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.

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.

The Morrison government's announcement that it will double fees for a series of humanities degrees is one of the worst attacks on students in recent times. Law, economics, management and commerce subjects will face fee hikes that means students could be charged up to $72,500 for a 5 year degree such as Law. The cost of a humanities or communication degree will be more than doubled - increasing by 113% to $14,500 a year. A three year arts degree will now cost approx. $45,000. This is essentially an attempt to abolish the humanities as a serious discipline, and instead restrict its accessibility to only wealthy students. This fee increase deliberately prioritises economically profitable degrees, while decreasing the accessibility of degrees designed to encourage critical thinking about society. Our education should not be subordinate to the needs of industry. The government wants to divide us by granting fee reductions to other students. We reject a two-tiered fee system that attempts to force students into studying what the government deems more important. Students should have the right to study what they want. Cost should never be a barrier when deciding what to study at university, or even if you want to study at all. We need free, fully funded public education, not a user pay model that prioritises particular disciplines or degrees. We are demanding that the government to scrap the proposed fee increases for university degrees. Written by Jazz Breen & Jack Mansell, Sydney University SRC Education Officers

On Monday 25 May, our Vice-Chancellor, Professor Iain Martin, advised Deakin staff that you, our University Council, had endorsed a Restructure/Reshaping Process due to the financial impact of COVID-19. We were advised that Phase 1 of this process would commence within the week. Staff were advised of a proposed immediate reduction of around 400 positions. Professor Martin noted that the Restructure/Reshaping process was in fact endorsed by Council twice – on 7 May, and again on 21 May. We are writing to demand that the Council call a halt to the Phase 1 process and consult with Deakin staff - with full financial disclosure - on how they believe the University can best respond to the current financial crisis. Deakin is a public university so we call on all members of the Deakin community - staff, students, alumni, members of the communities in which Deakin resides and serves, to support staff in calling on University Council to halt to the Phase 1 process.

This puts the childcare of thousands of families at threat. Our Early Childhood Educators worked hard through the pandemic to keep our children safe, at significant personal risk.   But now Scott Morrison and the Federal Government have made them the first sector to have JobKeeper cut. That’s not fair. As parents we need to stand up to the reckless approach of the Morrison Government to our children’s education.   SIGN THE PETITION AND SUPPORT EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION Authorised Tim Kennedy, United Workers Union, Melbourne

PLEASE SIGN MY PETITION to tell Prime Minister Scott Morrison to support local manufacturing, local jobs and a future for our kids.

Adelaide University has introduced a blanket hiring freeze. Prioritising financial interests over student and staff concerns, this freeze means no new staff recruitment except in ill-defined “exceptional cases”. Casual academics who would usually continue work in Semester Two will not be given new contracts. Adelaide University’s slash-and-burn approach means increased workloads for existing staff and amounts to a dramatic cut in staff numbers. We demand that Adelaide University overturn the staff hiring freeze!

A pay cut is a slap in the face to staff who have doubled or tripled their workloads to deliver online learning and services to students. The changes to redundancy packages, however, are disturbing. Job losses would become easier and cheaper to make, incentivising the University to lay off more staff. With workers already laid off in student services, libraries, schools and galleries, we cannot afford more cuts. As more of these redundancies take place, our quality of education will lessen. This would mean fewer students, less funding, and the devaluation of University of Melbourne degrees. Those who need University support the most, and benefit the most from tertiary education, would be hit the hardest. Worst of all, hundreds of thousands of workers could be left without a livelihood, all because the university refuses to dig a little deeper. With your help these jobs can be saved, but only by encouraging staff to vote No. Students and staff are counting on your support.

Under the Liberals, our heroes get zero. This pay freeze is a slap in the face and a kick in the guts to every essential worker who has worked overtime during this pandemic to keep us all safe.

I am the artist known as Toni Childs. I am an Emmy Winner and three-time Grammy-nominated recording artist who lives in Australia. This is a shout out to all the performing artists and musicians affected by this lockdown. And... this is a shout out to all those who want to lend their voice in support of performing artists receiving financial support during this challenging time. I was inspired to create this petition after watching the video below of Tony Burke asking Josh Frydenberg why a young part-time worker who works only one day week is entitled to JobKeeper, and performing artists are not. Ihttps://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=274953026862438 This is an opportunity to let the Australian Treasury know you need their support at this challenging time. Please sign and share this petition, and let's see if we can make some beautiful noise and get rent paid and food on the table. As an Artist, I know it can be difficult to speak up for ourselves when we are in need. I know it is for me, and it has been something that I've had to get over. We tend to be givers and it can be difficult to ask for support. If there was ever a time, this is the time. I love what we do! I love what you do and I love that what we do touches people in ways that it is impossible to put a value on. Sign and share, Peace, Love and Deep Gratitude, toni childs