People from the Pacific Islands and Timor Leste that come to work in Australia on the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) Scheme do not have access to Medicare. Instead they are required to pay for private health insurance arranged through their employer. Too often the complexity of using private health insurance or lack of support from their employer results in workers not getting the vital medical care they need.

The federal government talks about just transition - the Net Zero Economy Agency, the National Reconstruction Fund, the Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund, and the Green Metals Innovation Network. But when it comes to Collie, nothing has landed. Collie is Australia’s most advanced just transition program, yet not a cent from these programs has gone to secure new jobs in our town.   We can’t wait. The federal government must step up, back real industry, and deliver a clear timeline of new job opening dates in Collie.  

Even after the assault, the company did not immediately suspend the perpetrator. It took police intervention for him to finally be stood down.  The impact on Cherysh’s life has been profound. Greenfreight minimised what she was going through and offered her no support. She became so unwell she couldn't work, lost trust in her industry, still lives with the fear of seeing her attacker again and avoids certain places when she is alone.  Despite everything, Cherysh refuses to be silenced. With remarkable strength, she has lodged a complaint against Greenfreight with the Australian Human Rights Commission for sexual harassment and sex discrimination.  “I decided to speak up, for all the women who can’t.” Cherysh Bennett  Cherysh is now asking for:  • financial compensation for the harm caused,  • a deep cultural shift at Greenfreight, so that no other worker has to go through what she endured. Show her your support! Send an email to Greenfreight urging them to honour her requests and take responsibility.

Interpreter shortages are leaving tens of thousands without vital language support every year. The cost isn’t just economic; delays and errors mean real damage: mistrials in court, misdiagnoses in hospitals, patients left uninformed, families at risk. These gaps cost nearly $900 million annually, money lost from hospitals, schools and essential public services. When basic communication breaks down, lives are harmed, justice is denied, and trust in public services erodes. Australia can’t afford business as usual; change is overdue. The challenges facing interpreters and translators affect communities, service providers, and professionals across Australia. The campaign is nationwide in scope and focused on lifting standards, protections, and workforce stability for the entire sector, regardless of location.

• Every student’s learning and wellbeing is at risk when schools don’t have the resources to meet the diverse needs of all learners, including more 1:1 support from teachers and education support staff. • Teacher shortages will only worsen, and support staff and school leaders will remain undervalued, unless the state government invests in the profession. • It’s about fairness and the futures of children and young people, who deserve properly funded public schools, not a government that shirks its responsibility while calling Victoria the ‘education state’. We call on Premier Allan and Treasurer Symes to keep their full funding promise and reverse the decision to delay $2.4 billion worth of resources for our schools. Sign our petition and send a clear message to the Premier and the Treasurer: we won’t accept Victorian public schools being the lowest funded in the country. Children and young people – and their families, teachers, education support staff, and school leaders – deserve better than that.

