The introduction of such a scheme would bring our state into line with other states, ensure the rightful recognition of professional engineers in NSW and above all else, provide community safety. With no registration scheme in place, NSW risks becoming a haven for unqualified engineers who cannot practice in neighbouring states, exposing the public to intolerable safety risks. The Professional Engineers Registration Bill 2019, introduced into Parliament by Yasmin Catley MP on Friday 25 October will ensure the engineers across NSW are adequately qualified, providing the protection our community deserves. Help us put pressure on the government to introduce a mandatory engineer registration scheme in NSW - sign our petition and we'll send an email to the Premier on your behalf.

The Suburban Rail Loop is a great idea and will provide an orbital loop around Melbourne, with new stations connections between major railway lines from the Frankston line to the Werribee line via Melbourne Airport. Suburban Rail Loop will connect Melbourne’s middle suburbs to priority growth precincts, and link all Victorians to major health, education centres at Deakin, Monash and Bundoora, and outer employment centres. But it will take 50 years, or more, to build. Putting SMARTbus services on the route will bring all the benefits of the Suburban Rail Loop to Melbourne residents right now. In addition, a SMARTbus loop will create a single route that will reduce current overcrowding and address the need for bus upgrades now. For more information see https://rodbarton.com.au/issues-page/smartbuses-on-the-suburban-rail-loop-route/

For further information please speak to your delegate or USU Blacktown City Council Organiser Sandie Morthen on 0419 761 326.

The Tenants Union is the only independent, community run, specialist service for tenants in the ACT. The Tenants Union was established 38 years ago by grassroots community members in Canberra for this sole purpose. It has been funded since 1994 by the ACT Government to do its vital work supporting Canberra renters. In that time it has supported more than 50,000 people and their families. It should not be defunded. It’s ongoing funding should be increased so it can continue to provide quality services to the Canberra community and ensure its staff are paid properly.

Not only do they want to increase employees hours by three hours per week, but they also do not want to pay for the extra three hours of work. It is important that all indoor Local Government employees are aware of this proposed change and sign this petition.

Because My Auntie was hit by a car walking across the crossing leading to her retirement village on her way back from doing abit of shopping from Coles supermarket. This was an unnecessary death because the crossing across which most elderly people use is poorly constructive.

Problem: There is huge pressure to deliver community infrastructure. Government needs adequate internal capacity but also needs industry to have the skills and staff to deliver the government’s projects. The engineering skills development process is broken. While government has lost capacity, the private sector often lives hand to mouth relying on winning projects and then headhunting to deliver on those projects. This model is not sustainable or desirable and inevitably leads to cost blowouts and delays. Solution: Government procurement is a major driver of economic activity. Procurement can also be used to drive better workforce development outcomes, by encouraging construction companies and consulting engineer firms to develop the next generation of engineers

Public transport has been chronically underfunded for decades, suffering cuts to staffing and a lack of investment to keep pace with population. Staffed stations have always played an important role in our community to ensure children can get to school safely, provide security at night, to simplify ticketing and customer enquiries, minimise vandalism and ensure our public transport network is accessible for all users. It is important that we raise our voice now to ensure commuters are treated with dignity and our network receives the support it deserves now and for the future!

If the Federal Coalition Government fails to immediately commit to fund community mental health programs for at least 3 years and fix the massive funding gap that has caused this crisis – the whole community is going to suffer. Thousands of experienced mental health workers will lose their jobs. Tens of thousands of people with mental health issues will be left without any support and nowhere to go. It’s a crisis, and it’s happening now. Sign the petition and share. We need every signature to call on the Government to fix this crisis. It cannot wait.

The first game of the first round of the season is one of the biggest and most exciting nights on the AFL calendar. Why do Carlton continue to get rewarded with this fixture when they continue to perform poorly?

If employers continue to be bound by the current arrangements, they will soon be unable to continue delivering key services. We’ll see large-scale job-losses, loss of expertise, disruption of services to clients and a high potential for reduction in the quality of services. Without this support, Victoria’s disability sector will likely fail to retain the skilled and committed workers required under the NDIS, potentially resulting in widespread market failure across Victoria. We need to see an investment of $46 million over 3 years, to deliver the quality NDIS that people with disabilities so rightly demanded. This represents just 7 cents in every dollar that the Victorian government will contribute to the NDIS in a single year – but the impact will be huge.

The City of Fremantle has recently made the decision to introduce paid parking on Marine Terrace and change time restrictions at South Beach, Mews Rd and the east side of Marine Terrace. Media releases from the Council and public posts detailed the purpose of this change is to discourage commuter and student parking, to clear up space for beach goers and increase the reliability of parking for those parties. It is our belief these changes will highly reduce the reliability and affordability of parking not only for visitors of Fremantle and commuters, but also to the university students of Fremantle, who bring life to the West End. Not only will these changes affect the welfare and livelihood of the students, it will affect their ability to attend lectures and stay all day in the city; eating at local cafes and engaging with local businesses due to time, accessibility and financial pressures. Through the surveys and testimonies of students, and the statements produced by the City of Fremantle, it has been demonstrated to the NDSA that the parking along Marine Terrace is relied upon by many of our students, whom have now seen the introduction of a daily fee with no promise of more reliable and accessible parking solutions. We also believe the introduction of this paid parking will lead to more commuters and students parking in free zones such as South Beach and local streets, only increasing the pressure in these areas for beach-goers and locals.