It is totally unacceptable that this systematic abuse of refugees and asylum seekers - innocent people seeking a better life - is happening in our community! We note that the council has offered its services to the men, but have not called for them to be freed. This is totally inadequate. We call on the Darebin council to publicly petition the federal government to free these brave men, along with all the other refugees languishing in detention, and release them into the community with full citizenship rights. Further, we call on the council to explore and deploy all possible financial, regulatory and other measures under its control to pressure the Mantra Hotel to abandon its contract with Border Force. We invite as many people from the area as possible to join us in a peaceful and socially distant gathering outside the Mantra Hotel on August 7. Further details are available at https://bit.ly/3ids0O6.

We have created a petition seeking to hold RMIT and its management to account for failing to fully engage in an open and transparent way with NTEU members on the current state of and future of RMIT. • We know that RMIT has to change the structures of the University • We know that RMIT is facing a significant loss of income over the next two years • We know RMIT management has opened consultation on volunteering for a redundancy • We know that RMIT is not renewing people’s fixed term contracts • We know RMIT has not reengaged people who were employed as casuals • We know people’s workloads are oppressive. It is our commitment to each other that will see RMIT through this current crisis. We need to be included in discussions for the future of RMIT.

The ABC provides crucial bushfire alerts, community events, weather reports, sports news and local news in urban and rural areas across the country. The ABC has been a lifeline of information and education for Australians throughout the bushfire crisis, coronavirus pandemic and more. And cutting the ABC Life program will stop our national broadcaster from telling important, diverse stories. The proposed cuts of Radio National flagship 7.45am news will reduce public scrutiny of government of the day. Paul Fletcher, Scott Morrison and the Liberals must stop attempting to undermine the ABC and the role it plays in independently holding the government and corporations to account. To stop these cuts will take a huge amount of public pressure. Please sign and share this petition to let Paul Fletcher know Australians love our ABC!

The standards under the JDA are putting mental and physical strain on workers. Workers are being held to impossible standards, they are pressured to perform at a rate that comprimises worker safety. The pick rate reports are irregular, we have members saying they have worked to the same standard and the report shows rates of 100% one day, 60% the next. We have heard reports of managers telling workers to consistently pick at 110% and "it will be okay". This is not good enough.

The Australian Education Union understands the importance of TAFE and the education services it offers. TAFE can provide not only education but also opportunity and purpose. TAFE has helped countless apprentices learn their trade, helped immigrants settle into new communities, helped locals advance their careers, helped school leavers find a pathway to employment or further education and offered a fresh start to people who have lost their job. As Victoria looks to rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic, TAFE can play a crucial role in helping those that have lost their job to upskill or learn a new craft so they can move into new roles. Unfortunately, the current financial state of TAFEs means these important institutions and the passionate educators that drive them face an uncertain future. We need the Victorian Government to step in and guarantee that TAFEs will survive the pandemic. We need to save TAFE once and for all.

The billion-dollar pub empire run by Justin Hemmes uses a sophisticated system that records every single hour of unpaid work and stolen wages. These records have been provided to media and the courts. Workers have told of the toll this took on their lives, with one saying he “felt like a slave”. Another chef became so physically unwell from the long hours that his doctor ordered him to stop working. Chefs, kitchen hands, waiters, and many others have been ripped off. But with the economy in recession, Liberal Government Treasurers turned to Justin Hemmes for advice. Justin hemmes - the man who got rich from wage theft - should be kicked off the Government's business advisory board immediately.

Professional Scientists Australia is petitioning the Fertility Society of Australia to put patients first. 72.5 % of fertility scientists believe that high workloads have increased the possibility of human errors occurring at work.* Women's reproductive health should be in the hands of fertility scientists who have the skills, time and knowledge to look after patients. Without a voice for fertility scientists', profits are being put ahead of workers and patient's health and families. Patients, scientists, and the public need to stand together to demand an enforceable staff to patient ratio like those seen overseas that will lead to better patient outcomes and stem the tide of staff burnout. 56.9 % of fertility scientists say that the industry’s high workloads have harmed their mental health.* If we don’t have an enforceable staff to patient ratio the fertility industry will continue to be driven by profit and workers will be unable to help people bring about their dreams of having a family. 89.4 per cent of scientists believe there should be explicit provisions for adequate staff ratios in IVF clinics.* If we stand together, we can ensure the industry is driven by best practice science, informed patients and scientists who have the time and training to look after each patient properly. *January 2020, PSA survey of fertility scientists

After 12 months of drought, floods, fires and pandemic our community services are needed more than ever. We cannot afford a cut to our sector, we cannot go backwards. We are busier and working harder than ever. The sector has been agile, resourceful, and dedicated. Our services support the most vulnerable members of the community – and in extremely challenging times we have been there for the community. If services do not receive sufficient funding indexation urgently it will have a detrimental impact on their ability to deliver services to the community. We can't afford to be overlooked again.

