At the age of 24, my wonderful son David was killed in a workplace accident in Tasmania. An accident that should never have happened. I feel distressed just thinking about the early morning phone call from one of David's friends advising us that the boat he was working on had not come in at the expected time. We waited for news, hoping for a good outcome. The next phone call destroyed our world. When the boat that David was working on sunk, he swam for over five hours before dying of hypothermia. I can't put into words how horrendous something like this is. We will never recover from the sudden and unbearable shock of losing a much loved family member. David was young, healthy and a hard worker. He had his whole life in front of him. He should not have been killed at work. Workplace deaths break the hearts of those left behind. This tragedy opened my eyes to the unjust, discriminatory and dangerous 1988 Workers Compensation Act. Some workers have been deliberately excluded! They are disrespected when they are killed at work. They are denied any funeral / death compensation. Basically, they are disposable workers. This is unacceptable. ALL workers MUST be included in the Workers Compensation Act. Employers should be accountable if they have contributed to the death of a worker by failing in their duty of care. Workers continue to lose their lives in Tasmania. Families continue to be shattered, and forever heartbroken. The Tasmanian Government have ignored these issues for far too long. They MUST take action, and implement the legislative changes needed to protect workers.

Work for the Dole is dangerous. In 2016 alone, reported Work for the Dole injuries increased five-fold. According to an Ernst and Young audit commissioned by the government, 64% of Work For The Dole activities do not even meet basic safety standards. Rather than reining this dangerous program in, last month the Morrison government decided to significantly expand it. Knowing full well of the risks involved, the LNP are still sending more and more Australians like Josh to perform free labour at hazardous sites. Treasurer Fyrdenberg, how can you and your government possibly allow this deadly scheme to continue? When it poses such a threat to the lives of all participants, how can you keep burying your heads in the sand and proclaim Work for the Dole a success? So far, the LNP have refused more than a dozen parliamentary requests to release the report into Josh's death. Treasurer Fyrdenberg, why does your government continue to deny these requests? What are you and your colleagues hiding? Two-and-a-half years after their tragic loss, Josh's grieving family and friends continue to wait for answers. It's time they were given the justice, and piece of mind, they so rightly deserve. It's time to shut down this dangerous program once and for all - before it tears another family apart.

Amazon is coming. We expect Amazon will be open for business in Australia on October 31 and we need to make sure that, from day one, Amazon workers have a job they can count on with fair wages and conditions.

SA Unions represents more than 160,000 working South Australians and their families and they deserve to safely come home from work every day. South Australia's work health and safety laws need to be toughened to match criminal penalties. Under existing law, a person who has a duty of care that exposes someone to a risk of death or serious injury of illness faces five years jail and a $300,000 fine. This should be matched with existing criminal law to insert a new offence - Causing Death Through Recklessness or Negligence - with a 15-year maximum.

By withholding this crucial information relating to the Work for the Dole tragedy, the Coalition is shamelessly trying to cover up Josh Park-Fing's death to protect the already damaged reputation of the Work for the Dole program. This is a national disgrace. Work for the Dole is dangerous - last year injuries sustained at Work for the Dole sites increased 5 times. According to a recent government commissioned report by Ernst and Young, 64% of Work For The Dole activities do not meet basic safety standards. The government cannot guarantee the safety of unemployed workers forced to attend Work for the Dole programs it must be shut down. Please sign this petition to demand Michaelia Cash release the report into Josh Park-Fing's death. The Turnbull government must take the necessary steps to investigate this program and ensure the safety of all Work for the Dole participants before another serious injury or death occurs at Work for the Dole.

In the last two years, Element 5/VCON have had more than 124 visits from WorkSafe, 104 serious incidents and this year alone they have injured 4 workers to the point where they needed treatment in hospital. Tragically, a painter was killed on an Element 5/VCON site. This is a company that does not care about the health or safety of its employees. If we don’t take action, developers will continue to hire Element 5/VCON. This rogue builder should not be getting work in Victoria while it fails in its duty to ensure a safe and healthy workplace for its employees. It’s time to stand up for workplace health and safety and tell Ouson not to hire Element 5/VCON.

