In mid-2024, workers at Padre Coffee's Brunswick East roastery made the decision to unionise. This was not a step taken lightly – but it was a necessary one. Since the business was bought out by corporate coffee giant Seven Miles, working conditions have steadily declined. The sense of family and community that once defined the workplace has been lost under a top-down corporate culture. The tipping point came when one of our colleagues – our workplace delegate – began discussions with management about taking leave to undergo gender affirmation surgery. At the same time, the team had grown increasingly concerned about low wages, rising workloads, and a lack of workplace respect. Together, these experiences pushed workers to unionise and begin the process of negotiating an Enterprise Agreement that could secure better, fairer conditions for all. Padre workers currently earn salaries starting at just $55,000 a year – an amount that reflects industry-wide issues, but falls well short of what's needed to live in Brunswick East, let alone thrive. Meanwhile, the Company has appointed two CEOs, both reportedly earning salaries in the $300,000 range – meaning one executive's pay equals the entire annual wages of the roastery team combined. At the end of 2024, a round of redundancies made our small team even smaller, further increasing the pressure on those who remained. Despite this, the Company has refused to improve redundancy conditions or even consider a single wage increase in bargaining. Gender affirmation leave isn’t a luxury – it’s about basic dignity. Trans people face significant financial, social and emotional costs in accessing affirming healthcare. No one should have to quit their job just to transition safely. Paid gender affirmation leave is one small, critical step toward visibility, safety and equality for trans workers – and the fact that it’s being dismissed sends a harmful message about who belongs in our workplaces. Padre’s Brunswick East workers are proud to be part of this community – but they can’t fight this fight alone. The Company has shown little interest in engaging meaningfully at the bargaining table. Now, we need our community to help push for change.

While operated by the for-profit company Healthscope, Northern Beaches Hospital has been plagued by persistent complaints. Staff, patients, and families report chronic understaffing, poor patient outcomes and a culture that puts profits before patients.  Public ownership would restore accountability, improve staffing levels and working conditions and ensure safety for patients and workers alike.  Unions campaigned alongside NSW Labor in opposition to oppose the privatisation of these essential health services. Now it’s time for the Labor Government to honour their commitment and return the hospital to public hands where it belongs.  Add your name today to demand a healthcare system that puts people before profit.  

Let’s be clear: this isn’t about flexibility. It’s about protecting what workers already fought for, and rely on, to earn fair pay and balance work and life.  If big business get away with this, it won’t stop here.  We call on the Australian Government to:  • Reject big business’ dangerous push to gut work from home rights  • Lock in national protections that guarantee fair pay, breaks, and hours – no matter where you work  • Enshrine the right to request work from home for all workers who can, and want to, do their job remotely  Sign the petition below to tell big business ‘hands off”! 

Our colleagues across Australia have secured vital improvements to pay and conditions because they have access to the industrial rights that our employers want to deny us. The VCEA is seeking a ‘cooperative’ multi-employer bargaining process, but we’ve seen what that really means: dysfunction and massive delays, a process stacked against us, and deeply unfair constraints on our ability to effectively campaign for a fair and timely outcome. When we last took large-scale industrial action (mirroring protected action taken by government school staff), Catholic employers sought injunctions against our union and individual members were intimidated with the the threat of fines. If we commence bargaining under their so-called ‘cooperative’ model, employers could use this to attempt to prevent us from successfully applying for a Single Interest Authorisation for many months, locking us out of our fundamental industrial rights during the most important stages of bargaining. Employers could apply for that Authorisation now, allowing good faith bargaining to commence this year without denying basic rights to over 30,000 hard-working staff. The VCEA’s refusal to do so isn’t just unfair, it contradicts core Catholic values of dignity, justice, and the right to take industrial action when needed. We must stand up for fair bargaining! Read more here

All the evidence from experts is clear. We need to: • Massively increase the supply of housing; • Boost social housing; • Scale back negative gearing and reassess tax breaks for wealthy landlords; • Develop nationally consistent rental laws that set consistent standards and protect renters' rights; and • Allocate housing for key workers. Home ownership is currently out of reach for most Australians – but that doesn’t need to be the case.

We want a country that values all people, whether they have been here five years, five generations or five thousand generations. But too often, successive governments have forced their own ideas on how we, as First Nations people, should lead our own lives. Decisions about our health, our education and our homelands keep being taken away from us. Treaty is about putting First Peoples in the driver’s seat so together we can make the decisions that affect our communities, our culture and our Country.  To build momentum for Treaties and truth-telling across the country, now is the time for mob and allies to stand together and show support for a future where our communities can thrive.

