During this crisis, there is no more important time to show our support for Australia's most vulnerable citizens. They deserve to be safe and supported, and the workforce they rely on need to be safe and supported as well. These measures need to apply to all people with disability and the workers who support them – not just those funded through the NDIS. If we are going to beat this crisis, we need action now. Demand action. Sign the petition NOW.

We are public and private health workers, aged care workers and paramedics in NSW and the ACT who are currently working on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19. We are proudly keeping our community safe through early intervention, testing, and treatment while also caring for some of the most vulnerable patients and residents in the state. We are suffering from a world-wide personal protective equipment (PPE) shortage that is needed to keep ourselves, our patients and residents safe. While we are seeing fights break out in supermarkets over toilet paper or loaves of bread, we are forced to ration gowns, gloves, masks and sanitiser. We've been asked to work with little to no PPE, which further puts the whole community at risk as we can not adequately stop the spread of the virus we are trying so desperately to eradicate. Without protection we are also putting our families at risk of exposure when we finally knock-off after a long day of protecting the family and friends of others. We can't stop this virus if we cannot keep ourselves or our patients safe. This is why we are calling for immediate funding and facilitation of the Australian manufacturing sector to produce this life-saving equipment. Australian industry will keep Australia safe. Brad Ross, Operating Theatre Assistant - Private Hosptial Tess Oxley, Paramedic - NSW Ambulance Lindy Twyford - Aged Care worker Doris Borg - Ward Assistant - Public Hospital

Amidst the ongoing responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, HDRs at Sydney University have been left behind. We are calling on the University to look after its HDR community as this crisis continues to unfold and impact its staff and students. HDRs candidatures have been seriously impacted by the pandemic and necessary responses from the University, including campus closures, intermittent (or foreclosed) access to the resources that we need to complete research, and travel restrictions. COVID-19 has constituted an abrupt break from the conditions that our successful candidatures rely upon. Further, and as the University is aware, the stipends that some of us currently receive are not enough to live on - and as a result of the crisis many of us have lost the jobs that helped us to make rent, and otherwise afford to live in Sydney. Those of us without stipends have been placed in an even more tenuous position as the economy contracts. We believe that in these unprecedented times the University should look to its role as a vital part of the Australian economy to look after its HDRs, and provide emergency income support for its hard-working early career researchers. As a leading Australian university, this could also set the standard for what other universities roll out in the weeks and months to come. We look to some of the existing responses from the Australian Government and other Australian universities as precedent: 1) The Government has rolled out a Coronavirus Supplement to new and existing eligible income support recipients; and 2) ANU has announced emergency financial support for students alongside a blanket six month candidature and stipend extension for all HDRs. *Postgrads for Fair Pay acknowledges and supports the existing ‘USYD Honours, Masters and PhD Students Open Letter’ to the University. Our call for COVID-19 relief measures is from representatives of the PhD and MPhil/MA HDR community and sets out demands particular to this community.

