The government proposal to bring Safe Schools 'in house' and to abandon the team that have worked on the program since 2010 is a clear capitulation to a right wing campaign that has been running this year, driven by the right of the Liberal Party and the Australian Christian Lobby. There has been no consultation with the workers on this program about the proposed changes, and no thought given to the relationships that have been developed with 286 schools in Victoria, and the dozens of families supported by these workers. This move will not stop the right wing attacks from the bigots, it is just using Roz Ward and the three other workers who have continued to work in the face of ongoing attacks as scapegoats. To be clear, any proposed 'expansion' of the program in this move is deceptive. No new funding has been announced and the commitment to roll out to every government secondary school has been a commitment that has been progressed by the current team since the last state election. Show your support for the team and the work by signing this petition and writing to your local MP, the Minister for Education and the Premier. http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/supporting-lgbti-students-in-victorian-schools/

We can win marriage equality. Two thirds of Aussies, the majority of parliamentarians and the leaders of all major parties support it -- the only blocker is political will. This week Bill Shorten said: "Let's get on with this, have a vote next week when the Parliament sits.” He’s not alone. Greens leader Richard Di Natale has said: "The easiest, simplest, quickest, most effective, least costly and least harmful way of ensuring equality in marriage is through a vote in the parliament, and we can do that next week should the Prime Minister decide to show some leadership." And Senate power broker Nick Xenophon has said: "I would like to see this happen in this Parliament." Now it’s up to us. Let’s call on our leaders to hold a free vote for marriage equality when parliament sits again. Join this urgent call for our pollies to do their jobs and stop the delay! Sign the petition and share this with your friends:

Union members work hard every day to end discrimination in Australian workplaces but we cannot win that fight until we end discrimination in all Australian laws. That includes the law that currently bans same-sex couples from getting married. This civil law was changed in 2004 to deny loving and committed same-sex couples marriage equality. And just as politicians did in 2004, the Turnbull Government should now put this to a free vote in Parliament without resorting to a costly, divisive plebiscite the outcome of which they have already said they will not be bound by. They should also not change our anti-discrimination laws to allow people and companies to refuse to do business with same-sex couples, as is proposed.

Bullying is a real issue that can seriously hurt young people. A majority of young LGBTI people report bullying and 80 per cent of those say that it happens at school. All young people should be able to feel safe and supported at school, and this program is helping to do this. Despite scare campaigns around the program, schools make decisions about their level of involvement with Safe Schools, how much of the program they use and what is appropriate for particular age groups. Schools need to have the freedom to run these kinds of programs if they believe it is necessary to help create a safe environment within the school for all students.

Your focus is a barrier to fair education and evidence based information. You promote the dumbing down of any broad opinion and evidenced information with your cheap headlines and nonsense content articles. The Clayton's ‘ I love Victoria ‘ opinions space is just deliberately dumb hate speech opportunities. It’s cheap and an ignorant deliberate poor focus. Is it anarchy you want? Do you want to trump Trump at being irresponsible mob inciters.

This week, the Victorian State Government passed a bill through Parliament that made it illegal to try and change or suppress a person's gender identity or sexual orientation. Gay conversion therapy is a harmful practice that can have dire consequences. The therapy can involve forcing people to undergo electric shocks and drink substances to induce vomiting when shown homoerotic images. There are also role-playing exercises where men are forced to do stereotypically 'blokey' things like chatting about football and tinkering with cars, while women are told to wear feminine clothes and apply a full face of makeup. This practice is cruel and bigoted. It is dangerous and unsafe. It is, at it’s very simplest, a violation of human rights and equal opportunity. The practice sends a message to the LGBTIQ+ community that gay isn’t “right” and that therapy will “fix” them. The handful of sitting Members of the Western Metropolitan region in the Legislative Council who voted against this bill should not be considered as dignitaries to Cities like Brimbank, Maribyrnong, Hobsons Bay, Melton, Hume, Wyndham and Moonee Valley; the council areas that make up our Community. As per their adopted policies, defined in the Annual Plans of every one of these councils, creating a safe and inclusive, diverse and proud community is vital to ensuring that everyone can live their own life, as they choose. If these Councils aspire demonstrate strong leadership, promote healthy and inclusive communities, develop strategies to enhance the inclusion and engagement of the LGBTIQA+ community every possible way, and creating welcoming environments, then removing those who promote bigotry and hate from your invitations and ceremonies should be top of their list. I call on each of these Councils to cease spending rate-payers money on hosting these members and to publicly declare that they will not pander to these bigots any longer.

Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Education Students [LANTITE] and the administration of LANTITE. We can understand your frustration given Education and the COVID-19 pandemic; We believe you can understand and appreciate our frustration in regard to the LANTITE and our inability to graduate. As a result, we implore you for your support in removing the Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Education Students (LANTITE) administered by ACER as a graduate requirement. These students have successfully completed the units in their degrees, as well as professional practise in the form of placements. Throughout degrees and placements, the importance of literacy and numeracy is highlighted. We implore you to support the removal of LANTITE as a graduation requirement. In doing so, you will be contributing and assisting Australia’s economic return through this pandemic.

Because TISM