We can only be our best and create a future where everyone can thrive when we listen and acknowledge the truth of our past and present. The Yoorrook Justice Commission has led the country’s first formal truth-telling process about the impacts of colonisation for First Peoples, past and present.  And now, everyone is invited to join when Yoorrook Deputy Chair Commissioner Travis Lovett walks from Portland, where colonisation began in Victoria, to Parliament, where we can transform the future. By building a huge display of support as Yoorrook’s Walk for Truth reaches Parliament steps, we can show that Victorians from all walks of life back truth-telling and Treaty. And together, we can make sure the Victorian government is held accountable to listen and act on Yoorrook’s recommendations.

Warlpiri people and supporters are mobilising for justice and for systemic change in response to the horrific death in custody of Kumanjayi White. These immediate demands stem from deep grievances about the conduct of the police investigation so far are an important stepping stone towards justice. Warlpiri leader Ned Hargraves explains the circumstances of Kumanjayi White's death: "The young Warlpiri man who died in police custody in Coles in Alice Springs on Tuesday May 27 is my Jaja (grandson). I am angry and frustrated that yet another one of our young men has lost his life at the hands of the police. We know that he was held down by two police until he lost consciousness and perished. But at the moment we are in the dark about what really happened. It is disgraceful that police are already putting out stories that portray my jaja as a criminal. They are trying to run him down. We demand they stop spreading stories and show some respect. Family representatives need to see all available footage of this incident immediately - both CCTV and body cam so we can understand what happened to my Jaja - but so far they are refusing to grant this. We need an investigation completely independent of police  This young man was living away from his community, in town, in supported accommodation because of his disabilities and he was very vulnerable. He needed support and not to be criminalised because of his disability. What are the police doing using such force on a vulnerable young man in a supermarket? Did they even try to de-escalate? This happened on the 5th anniversary of the death of George Floyd - during Reconciliation Week - but my people have to confront another death in custody. My people are being routinely brutalised by police. We are going into jail in record numbers - men, women and children alike. We are suffering badly under the shadow of the NT Intervention and under a Country Liberal Party government in the NT that is making many racist policies against us - sending more people to jail and threatening our sacred sites. This is making racists more confident to attack us. We have put forward many solutions to improve Warlpiri relations with the justice system that continue to be ignored. The death of my Jaja needs to be a moment when we come together to fight for change. Enough is enough! We need justice!"

We call for an end to the occupation of Palestine and a just and sustainable peace in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions, including the removal of illegal settlements, the withdrawal of Israel from all Palestinian lands along with the dismantling of the separation wall. We call on all countries to recognise, without delay, Palestine as a sovereign state with East Jerusalem as its capital. This will confirm the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination in a free and independent Palestine. Implementing a two-state solution is the path to lasting peace, safety and security for both the peoples of Israel and Palestine.

We want a country that values all people, whether they have been here five years, five generations or five thousand generations. But too often, successive governments have forced their own ideas on how we, as First Nations people, should lead our own lives. Decisions about our health, our education and our homelands keep being taken away from us. Treaty is about putting First Peoples in the driver’s seat so together we can make the decisions that affect our communities, our culture and our Country.  As we get closer than ever to Treaty in Victoria, now is the time for mob and allies to stand together and show support for a future where our communities can thrive.

We can only be our best and create a future where everyone can thrive when we listen and acknowledge the truth of our past and present. The Yoorrook Justice Commission has led the country’s first formal truth-telling process about the impacts of colonisation for First Peoples, past and present.  And now, everyone is invited to join when Yoorrook Deputy Chair Commissioner Travis Lovett walks from Portland, where colonisation began in Victoria, to Parliament, where we can transform the future.  You can join a leg of the walk in your area, attend a community event, or help create a huge crowd of support at the final destination on Parliament steps. Register your interest and we’ll be in touch to share more about specific walks and community events near you. You can also read more about the Walk for Truth and register for your local event on the Yoorrook Commission website.

We reject the assumption that indoor protests are inherently unsafe. Staff and students have a long-standing record of cooperating with UTS to manage risks at protests, including ensuring access to buildings and emergency exits. A blanket ban is not a safety measure - it is an attempt to suppress dissent. Universities are meant to be places of free inquiry, challenge, and robust debate. Political protest has always been part of that tradition. UTS has legal and ethical responsibilities to protect freedom of political expression under: • The Higher Education Support Amendment (Freedom of Speech) Bill 2020 • The Enterprise Agreement between UTS staff and management • Implied rights of political communication under the Australian Constitution The current protest policy already allows UTS Security to manage risks appropriately. Clause 4.57, for example, enables the university to identify suitable spaces for demonstrations and implement safety plans. This balanced approach works. Replacing it with a prohibitive, one-size-fits-all ban threatens the ability of students and staff to protest openly and safely, and opens the door to arbitrary and punitive responses to any political expression inside university buildings. Students and staff will continue to protest when injustice occurs. But driving protest underground, or creating vague restrictions, makes it more dangerous for everyone. Cooperation is the safer approach. We stand for a UTS where safety and freedom of expression can coexist. We urge the university to work with, not against, the campus community to uphold these principles.