It tastes ridiculous.

According to the Australian Human Rights Commission report released on the 1st of August, over half of all students at UTas were sexually harassed in 2016, and 6.5% were sexually assaulted Of these students the vast majority did not seek help from the university, and 0% made a formal report about the incident. While the Vice-Chancellor Peter Rathjen has since come out to say sexual violence is “never OK,” we are yet to see the university take action on any specific incident, or commit implementing a system that offers any real support to students. What students need is not more slogans, or hollow campaigns, but fast and immediate action from the university that tells that they believe us, that it’s not our fault, and that we will have justice. Sign the petition and join the UTas Women’s Collective, and Tasmanian Young Labor members, as we call on the State Government and the University of Tasmania to to commit to implementing: A standard sexual assault reporting model which recognises the rule of law Clear penalties for perpetrators of sexual assault and violence And A full-time trauma informed counsellor that specialises in harassment and sexual violence.

Last night while another driver was being assaulted, instead of trying to improve their safety, our Lord Mayor was heading a smear campaign against them, stooping so low he's even using school children as a political tool. Physical assaults against Brisbane Transport Bus Drivers are reported once a week, and there's a verbal assault reported every day. Countless more go unreported. Three weeks ago a driver was stabbed, and last October, one was brutally murdered. Our drivers have learned the hard way that Graham Quirk doesn't seem to care. It’s time for the Lord Mayor to stop insulting his drivers, to recognise their hard work, to stop belittling them for their very real fears for their safety at work. It's time for Mayor Quirk to work with Bus Drivers for everyone's safety. All they are want is safety and fair working conditions, things all Australians should have.

The rising death toll along with the ever increasing suicide rate on these jobs, continues to spiral out of control. We should be pushing for more family friendly rosters, as the toll on both workers and family's is well beyond the financial reward now being offered.

The $10 billion employment services system is one of the biggest and most socially destructive rorts ever perpetuated against a Federal government Every day, private job agencies bully unemployed workers into attending dangerous Work for the Dole sites and other unfair activities in order to make a quick buck. Unemployed workers who refuse to be bullied into one of these unfair activities are penalised. During 2015/16, job agencies imposed a record 2,114,291 million penalties on unemployed workers - up from 311,622 in 2011. Many penalties are unfair - 37.5% of unemployed workers who appealed against a penalty had it overturned by Centrelink. Since 2011, the rate of job agency decisions overturned by Centrelink has increased by 15% - a clear sign the system is broken. The failure of the government to regulate the industry and penalise abusive job agencies has created a culture of fear and intimidation throughout the industry. The suffering endured by the 900,000 unemployed workers participating in this system is incalculable The death of Josh Park Fing at his Work for the Dole site in Toowoomba - one of the 64% of WFTD sites that do not meet basic safety standards - is a product of this punitive and broken system. The punitive job agencies system must be addressed immediately. A Senate inquiry is the first step. The ALP has the power to make this happen.

The people who work in South Australia's power industry deserve to be treated equally for equal work. But currently South Australian Power Networks (SAPN) management are trying to break the business in two, using the excuse that they need agreements that comply with the building code. These would force the people who work there onto agreements that: - ban mandatory hiring of apprentices - allow cut-price unskilled labour from labour hire companies - undermine safety and reliability for customers - attack the job security of experienced, reliable South Australians The CEPU/ETU recently successfully campaigned for changes to the building code that would exempt SAPN entirely from it because they perform essential services. Yet SAPN managers have refused to take up the exemption. They want to use the code as an excuse to put the screws on working South Australians. We support quality South Australian work, and the people who perform it. Add your voice below, and tell SAPN to stop playing games and apply for the building code exemptions.