As the world continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, a lack of access to COVID-19 vaccines is set to further entrench global inequality and threaten millions more lives. As it currently stands more than 85 developing countries will not have widespread access to COVID-19 vaccines before 2023. Residents of wealthy and middle-income countries have received about 90 percent of the nearly 400 million vaccines delivered so far. No one is safe unless everyone is safe. India is currently recording over 300,000 COVID-19 cases per day. South Africa and India are proposing the World Trade Organisation waive certain provisions that give the owners of the intellectual property exclusive rights over the manufacture and sale of COVID vaccines. The waiver would only apply to COVID-19 medical products and only for the duration of the pandemic. This would allow these countries and others to make COVID-19 vaccines and make vaccines more available to poorer countries more quickly and at less cost. Their proposal is supported by 118 of 164 countries on WTO. Australia is currently siding with the big pharmaceutical companies in protecting their exclusive patents and huge profits even in the midst of this global emergency. Big Pharma used public funding and technology to develop these vaccines but are refusing to temporarily share the patents to speed up access for all. Just three of these companies distributed $26 billion in profits to shareholders in the last year. This scandal must end. Enough is enough support the waiver!

Tasmanians face the highest risk of death in a residential fire in Australia, but Tasmania has one of the lowest funded fire services in Australia, per capita, by the area covered or by risk. The North West Coast is particularly vulnerable compared to other areas of Tasmania, but there is only a single 24/7 crew in Burnie and Devonport while Hobart and Launceston have multiple 24/7 crews. Calls to building fires, road crash rescue, technical rescue, and hazardous material incidents require two or more crews to attend. Volunteers need more support to ensure that they have the training, equipment, and support to safely respond to fire incidents. The Tasmanian community faces a higher risk from residential fires and bushfires with minimal funding allocated to the fire service.

Our electricity generation system is undergoing rapid change as coal-fired power is replaced by renewable energy. We need this to happen fast to avoid catastrophic climate change, and so that Australia is not left behind in the shift to a new clean economy. Workers in the fossil fuel industry have contributed enormously to Australia’s wealth over generations. It is vital that they are not cast aside as we build a sustainable economy. Currently, decisions about power station closures and the replacement generation are largely made by big private companies driven by profit in a “free market” that gives no consideration to the interests of workers or the local community more broadly. To ensure the energy transformation is fair to workers and their communities, we need a National Energy Transition Authority that plans and coordinates all-of-government actions to make sure no worker and no community is left behind.

In the first two weeks of March 2021 alone, energy retailers cut off the electricity to 1,000 Victorians who have fallen on hard times. Energy is an essential service; you can't find a new job with a flat phone battery. We were promised privatisation would deliver lower cost energy - it hasn't. Instead, we have had cost blow outs, crumbling infrastructure, poor just transition planning for workers, and companies holding government to ransom to prop up their failing assets. Not to mention companies dragging their feet on a transition to clean energy sources. With Victoria at an energy crossroads, now is the time to fix the mistake of privatisation by investing in publicly-owned renewables. Queensland has established CleanCo - their own publicly-owned renewable energy retailer, and we think Victoria deserves the same. Further, the cold snap that caused the collapse of the entire energy system in Texas USA has shown us the problems of a fully market-driven, privatised electricity system. This must never happen here - we need a properly planned energy transformation in Victoria with public ownership a key plank of that plan.

Senior managers at the University of Queensland have proposed the outsourcing of language teaching from the Institute of Continuing and TESOL Education (ICTE) that will see job cuts, increased casualisation, and significantly reduced wages for the same work.   UQ Senior Management proposes merging ICTE with UQ College, a wholly-owned subsidiary company of UQ that currently sits outside of UQ’s Enterprise Agreement.   The current proposal will see the loss of 13 full-time continuing Language Teacher jobs and two Academic Managers. These cuts follow the loss of 43 jobs from ICTE in 2020.  It has been stated that UQ staff who transfer to UQ College will have their existing pay and conditions preserved under the current proposal. However, no guarantee has been given that these conditions and protections will persist into the future. As it stands, the management of UQ College may seek to terminate the Enterprise Agreement pay and conditions for transferring staff after 30 June this year. Additionally, existing UQ College staff and any new employees will not receive the same wages and conditions, creating an unfair, two-tiered structure for staff – those who have and those who have-not. If the management of UQ College does seek to terminate the Enterprise Agreement, this may result in: — Pay cuts of up to 23% for Language Teachers and on average 20% for professional staff despite the work being the same — The danger of current and future casual staff losing the job security protections they have in ICTE;  — Cuts to employer superannuation contributions of 7.5% for continuing and fixed-term staff;  — Significant reductions in redundancy entitlements;  — Cuts to other workplace rights and protections currently provided under The University of Queensland Enterprise Agreement.   Because of the calibre of its teaching and professional staff, ICTE is renowned both in Australia and overseas for the quality of its English language programs. Outsourcing this work to a UQ-subsidiary, and then employing staff on the minimum terms and conditions would mean ICTE would be unable to attract the best quality teachers and administrators. This would have a direct impact on the quality of students’ learning experiences and their success in meeting learning outcomes.  There is no justification, except corporate greed, for this proposal. This type of thinking is very short term and threatens to undermine the reputation of UQ and the quality of its pathways. UQ can — and should — deliver its revised Foundation Program along with its English language pathway programs internally.

