Our librarians deserve reliable hours and satisfactory working conditions that they can support themselves with and which allow them to do their best work. They work hard to provide library services that students rely on for study. We need to push back against the cuts to library staff and stand up for our interests!

Rape culture in parliament threatens our involvement in the political process. Parliament, in its current state, lacks representation of oppressed gender groups. First Nations women, trans and gender diverse people are particularly underrepresented in our legal system. The endemic sexual abuse that is perpetrated in parliament threatens the paltry representation that oppressed gender groups have ascertained thusfar and makes it difficult for those marginalised groups to speak up against gendered violence and support victim surviours for fear of receiving their own workplace bullying, relocation or loss of livelihood. For too long we have worked within the system and compromised with the state on our bodily autonomy, our rights and our safety. We say enough. It’s time to End the Silence on Sexual Violence.

THERE'S A CRISIS IN RESIDENTIAL CARE Every month hundreds of shifts are being covered by fatigued Youth Workers working excessive overtime. Many more are not covered at all. The staffing shortage has become so chronic that social workers are now being forced to care for children in offices because there aren't enough Residential Care staff to care for them. This puts vulnerable children and the staff that care for them at serious risk. Minister Sanderson has known about this for years, yet the problem is getting worse. The Public Service Association has calculated that we need at least 60 more full-time youth workers to ensure appropriate staffing in Residential Care. EARLY INTERVENTION PROGRAMS MUST BE RESTORED In the last two State Budgets Minister Sanderson’s government has made significant cuts to successful early intervention programs. As a result we’re seeing more children coming into state care. We need these programs restored to ensure vulnerable children and families are supported to function independently. CUTS TO ABORIGINAL PROGRAMS MUST BE ABANDONED Many children in care are Aboriginal. Yet, Minister Sanderson’s government is planning to axe critical programs specifically designed to support Aboriginal children and their families.

The Centrelink Age of Independence for Youth Allowance sits at 22. Young Australians can drink, smoke and drive at the age of 18 but are not considered independent. Even students moving out of home to attend university can be denied access to income support based on a parent or partner's income. For students in the higher education sector, the global pandemic has meant that students are more vulnerable and poorer than ever before. Students are the victims of the casualised workforce, penalty rate cuts and the shutdown of industries predominantly worked in by young people due to COVID-19. With funding provided by Universities drying up and the Federal Government income support being reconsidered, anyone can see the impending impact on young people. . The health crisis isn’t over and the economic crisis certainly isn’t over. We should be ensuring that Australia’s future is well protected by investing in young people to be able to live and study and not sending them through the cracks of our welfare system to potential lifetimes of poverty. We need to fund our future. A liveable wage is essential so students are not skipping meals, going without medication, sleeping rough or couch surfing. Recognising that young people are independents from the age of 18 and the current age of independence makes life incredibly difficult in unstable households and for queer youth. The Government must act to ensure that means testing is genuine and that we keep students out of poverty. Grace Franco National Union of Students (NUS) Welfare Officer Bailey Riley NUS President

Since the closure of the South Croydon Primary School site, residents have fought to protect the public open space and environment that remains on site. Thankfully to date the site remains undeveloped. However, it has recently been announced that a portion of the land, owned by the State Government (shown as purple border in picture), is to be sold off, most likely to property developers. Open space in our already dense community provides many aesthetic and intrinsic benefits. Open space encourages physical activity, can aid in the reduction of pollution, is a place for children to grow and play, provides and important wild-life corridor and can be of mental health benefit to the local residents who use it. With the increase of our population, open space is getting harder and harder to come by and local residents do not want to see high density development on this site. We want this land to remain in community hands and call on the State Government to protect this site as a park of public open space.

The AMWU is the Union for Sugar Industry maintenance workers. The Sugar Industry has a proud history in Regional Queensland, supporting jobs, families and communities. We will always fight to protect the longevity of the industry – which means training the next generation of tradespeople. MSF has a responsibility to workers, communities and the industry to act.

As your FUSA Student Council, we fight for all students, especially those facing financial vulnerability. Flinders University has announced a campus carparking price hike from $200 to $420 over three years. This will unequally impact lower socio-economic students, students with disabilities, students with families, and all those already facing financial hardship due to the effects of COVID19. These increases disincentivise student attendance on-campus, risking lower participation in both classes and community culture. Making parking unaffordable for many will also significantly jeopardise the safety of students, especially those forced to walk or take public transport after-dark. Increasing parking fees to a cost that many simply can’t afford will inevitably hinder accessibility to higher education for those most affected by the pandemic. In the long-term, it will create a significant barrier for prospective students. In addition to demanding the price hike is stopped, we’re also calling upon Flinders University to increase transport accessibility on campus that ensures the University is a place where we can all participate. To guarantee that Flinders is a place that we can freely access, we need your support to stop the parking price hikes.

1. Chinese and Japanese are "nationally strategic languages" --- Australia needs graduates who are culturally and linguistically competent. 2. As language students at Swinburne, we will be disadvantaged by not being able to complete our language studies at Swinburne.

Rail companies already have an extensive amount of data available (data Logger/Event recorders, Driver Advice Systems, radio voice recordings, and forward-facing camera) for investigation, compliance and assessments. Adding surveillance inside the cabin of locomotives will not prevent an incident from happening. Better training, support and a “no blame” culture will. We believe that the extended use of in-cab recording devices will have little if any impact on the efficacy of rail safety investigations and will have a significant detrimental effect on the mental health of Traincrew.

TW: Sexual assault & R*pe. Marjorie's Law is a campaign for better recognition and protection of transgender people in Australia's prison services. In July 2017, Marjorie Harwood, a transgender woman, was brutally raped by five men in Risdon Prison, Tasmania. The severity of the assault saw her hospitalised and needing to use a colostomy bag. In 2018, Marjorie was hospitalised again for a kidney-related illness. With a period of custody in Risdon looming, she refused medical treatment and accepted death rather than going back to prison where she knew she would be beaten and sexually assaulted again. Marjorie identified as a woman, prison staff referred to her with female pronouns, yet she was not placed in the female prison where she would have been able to safely serve her prison sentence. Transgender prisoners deserve to serve their sentences safe from abuse and assault. It is time for change so no one has to go through what Marjorie faced.

Employers in every industry commit wage theft. Whether it’s stolen super, unpaid hours, penalty rates or overtime, if you show up, they should pay up. Wage theft has become a business model – where the fines for stealing are less than the wages stolen! Without change to the law, employers will keep thieving over and over. Currently, workers only have protection in Queensland and Victoria. All Australian workers should be protected from thieving bosses.

It is important that Liverpool City Council employees sign this petition to ensure their working rights are upheld and maintained. Employees need to advise the CEO Dr Eddie Jackson, that it is unfair to close council early and require staff to use their own leave. Further by cancelling staff Christmas celebrations Council has already saved money and therefore requiring staff to use up to 3 hours of annual leave is unfair and not in the spirit of the season.