Safety In recent years, Wyndham has seen a rise in violent crime. An unstaffed library could provide an easy place for criminal activity to occur. Few safety guarantees are being made about unstaffed hours. These safety issues mean that women, families and anyone vulnerable to racial, homophobic, transphobic or ableist violence may be uncomfortable accessing the library when it is unstaffed. People living with disabilities may not be able to access the space due to rules that prevent their carers visiting with them unless they have a membership as well. With no staff to help in a violent incident or medical emergency there is no guarantee the library is a safe place. Would you trust an empty library, late at night to be safe? Would you be happy to rely on the police or ambulance to arrive in time to help you if something terrible did occur while you were visiting an unstaffed library? Fairness Libraries are funded by your rates and tax dollars and are currently available to everybody during opening hours. By design, unstaffed library hours will not be accessible to all. We want increased library services for all. Not just access for a few! Using the library during unstaffed hours requires a separate membership restricted by age and vague criteria such as confidence using the library independently. Additionally, unstaffed hours will not be available at every library branch – if your local branch does not offer extended hours, you’re out of luck. Membership is not guaranteed upon application and can be blocked for any reason. It requires an induction process and agreement to a separate set of terms and conditions. No guidelines have been provided to prevent discrimination or bias in the selection process. Accessing the library during unstaffed hours may be unavailable to you if: • You are deemed not to meet the membership criteria. • You cannot find time to sit through a lengthy induction during staffed operating hours. • You require any assistance using the library. • Not every library branch will have unstaffed hours so one neighbourhood will have better access than others. Introducing unstaffed hours does not address existing geographic gaps in service within Wyndham or community demand for services requiring staff, such as weekend or evening programming and may be used as an excuse not to ever provide these services in the future. There is a great risk that this project will only benefit a small number of people and you may not be one of them! Is that fair and equitable access? Does it seem like a good use of your rates and tax money? Cheaper, lower quality service Unstaffed library hours are being pitched as an enhancement to existing library services at a fraction of the cost compared to extending staffed hours of service, opening new branches or extending outreach services. But as well as serving a narrower section of the community, the proposal explicitly provides a lower quality of service. During unstaffed hours, the library will not provide: • IT or equipment support. • Assistance dealing with library account issues. • Assistance with any issues accessing the library using your Open Libraries membership. • Access to collection items kept behind the library desk. • Library programs or events. • In-person support in the event of an emergency. Libraries in the future Your libraries are currently staffed for all opening hours and librarians spend all day helping people. One concern industry experts have about unstaffed hours is the potential damage to our industry and what libraries can offer our communities in the future. If politicians begin to believe that libraries don’t need librarians, it’s only a matter of time before staffed services are reduced in the name of cost-saving. After the UK introduced unstaffed hours, over 50% of librarians were replaced with unqualified volunteers – or nothing at all. If you love musical and literacy programs for your children, study assistance for your teenagers and IT help for those of us who find advancing technology challenging to keep up with, don’t let your libraries become just a building with books inside.  You deserve a library that has librarians in it – for every hour we are open. Please sign our petition and/or write to your local councillor to show your support for the people who support you. You can write your own email or use this template: Dear (Councillor’s name) I am writing to express my concern about the proposed Open Libraries project at Wyndham City Council.  My concerns are (include your main concerns here) and I believe that without community consultation there is no evidence that this will be a responsible use of the council budget.  I urge you to listen to your constituents and not support this project moving forward. Signed, Your name • Email: [email protected] • Email: [email protected] • Email: [email protected] • Email: [email protected] • Email: [email protected] • Email: [email protected] • Email: [email protected] • Email: [email protected] • Email: [email protected]

608 Victorian workers told us what's really happening behind the counter, on the floor and in the kitchen. The picture is clear: this industry is failing in their duty to create safe workplaces and breaking their social contract with the community. Right now, there are no real consequences for failing workers.   That has to change.   Licence holders and business owners must be held accountable when violence happens on their watch and they failed to prevent it.    We're calling on the Victorian Government to:   • Introduce a penalty system for liquor licence holders and employers who fail to prevent or address safety incidents, including conditions, suspension or revocation of their licence   • Introduce a dedicated safety framework for high-risk venues like late-night and alcohol-serving venues, developed in consultation with workers and unions   • Establish a clear, accessible reporting process that accounts for the precarious nature of hospo work: protecting casual workers, visa holders, and those with language barriers from retaliation.   

We believe all survivors of sexual assault should be able to safely access counselling without fear of their offender ever eavesdropping in on the conversation. Yet our legal system currently undermines confidence in vital counselling services by enabling offenders and other third parties access to these files.  That is why we are calling on the Federal and all State Attorney Generals, starting with Michael Daley (NSW) and Michelle Rowland (Federal) to amend legislation so that sexual assault survivors can access counselling, safe in the knowledge that their notes and related files are completely protected, much the same as if they had spoken to their own lawyer. Sign and then share our petition. ‘Don’t Subponea Our Support: Keep Counselling Confidential’, is a campaign led by news.com.au journalist and survivor advocate, Nina Funnell, in partnership with Unions NSW, Rape and Sexual Assault Research and Advocacy, Marque Lawyers, along with survivors, advocates and experts. By signing the petition, you may hear from our campaign partners about this campaign. Rebuild community confidence in confidentiality. Sign the petition. If you or someone you know has been impacted by sexual violence support is available at:  Full Stop Australia: 1800 385 578 (24/7 sexual domestic and family violence counselling service) 13YARNfor Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: 13 92 76  Rainbow sexual, domestic and family violence: 1800 497 212