We demand the University take action to develop a university-wide action plan that is victim centred and trauma informed: 1. Create a stand-alone sexual assault and harassment policy (including stalking and relationship violence), that is mandated across all UoM departments and affiliates, including residential colleges. This policy should be developed in conjunction with those with lived experience and subject matter experts. It should focus on reporting as a process, rather than a singular decision. 2. Move all reporting and therapeutic services, including anonymous reporting, away from University administrative premises into a stand-alone ‘Health and Wellbeing Centre’. All reporting and therapeutic services should reflect the diversity of the University community. 3. Publish clear guidelines, in multiple languages, about reporting, complaint, investigation, and adjudication processes. 4. Publish clear information about the breadth and diversity of sexual and relationship harms, to promote reporting from as many groups and communities within UoM as possible. 5. Publish annual figures (appropriately anonymised) for reporting, complaint, and adjudication, to promote transparency in decision-making and development of a genuine ‘zero tolerance’ approach. 6. Develop an independent investigative process, including appropriately trained staff, available to all departments and affiliates of UoM. 7. Maintain one investigative process for all complaints, whether student or staff. This should include all graduate students and those on placement with external agencies. 8. Develop alternative justice and resolution processes, with appropriately trained and supported staff, made available across UoM and affiliates. 9. Develop appropriate educational resources, alongside students, to define UoM culture and expectations, and assist students in developing positive relationships. 10. Develop a liaison committee, including representatives from key community agencies and services.

I am a TasTAFE teacher who works closely with local industry to deliver the training and education they need in a workforce. For years I've pushed TasTAFE management to deliver the courses demanded by students and employers and I've sat down with government to discuss how TasTAFE can provide flexible training options. Deliberate underfunding from governments has already resulted in TAFE courses being cut and smaller regional communities and businesses losing quality training options. TasTAFE teachers and support staff understand the needs of their industries and students. We know how important we are to Tasmania's economic recovery. Instead of working together to ensure Tasmanians have the training and skills for our COVID-19 recovery, the Tasmanian Liberal Government has declared war on TAFE teachers and support staff with an ideological privatisation plan that will only delay economic recovery. Let's rebuild with TAFE together and stop the Liberal Party's disastrous privatisation plan.

In the last year 290,500 Australians sought help from specialist homelessness services. These critical services support people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, including vulnerable groups such as women and children escaping domestic and family violence. If the Federal Government goes ahead with this $50m cut, critical services will be closed and jobs lost across Australia. Homelessness services were not meeting demand pre COVID-19 and are now under extreme pressure due to the impact of COVID-19 and economic recession. To rebuild out of this crisis and be able to support our most vulnerable Australians we cannot afford to lose hundreds of critical frontline homelessness workers. We call on the Morrison Government to ensure it continues and indexes its existing level of funding for these critical community services so workers are paid properly and able to continue to focus on supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our community. Don’t close the door on homelessness services!

FOGO in Brisbane will: - Create thousands of jobs (three times as many jobs as traditional landfill) - Remove up to 80,000 tonnes of organic waste from Brisbane’s landfill each year, reducing waste levy charges for ratepayers - Create a nutrient rich compost which can be used on council gardens or sold to farmers and other producers – creating a revenue stream that feeds back into ratepayers’ pockets - Reduce Brisbane's emissions greatly - it's the number 1 way Councils can reduce their carbon emissions because FOGO emissions are carbon neutral while organic waste in landfill generates methane that is 27 times more potent It's a no-brainer! LET'S GO FOGO!

Council-run home care enables those in need to live independently at home for as long possible. Being able to retain a sense of independence is so important for mental and emotional health. Our ageing relatives, friends and neighbours deserve to retain the quality care they get from our highly trained Council workers

We are essential workers taking indefinite industrial action, without pay, because we are fighting for respect! We make the sauces and spices that make sure your nuggets aren't dry and that the food at McDonalds, Hungry Jacks, KFC & Nandos is delicious! We even continued to work throughout the pandemic to provide people in Australia the food they crave. But after working through the pandemic, and suffering through 5 years with no wage increase, our employer, McCormick, is only offering us a 0% pay rise AND cuts to our penalties, meal breaks and more. McCormick’s is an extremely profitable company and can afford to meet our reasonable demands, but instead they send even more of their profits overseas to the USA. Let McCormick know that unless they make this right and come to us with a fair resolution, their brand will be tarnished forever!

The hard work and dedication of SA Power Networks employees has made SA Power Networks the most efficient distribution business in Australia and in 2020, a year of unprecedented disruption, delivered the company a $129.6M nett profit after tax. SA Power workers workers keep the electricity on to homes and businesses across South Australia in the face of storms and bushfires. SA Power Workers deserve a fair go. They deserve to have a say in their terms and conditions of employment and should have a right to negotiate with their employer just like the CEO, Rob Stobbe does.