Changes like these may end up oversaturating the job market in areas such as nursing, where even more students will be left without a job when they graduate. Lowering the cost of tertiary education for some shouldn't come at the cost of access to others - particularly when a fee increase will disproportionately affect low SES and first in family students. For some students, studying maths or science degrees just isn't an option for them due to where they live, their secondary education or physical inaccessibility of STEMM courses. To make them pay more because of reasons out of their control isn't just unfair - it's discriminatory.

1. OUR SKILLS ARE EMPLOYABLE: The government’s assumption that studying arts degrees and subjects does not lead to any ‘employable skills’ is factually wrong. These subjects provide highly transferable skills, such as critical reading, research and analysis skills, problem solving, and writing persuasively for different audiences. 2. OUR SKILLS ARE THE FUTURE: The World Economic Forum says the top three skills for 2020 The Future of Jobs are Complex Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, and Creativity. These are the skills that a broad, liberal education teaches. 3. LIBERAL EDUCATION IS A FOUNDATION OF DEMOCRACY: Healthy democracies need a strong and liberal education system. It’s good for both society and for maintaining a productive, dynamic workforce. A liberal education helps us understand ourselves as a nation, how to navigate our current world as well as how we can learn from our shared human history. 4. STUDYING HISTORY, CULTURE, AND SOCIETY IS A RIGHT OF ALL, REGARDLESS OF WEALTH: Australia has long had a proudly egalitarian tertiary sector, which has allowed students from less advantaged households to benefit from higher education. Why should an arts, social sciences, or legal education or career be only available to the very wealthy? 5. LET'S NOT LEAVE DISADVANTAGED AND DIVERSE COMMUNITIES BEHIND: Less funding is likely to have a particularly damaging effect on teaching programs and the careers of many disadvantaged and diverse communities, including Indigenous communities, regional communities, and women. FOR MORE INFORMATION: News article from The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/fee-cuts-for-nursing-and-teaching-but-big-hikes-for-law-and-humanities-in-package-expanding-university-places-141064 World Economic Forum here: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-10-skills-you-need-to-thrive-in-the-fourth-industrial-revolution/ And word from the British Academy on arts and social science graduates: https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/arts-humanities-and-social-science-graduates-resilient-economic-downturns/

Teachers and school support staff working in Queensland Lutheran schools are facing the biggest attack on working rights seen in their sector. A serious question mark hangs over the employment future of employees in Queensland Lutheran schools as their employer remains intent of pushing through a plan of cuts, controls and constraints to the existing working conditions. Some of the cuts the LEQ want to make to their employees’ conditions: - CUTS to Teacher Hours of Duty protections for some teachers - CUTS to key employment protections which ensure procedural fairness and natural justice for all employees LEQ's shameful plan was made very clear when the employer stopped collective bargaining negotiations in early June 2020 with a view to hold a ballot on its substandard agreement for employees. LEQ’s plan will make it far from an employer of choice in the non-government education sector. The move by LEQ to cut, control and constrain current conditions is an affront to Queensland Lutheran teachers and school support staff who have shown the utmost dedication and professionalism over the last few months of the COVID-19 crisis. Learn more about LEQ's plan of cuts, controls & contraints @ www.qieu.asn.au/stopthecuts

This Convention is ground-breaking for many reasons, including that it: • Protects against all forms of violence and harassment in the world of work, including during commuting to and from work, and through information and communications technologies; • Protects all individuals in the world of work, irrespective of their contractual status, including volunteers, trainees and apprentices, and casuals; • Recognises that family and domestic violence is a workplace issue and sets out specific measures that can be taken to protect workers; • Recognises that workers in some sectors, such as health, transport, education, retail and hospitality, or those working at night or in isolated areas, may be more exposed to violence and harassment and need special protections. Although violence and harassment in the workplace can be suffered by any worker, stereotyping and power inequalities make women much more vulnerable to it. The ACTU’s 2018 sexual harassment survey found nearly two thirds (64%) of women and more than one third (34%) of men who responded had experienced one or more forms of sexual harassment at some point in their working lives. The Sex Discrimination Commissioner supports ratification of the Convention in her report ‘Respect@Work’, which shows that our laws don’t keep workers safe. We urgently need improvements to our work health and safety law, anti-discrimination laws, and workplaces laws which make governments and employers step up and do their bit to prevent violence and harassment. Please tell the Attorney-General and Minister for Women to urgently commit to ratify C.190 to make workplaces healthy, safe and respectful for all of us.