount of shows they attend or stop attending shows altogether. Alongside this, the constant circulation of Covid and other respiratory viruses has seen a rise in audiences buying tickets last minute because they’re not sure if they’ll be well enough to attend on the day.  It doesn’t have to be this way.  Having a good night out at a show shouldn’t have to happen at the risk of our health and, for many, our lives.  Keeping the industry open shouldn’t have to happen at the risk of the industry’s sustainability and security.  We have the tools to provide communities with safe and accessible Arts and Entertainment.  These tools include, but are not limited to: • Effective air filtration at venues • Mask mandatory performances • Ticket exchange flexibility where appropriate • Better communication regarding keeping each other safe and; • Continuing commitment to online programming We ask that producers and venues meet with us to discuss how we can use these tools and others to ensure the industry is accessible and safe for everyone so that it can flourish in a secure and sustainable way.

Rather than spending time recovering from short-term illnesses, workers have to take time out of their day to book appoints with a GP to obtain a medical certificate just to justify their reason for taking sick leave. Often, appointments might not be available for days, and with bulk billing on the decline many workers essentially have to pay out of pocket to evidence their own sick leave. Rather than spending most of their time writing certificates for workers who already know they're ill, GPs should be tending to people who need it most.

The medical scientists and technicians at Melbourne Pathology are only seeking a fair pay increase and the industry standards of five weeks of annual leave and access to long service leave after seven years.     But when asked to make fair increases in pay and improvements in conditions for their scientific and technical workforce, the management at Melbourne Pathology cry poor.   While they cry poor, management has had little to say when it is pointed out that the CEO of Sonic Health, the parent company of Melbourne Pathology, is among the top ten paid CEOs in Australia.    It is best practice for medical scientists and laboratory technicians to have five weeks annual leave and access to long service leave after seven years. Melbourne Pathology claims they already give their scientific workforce a competitive salary package. However, if this were true, how would Melbourne Pathology explain losing great staff to other scientific workforces.    Melbourne Pathology medical scientists and technicians would rather solely focus on helping patients and getting their important work done. Instead, they are being forced to take industrial action to get a fair deal. To see medical scientists and technicians stop work is extremely unusual given their dedication and commitment to helping patients.    The medical scientists and technicians at Melbourne Pathology are only seeking a fair outcome that recognises their skills and efforts. 

Ahpra must operate a fair and equitable fee setting policy to enable a flexible and responsive health workforce. Failing to provide reduced fees for practitioners on parental leave shows that Ahpra doesn't 'walk the walk' when it comes to principles of equity.  Ahpra has maintained its inequitable position in recent years despite numerous individual and collective representations requesting that it change course. We need your help to make this change happen!  Ahpra advises practitioners who enquire about fee reduction during parental leave that they can apply for non-practising registration. But experience indicates this is not a viable or practical option because of how Ahpra operates. Reapplying for registration is expensive and time consuming, many practitioners would not be able to avoid paying annual registration anyway, and the period of time between reapplying for registration and actually being re-registered is uncertain and can be a period of many months - during which time the practitioner is unable to work as a healthcare practitioner because they are not registered.  There are over 877,000 Australian healthcare workers, who are a diverse, dedicated and predominantly female workforce. Providing reduced registration fees for practitioners who are on parental leave would support a self-sustaining, fair, reasonable, flexible and responsive approach to fee setting, consistent with the principles of equity.

Statutory Child Protection is in crisis. More children are at risk of harm for longer, more children are being put on orders and in out of home care. Most reports and complaints are not looked at and early intervention opportunities are missed until it is too late requiring more damaging interventions. Foster and Out of Home Care options are minimal with many jurisdictions relying on expensive private providers to house children in motels and offices with limited access to wrap around services, placing the development of children at risk. Our state child protection services are buckling due to not enough staffing and the inability to fill case workers and other positions with adequately trained social workers and psychologists. This problem lies across all jurisdictions and requires sustained national action.