Wages in the community services sector have not kept up with the value or complexity of our work. Then, if it wasn't bad enough, in 2025, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) proposed to change the classification structure in the SCHADS Award. The FWC proposed a 9-level classification structure modelled on the Aged Care Award. These changes could have caused 73% of workers to face weekly pay cuts ranging from $179 to $930 across various sector roles. There are up to 130,000 workers employed under the SCHADS Award. 46% of those workers faced losing over $200 per week. According to ASU surveys, 40-50% of workers would be forced to leave the sector due to financial stress if the FWC proposal was adopted. So, we fought back. We held members meetings, site visits, stunts and rallies! We gained media attention right across the country and grew significantly as a union with thousands of workers getting engaged in the campaign right across the nation. The FWC will likely make its final decision in around March. Any FWC decision will not be implemented immediately. So, in the meantime, we are running our campaign for pay increases for the community services sector.  We know that when we fight, we win. We’ve done it before. We won pay increases of 23% to 45% to the minimum wages in 2012. Let’s stand together in 2026 and show everyone why we must be valued!

This isn’t just policy—it’s people. At least 15 members, some with over 40 years of service, now face demotion or job loss. These are workers who have kept Brisbane running through thick and thin, many honoured with the Lord Mayor’s Award of Excellence. Council wants to turn desirable qualifications into mandatory requirements overnight. That’s not fair. It’s time to stand together and demand a fair transition that respects experience and safeguards wellbeing. By signing this petition, you demand a fair transition, genuine support, recognition of experience, and safeguards against punitive outcomes. Together, we can ensure Council values people—not just paperwork. Add your voice, sign now!

This is about protecting the people who care for our communities — the workers who support those experiencing homelessness, family violence, mental health challenges, disability, and social isolation. These roles are often invisible, yet absolutely essential. If their pay and conditions are cut, it sends a clear message that this work - and the people they support - don’t matter. These workers hold our communities together, often under immense pressure and with little recognition. When they’re undervalued or forced out of the sector, it’s the public who suffers — through reduced services, higher burnout, and weakened care systems. This isn’t just a workers’ issue — it’s a community issue.

Every Queenslander deserves the right to work or study in a space free from harassment and discrimination. The Respect at Work laws represent a crucial step forward in creating safer, more respectful spaces for all Queenslanders – whether they are at work, university, TAFE or school. These laws were the result of extensive consultation arising from the 2020 Respect@Work Report and the 2022 Building Belonging Report. Passed by Parliament in September 2024 and scheduled to commence from 1 July this year, these reforms have now been delayed. The LNP now claims everyone wants more consultation, but we know this is simply an excuse to delay these important protections without justification. These laws include important new protections against discrimination to ensure workers cannot be sacked for extreme reasons like having fertility treatment to have a child, or because they have been a victim of family and domestic violence. They also introduce a positive duty, requiring employers to proactively prevent discrimination and harassment, rather than only responding after harm has occurred. Queenslanders cannot wait any longer. These laws need to be enacted now.

The university is undergoing a restructure, including significant cuts, that is opposed by the LTSU and is introducing another student body to weaken the union’s ability to oppose this. Elected representatives from “another student organisation” within the last two years are ineligible for a position on the new Student Council, preventing those who have already been elected by the student body to the LTSU or LTSA from running. Additionally, the Election Regulations allow the university to “remove candidates from the election process at any time at their own discretion”. The regulations also allow the university to “share information about individual candidates on the University website and/or social media”, purportedly to promote the election. Both of these policies could allow the university to influence the results of the election and have an influence in how the Student Council runs.  We, the undersigned, call on the university to cancel the formation of the Student Council as an attack on the LTSU and independent student organisation.

Here are the facts:  • 91% of the early childhood workforce is female. • G8 Education is one of the largest ASX-listed companies that doesn't offer employer-funded paid parental leave for their employees.  • In the 2024 Global Gender Gap Report, Australian women are ranked 42nd in the world for economic participation and opportunity (down from 38 in 2023). • In Australia, a third of the gender pay gap is due to the time women spend in unpaid care work.  • G8's current gender pay gap is 20.1% (of the average total remuneration according to WGEA's latest data) • By not offering employer-funded paid parental leave, G8 Education is helping to grow the gender pay gap. It is perpetuating the 'motherhood penalty' which sees the average 25-year-old woman make $2 million less in lifetime earnings than the average 25-year-old man who also becomes a parent.   • Degree-qualified early childhood teachers are leaving the sector to work in schools with better pay and conditions, including employer-funded paid parental leave. If this continues, the quality of early learning in Australia will suffer as we lose dedicated and highly skilled teachers.    Teachers, educators and young children deserve better.    It’s time for G8 Education to step up and show they value the essential work that their teachers and educators perform. Please sign and share this petition today. * This petition supports Sustainable Investment Exchange’s campaign to pressure G8 to fund paid parental leave for staff. Learn more about the activist shareholder’s campaign here.

No one should have to work in pain or sacrifice their income to care for their health. Reproductive leave would allow workers to care for their health without financial stress or fear of discrimination. Let’s create fairer workplaces for all workers. Sign the petition to call on 10 days of reproductive leave today!

Survivors of rape and sexual assault participate in the criminal justice system of their own free will. The system would collapse in regards to sexual crimes, without their voluntary involvement. Many do so at great personal cost.  When they take the stand, they do it to keep us, the community safe. Now it’s our turn to take a stand for them and demand a criminal justice system that does not further injure those who enter it.

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.