On 1 June 2023, thousands of young workers’ HECS, HELP and VET student debts will increase by up to $4,000 as we face the biggest hike in decades. This is unfair. Young workers have the highest rates of student debt and the lowest incomes. We need as much money as possible to counter the cost-of-living crisis, buy a home or start a family. We don't have a deep pool of wealth or investment properties to draw on and we’re already losing a huge chunk of our income in student loan repayments. With the budget around the corner, now is the time to put pressure on Treasurer Jim Chalmers to make things fairer for young workers. Long-term, if we want young workers to be able to pay off student debts fairly, we need to index them to wage growth, not inflation. This is a conversation we should be having. But right now, Treasurer Jim Chalmers can stop the squeeze by freezing student debt repayments until the cost of living crisis is over.

The waterways in and around Sydney, as well as the water we drink, are kept safe, clean and affordable by Sydney Water, which operates for the public. Making our harbour, coastline and drinking water a source of profit puts this at risk. If Dominic Perrottet and the Liberals privatise Sydney Water: • Water rates will go up by $264 a year; • Thousands of jobs will be lost; • Our pristine beaches and waterways are at risk. Don’t risk our water. Add your name to send a clear message to the NSW Premier – hands off Sydney Water!

“I have a neurodiverse child with multiple diagnoses. He’s been on a waiting list since before Kindy. We’ve only just been able to start seeing a specialist – but not in Tasmania. We’re seeing a private specialist interstate, via Zoom. We desperately need more Allied Health Professionals to support kids who are doing it tough.” – Thirza, Parent, Secretary (CPSU Tasmania) Allied Health professionals in schools are essential to give kids with learning and developmental disabilities the best start in life. Getting access to quality care early in life gives kids the best chance to adjust, succeed and flourish. An estimated 1 in 20 Australian children struggles with an anxiety disorder¹; 15-20% of Australians has a language-based learning disability². Early years are our first and best chance to give kids dignity and support to succeed. Tasmania also has the third highest rate of children and young people in Out-of-Home Care. Only a fraction of those we miss will ever seek help later in life. They go on struggling, in silence. Getting access to a Social Worker, Speechie or Psychologist early on can make all the difference in the world. “1 in 8 Australian primary school students has a communication disorder of some kind. We have 31 speech pathologists to service every public primary school and support school in the state. That makes our ratio 116 to 1, at best. We’re not talking about a little bit of understaffing - we’re talking about chronic, long-term vacancies.” - Sarah, Advanced Skills Speech & Language Pathologist, Tasmania Please sign our petition to call on Premier Rockliff to ensure Allied Health Professionals in schools, child safety and youth justice aren’t left behind. ¹ https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/children-youth/australias-children/contents/health/children-with-mental-illness ² https://dyslexiaassociation.org.au/frequently-asked-questions-2/

Housing and homelessness services are at a crisis point. Services across Australia are already struggling to respond to everyone who needs help. Right now, 288 people are turned away every day. Rising rents and an inadequate supply of affordable homes is putting enormous pressure on the frontline staff and services who respond to people in need. These cuts will directly impact highly vulnerable people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, including women and children escaping domestic and family violence and young people without homes. We call on the Albanese Government to properly fund homelessness services so people in urgent need can get help, and workers can be paid properly to provide a critical service. Don’t close the door on homelessness services!

Improved wages and conditions for UWA staff will help build a flourishing University delivering better outcomes for students, the sector and the wider local, state and national communities.

The University has claimed that this will help reduce SR workloads but no SRs were consulted on the decision. No students were consulted on the decision! Students won't get locked out less frequently if they are charged more, they will just be more financially strained each time there is a lockout. Students will be incentivised by this change to take risky steps like 'carding' doors, or sleeping in common rooms or others' rooms. The University has not provided any evidence they have investigated these risks to student safety. Many disabled students have also raised concerns that the charge will disproportionally impact them. Forgetfulness is a symptom of many disabilities. ANU already has one of the lowest proportions of low-SES students in the country. Combined with the skyrocketing cost of living on campus, this change makes ANU accomodation increasingly hostile to low-SES students.

The brunt of the rental crisis is affecting low income renters and working class homeowners. Greedy landlords have jacked up prices and refuse to give up their investment properties to renters who need them. Meanwhile, the top four banks in Australia have raked in $2 trillion from household debt after multiple interest rate rises. The real criminals in this crisis are the banks, landlords and the federal and state government's who do nothing. This charge is an extreme measure and another attempt by NSW police to impede on the right to protest in this state. We will not be intimidated, and will continue to campaign on the streets for affordable housing and all other issues of social justice. The housing campaign in NSW is only getting started and housing activists will return tin bigger numbers on the streets of Sydney.

Your collective employment agreement (EBA) has expired meaning you're in an effective pay freeze until a new agreement is negotiated. We want improvments to pay and conditions for all VU members and staff and need you to sign this petition and let VU management know it's time to make a fair deal.