We are concerned that: • academic workloads are already at breaking point. We are concerned about potential efforts to weaken existing workload protections, rather than strengthening them, through Enterprise Bargaining. The introduction of a Block Model has the potential to make a significant problem worse. • professional staff workloads will be negatively affected by the introduction of a Block Model. These concerns include a lack of information on how processes and systems for admissions, census dates and support cycles will be affected. This creates concern that professional staff will be required to accept unreasonable workloads, just to make a Block Model work. • there is not a plan to resource any change, despite clear feedback that significant resourcing will be required. Without it, staff will likely be left to pick up the slack on top of existing workloads.  • UC has a very recent history of financial issues stemming from throwing millions at a shiny new education initiative – this is a concerning path to go down again. • insufficient consideration has been given to what a Block Model means for academic integrity, especially in the age of AI. These concerns include that there may not be time to sufficiently address instances of suspected plagiarism or integrity issues, including through University processes, due of the relentless pressure to turn around marking quickly to reset for the next Block. • there has not been sufficient attention given to prerequisites, course design, and professional accreditation. Some disciplines face significant risks which have not been adequately explored. • a Block Model focuses extensively on teaching, without enough consideration of research. The potential for increases in teaching loads could compromise UC’s research, as well as research-informed teaching for students. • there has not been adequate consideration of placements or internships, and how they would work with a Block Model. • there would be impacts to staff resulting from any decision to embark on more University-wide change, following the job cuts of 2024 and 2025. Now is the time for stability, as constant change and uncertainty affects staff wellbeing. • the introduction of a Block Model would prioritise customer satisfaction over pedagogy and meaningful learning. There is concerning potential for a Block Model to affect course quality and outcomes. This could affect the reputation of UC’s degrees. • any attempt to limit a Block Model to postgraduate courses would likely cause more problems than it solves, as it fails to consider circumstances where undergraduate and postgraduate units are co-taught. Teaching staff may be required to work across multiple inconsistent teaching patterns. Professional staff who support the delivery of teaching would be severely impacted. Both academic and professional staff are concerned this could make effective workload planning impossible. • a Block Model means far greater disruption for staff or students due to illness or misadventure, as a short absence would mean missing more content than otherwise. This makes it difficult to catch up and increases pressure on people to come to campus while ill. • there isn’t a clear rationale for change. UC’s issues are not those of VU or SCU, and the University has conceded that it is not clear that a Block Model would recover costs through increased student load or retention. The potential benefits to the University have not been adequately articulated. The information provided to UC staff thus far has not addressed these concerns. While these genuine and reasonable concerns remain unaddressed, and in the absence of a compelling case backed by adequate and significant resourcing to facilitate the transition, we believe a Block Model should not be introduced at the University of Canberra. 

Long-serving DXC workers are fighting for equal treatment by our employer. Despite our loyalty and dedication, we're being denied the same redundancy entitlements, even though we all face the same risks of organisational restructure.  This isn’t about perks, it’s about job security and fairness. The current offer divides the workforce, rewarding some while disadvantaging others who’ve contributed just as much. We're demanding equal rights, dignity, and respect.

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.

This case lays bare a systemic issue in Victoria’s hospitality industry: employers thinking they can ignore the law and get away with wage theft. Celeste and Connor did everything right. They stood up, took their case to court and won. But court decisions alone aren’t enough if bosses can just walk away without consequences. We need public accountability. Employers must understand that wage theft is illegal, and the community is watching. Until justice is served, we won’t back down. ✊

Apunipima provides crucial health services to over 17 Indigenous communities across Cape York, QLD.  Many workers at these sites are from and live in these communities providing invaluable services with local and community knowledge.  However, price gouging and shipping costs in these remote communities mean the cost of living is outrageous. The price of petrol, groceries, meat and daily supplies far exceeds prices in Cairns or other locations.  Whilst workers in these communities receive a weekly regional living allowance, this isn't cutting it anymore.  These workers love their job and care about the patients they service. But, they need to be adequately renumerated for the work they do. Good patient outcomes only come with good working conditions for health workers.

The NT Government’s failure to act means dangerously understaffed pharmacy departments are left to cope under impossible conditions. Pharmacists and technicians are exhausted, patients face delays and reduced services, and communities risk losing access to essential healthcare. Every message, every call, and every signature sends a strong signal: pharmacists across Australia will not accept unsafe staffing and government neglect. Together, we can protect patients and support our profession. In solidarity, Professionals Australia

This short-sighted decision will create an avoidable shortage of nurses and midwives in the future, a strain on the current nursing and midwifery workforce and increased pressure on the public and private healthcare systems. To provide the healthcare services the Victorian community needs we must keep building our new and early career workforce as well as retaining our experienced nurses and midwives. We must ensure today’s students are tomorrow’s workforce. Use us or lose us. It doesn’t have to be this way – we call on the Victorian Government to employ all of our 2026 graduate nurses and midwives.