Students, backpackers and other temporary visa holders contribute to the Australian economy just like citizens... we pay our tax/ rent/ bills and Australia is quite unique that part of it's economy relies on backpacker tourism/ education/ farm work/ hospitality and professional workers (just to name a few) from temporary visa holders almost 3million of your 25 just so you get an idea. It's time to open your eyes and see the bigger picture. People are struggling who can't get home, flights cancelled, lost their jobs and kicked out of accommodation with visas soon expiring. There has barely been any mention of offering help or even preliminary extension of visas at the very least. New Zealand has offered some great help to temporary visa holders, well done Jacinta!! It is clear that help is out there however right now it is being ignored. Australia needs to be doing the same!! Can you imagine the spread of the virus if all temporary visa holders were to up and leave to their own country right now? No wonder our death toll is rising overnight still letting people fly in and out and also what kind of a hit would Australia's economy take even further if all of those people were to leave? Of course Australian citizens are the priority but what about the rest of us that you rely so heavily on? We've also been told to stay home and refrain from non-essential travel... so what is the right answer? I personally have been in Australia 4 years now- started as a backpacker and gone on to do further study whilst also working. I have been out of the UK long enough that the British embassy also can't help me. As a student I am taxed at exactly the same rate as Australian residents and all backpackers get 65% of their superannuation funds taken off them by the government when they leave the country... that's interesting isn't it. Never mind all the contributions other skilled workers/ visa holders/ New Zealand citizens make to the Australian system and are entitled to nothing or have no flexibility or consideration for their visas and situations at this point in time. If and when everything does go back to 'normal' not only will there be lots of disgruntled temporary visa holders who have not had a second thought if it carries on this way but also a lack and shortage of willing and skilled workers in which we fill the gap. The ultimate primary industry that Australia operates on is agriculture and labouring. How many of these people that work within this sector do we reckon alone are on temporary visas? Guess what else the Australian government considers a vital resource to Australian society which they intend to grow further year upon year... education. Yes it seems that of course we as temporary visa holders rely on Australia but but it also seems simultaneously Australia relies on us. A migration agent said to me earlier " When I write visas for sponsoring employer as a migration agent, I am required to provide submissions that neither temporary visa holder workers nor Australian workers are discriminated and they have equal pay. If our government instils that in order for these workers to fill skills shortages, especially in regional Australia, and grants them visas to be here medium to long term, why the government can not offer Jobkeeper option for each and every one of them, so the employer can continue paying these people who were stood down (ie CHEFS from Hilton, Mirvac, Sheraton, cafes/restaurants, etc.) for the example." It doesn't make much sense to me either... My visa expires in June and I've just lost my job where I've been working for 2years since I started my studies. I actually work in HR & Recruitment so part of my job is to help people including Australians find a job and bring in an income. Yet when it comes to me there is zero help for my situation and I'm sure I'm just one of thousands who feel the same way. I never miss a bill payment or my rent and I only just finished my studies last week which has cost me more than $10k+ all up which has nicely gone back in to the Australian economy/government and before you ask, no I don't receive financial help from my parents. In a pandemic like this we all need to stay where we are and help each other. I'm also from the UK which is part of the Commonwealth so really I'm Australia's neighbouring sister... does leaving a sister potentially unable to get home at risk of catching the virus and bringing it back to England where the death toll is out of control back to her parents (who are 60years+) when I've done everything right in regards to the system sound good to you? It sure as hell doesn't to me. It's best for me to stay put until all of this has blown over. In fact forget I'm from the Commonwealth, it doesn't matter who you are or where you are from we are all in this together. COVID-19 has affected each and every one of us. It's time we all pull together, help each other out, be kind and consider as many people as possible to pull through the other side.

Public sector workers provide vital services to our communities, and we need them more than ever during this crisis. These workers are on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic- and the State Government needs to provide them with genuine support. While implementing special paid leave for workers, the State Government has mandated that any public sector worker who falls ill must use up their existing sick leave before being eligible for special paid leave. This is not good enough. These workers are putting themselves at risk to guarantee our safety. This State Government policy will increase the risk that workers exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 continue working for fear of being left with no sick leave in the future. We cannot ask workers to have to make this choice, nor is it safe for our communities. Sign now to support public sector workers. Sign now to protect public health.

I work in a public hospital and have to take public transport during this pandemic due to high parking fee charges. Many of my colleagues are in the same predicament and have to risk exposing themselves to the COVID-19 virus while they battle to provide essential healthcare services.

As the principal funder of disability services, the Federal Government has the responsibility to ensure services continue in a safe way for both people with a disability and the workers who support them. The Federal Government must take action now to ensure that people with disability are able to safely access services. The disability workforce across Australia are amongst those on the front line of this crisis, continuing to provide support and assistance to people with disability. Disability support workers already feel overworked and understaffed. There are also high levels of insecure, casual work in the disability sector. They must be better supported in doing their job and facing this COVID crisis – to ensure their safety and the safety of the people they support.