Online options were ‘too hard’ before 2020, and then they came within a week, and then they were taken away as quickly as they were given. Many members of our community depend on these options being available such as those who are immuno-compromised and cannot risk exposure to disease, especially when universities do not have open windows, air purifiers or a mask or vaccine mandate in the classroom. Universal Design (‘UD’) — specifically, Universal Design for Learning (‘UDL’) — is a research-backed pedagogy and curriculum framework which enables equitable access to education for all students, including students with disabilities and other students from diverse, minoritised backgrounds. For disabled students, implementing UDL would ostensibly ensure that they can ‘engage with the curriculum without having to seek adjustments’ (see ‘Recommendations for equitable student support during disruptions to the higher education sector: Lessons from COVID-19,’ Mercer-Mapstone et al 2022,). Hybrid, flexible education — also known as ‘hyflex’ education, as noted in Recommendation 2.1 of the ALSA-AMSA-NUS research report — entails offering educational delivery options for both in-person attendance and Work From Home (‘WFH’). Moreover, hyflex education can facilitate educational participation for not only disabled people but also women escaping domestic family violence (‘DFV’) or sexual assault, First Nations students in regional & rural Australia, international students, and other demographics for whom in-person attendance may not be the most safe & accessible. People from diverse backgrounds have value. Contrary to what many believe, disabled people can (and do) contribute to society and to building a better world. Imagine all the setbacks if Dr Steven Hawking couldn’t come to class because he couldn’t get his wheelchair in the door! Additionally, the tertiary education regulator, Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (‘TEQSA’), has announced that they will now enforce the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (Cth) (‘ESOS’). Under ESOS in s 8.19, TEQSA is mandating that no more than a third of the education delivered to overseas students can be online or by distance. This decision from TEQSA means that if international students want to access regional, globally ranked education, they must return to Australia whilst there are COVID-19 outbreaks overseas, a rental shortage of affordable, student housing and a cost-of-living crisis. This forces numerous international students into a tricky conflict between their future and their present happiness. TEQSA doesn’t take individual complaints so the regulator cannot protect international students. That is why the government must step up. Likewise, online learning can be better for university staff. University staff with disabilities also face many of the struggles that disabled students do. Likewise, staff with caring roles for children or other dependents benefit from increased access to them by providing education online. Some universities do not have child-care options after 5pm, meaning that staff cannot afford to work a 9-5 with children because they have to rush to collect them. The higher education system relies on these staff and their incredible work to upskill the next generation.

We the undersigned call on the Australian Government to address the failure to maintain the Age Pension at a level that aligns to acceptable community living standards. Age pensioners are now living at or below the poverty line, because of obsolete statutory methods of calculating the six-monthly increases. This is significantly contributing to the rise in homelessness, malnutrition, isolation, and physical/mental health issues. Subject to the March ‘23 pensions increase, at the May 2023 Budget the dollar amount of the Base Pension Rate for single pension must be lifted to $655/week and for couple pensioners, $769/week.

The COVID-19 pandemic-related social distancing and healthcare necessities became a challenge in Sri Lanka. We have been subject to numerous hardships and health-related risks in working on the frontlines supporting the community to continue the ordinary life and providing them with their day-to-day needs. Our hard labour, commitment and loyal services to the supermarkets helped the businesses to continue uninterruptedly retaining customers and recording remarkable turnover for the companies. In the current economic situation and the unrestrained price increases in the necessities, it has become challenging for us to meet our daily life, and our families, too, are struggling to cope with the hardships. Petition addressed to • Dr. Sena Yaddehige – Group Chairman, Richard Pieris Group of Companies • Mr. V Ranjit Page – Deputy Chairman and CEO of Cargills Ceylon Plc • Mr. Krishan Balendra – Chairman John Kells Holdings • Mr. W K H Wegapitiya – Chairman Laugf Holdings Petition in Sinhala & Tamil: http://bit.ly/3GYM2u2

Regional and local media is more important than ever. Our regional communities need and deserve journalism that is ethical, independent and trustworthy. Australian Community Media - which owns over 100 regional papers including Ballarat's 'The Courier' is trying to cut important conditions from the workers' Enterprise Agreement. One of these cuts includes walking away from the paper's commitment to abide by the MEAA Journalist Code of Ethics. The Code of Ethics protects sources, readers and journalists, and upholds journalism we can trust. It requires journalists to report honestly, accurately and independently, and upholds transparency and fairness. Removing it means journalists could be asked to prioritise advertising or commercial interests over accuracy and fairness, disrespect grief and personal privacy, place unnecessary emphasis on race, gender or other personal characteristics, or suppress relevant facts. Journalists at The Courier are fighting to protect their ethics, and they need your support. Sign the petition to tell Australian Community Media to support our community and our stories!