Aside from the massive economic contribution they make to Australia, International Students are part of the fabric of the Australian community. They are students, neighbours, friends and colleagues. Many face the additional barrier of being new to Australia and not being familiar with its language or institutions. It is beyond heartless that government assistance has not already been extended to these people who work hard and contribute so much to this country. It is unacceptable that they are being abandoned in this way. Something must be done. Not in a week or a month, but now.

This is why student unionism is so so important. FUSA Student President Josh has been one of the few lucky student representatives across the country to get a seat at the table during my University's planning and response discussions for Covid-19. We've had some wins but unfortunately my University just isn't doing enough to support students during these unprecedented times. Students right across the country are losing their jobs, being evicted from their homes, or rely on family support that is no longer available. We need to do more, and we can

The government cannot be allowed to ignore disabled people in the midst of a global pandemic. When the stimulus announcement was made we were shocked to learn we had been excluded. It exposes that the government just doesn’t get it – what it means for people who are disabled, and why the DSP is different to other payments. It costs more to be disabled. We are workers too, and disabled people and carers are losing income as a result of this crisis. Many disabled people are more vulnerable to COVID19 than other Australians. We face higher costs for specialised supports, healthcare, medication, housing and transport. There are many essential costs that the NDIS does not cover and during the pandemic people’s costs are only going up. The cost of support workers and other specialised services is increasing, some by as much as 10 per cent. NDIS invoice processing times are blowing out. This decision to exclude disabled people and carers exposes the government’s failure to understand our lives and needs. We must not let the government divide us into ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ groups. We must demand that our leaders immediately include the most vulnerable people in our community in the $550 per fortnight coronavirus supplement. We must stand together in the fight for disabled people and carers to be treated equally.

The DOJ is putting the health and safety of COs and others in the prison at risk. Cleaning is at the front line of defense amid the Covid-19 crisis. But by keeping our prison cleaners contracted and casual, the Department is neglecting the management of this crucial job and putting lives at risk. Right now, coronavirus is threatening the health and livelihood of people all over the world, and here in Tasmania we are fighting it daily. We know that if coronavirus gets hold in TPS that isolation is not an option. An outbreak in the prison complex will decimate inmates and Officers, and must be prevented at all costs! TPS is trusting a mainland contract cleaning company to have the leadership and know-how to keep you safe! This company employs Shelley and Karen as Casuals. They have no isolation leave like you do ‒ they don’t even have any sick leave. They don’t have access to any of the systems and supports that you do, but they’re expected to keep RPC hygiene and disease free! Shelley and Karen play a vital role in ensuring the prison facilities are sanitised and virus-free. They keep employees and inmates safe. Yet they’re not afforded the respect they deserve such as job security, sick leave and a fair wage. They’re not given appropriate PPE or training in infection control. This puts us all at risk! Giving Shelley and Karen permanent roles can change this! There have been two vacant cleaning positions in the prison complex for over two years that the company has refused to fill. We need to tell TPS there has never been a more important time to employ cleaning staff and support them with the resources and training they need to keep us all safe. We demand that the DOJ directly employ Shelley & Karen immediately, give them access to special COVID-19 leave, and train them in infection control.

The retention payment for aged care workers was great news. But it has been flawed from the start by limiting the payment to ‘direct care workers’ only. Carers aren't alone on the front lines. Cleaners, cooks, laundry workers, admin workers, therapists - all workers in the aged care sector deserve recognition. The COVID-19 virus will not discriminate between carers and kitchen staff, between permanent, agency or casual employees, in aged care facilities, all workers in the sector should receive this payment. And now the Minister has backflipped on his earlier promise that the retention payment would be tax-free. So he has failed by not extending the payment to all workers and now he wants to take money off others. The Health Services Union and United Workers Union have already written to the Minister to demand that this payment is extended to all aged care workers - but we need your help to make Richard Colbeck do right by every worker! We want the full retention payment as promised to go to every aged care worker. All aged care workers are saving lives, right now. We are proud to fight with you - SIGN THIS PETITION to support all aged care workers on the front lines!