These proposed laws seek to entrench discrimination and vilification of LGBTQ people, as well as women, people with disabilities, and single parents, on the pretext of religious freedom. The bill will: 1. Override state laws to allow any person making a ‘statement of belief’ to discriminate against queer people, women, and people with disabilities. 2. Allow religious schools to discriminate at the point of enrolment against queer students, and continue to discipline and fire queer teachers - under the guise of 'religious freedom'. 3. Prevent public health services from ensuring patients aren’t discriminated against by health practitioners exercising ‘religious freedom’. 4. Prevent universities from requiring students to meet professional standards if they object to them on religious grounds Federal Labor has made only the mildest of technical recommendations to reform the current draft of the bill, failing to address some of the most damaging aspects of the legislation. As Labor members, we are asked to finance, volunteer for, and otherwise fight with our MPs for our rights as working people. Our party is failing to stand up for our values, and for vulnerable communities, by supporting this bill.

Currently in Australia, a Royal Commission is looking into the shocking cases of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with a disability and Inclusive Education has been recommended during the hearings, utilising the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Article 9 and 24 (see reference below). These UN Articles can’t be properly implemented in our public schools unless we provide access to people who use wheelchairs. 15-20% of people in Australia have a disability. It makes sense to include disabled people in our community - we are not going away! If you have an understanding of inclusion and don't believe in segregation in our public schools, please sign this petition and share it so we can make this change for our future generations to learn to accept diversity from the time they start school. Thank you for sticking up for those who might be a little different you! Remember - it could be you next who might need to use a mobility device and need to be included... https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-2.html https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/

A COVID-19 outbreak at Melbourne’s historic Mitre Tavern involving nine staff occurred after an infected customer had visited the pub. Workers allege that management failed to inform them they may have been exposed to the virus until after staff members began testing positive to COVID-19. At a Melbourne cafe with close to 100 staff, workers say the venue’s Christmas party on Monday 20 December may have acted as a super-spreader event. On Tuesday 21 December workers told the union their colleagues began testing positive and informed venue management. Workers then said the venue waited until Thursday 23 December to inform all staff that they may have been exposed, and advised them to get rapid tests and isolate if positive. The venue continued operating until Christmas Eve before closing for two weeks. Staff estimate at least 50 workers became infected across the days leading up to Christmas. Meanwhile in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, a hospitality worker at a bar/restaurant has reported being called in to work while isolating and awaiting the results of a PCR test. Management also failed to tell staff at the venue when their coworkers had become infected. Workers estimate that approximately 40% of venue staff ultimately became infected with COVID-19.

Luckily, in Scott Morrison we have a true champion of the super-yachting-community. Scott. Sco-Mo. Maaaate. What's a few million bucks of Australians' taxes between friends? Especially since you know we have your back at the next election.

There is a high population of students from a variety of ethnic and migrant backgrounds who deserve a safe space to feel supported and validated in their time on campus. In 2020, UTS had 46,382 students enrolled and of those students, 13,963 were international students, 47% of students spoke languages other than English at home and 48% were born outside of Australia. Experiences of racial discrimination are common among students of colour, however, only 300 complaints have been reported to the Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion entirely with an even smaller amount of these complaints being relevant to racial discrimination. The equity complaint sector itself is a relatively new sector with minimal data and offering students a space to explore the options available to them is vital. It is important for the plight of racial justice to extend beyond merely celebrating diversity. For an authentic sense of inclusion to be fostered, it is required of institutions to implement systems of support for bipoc students. The introduction of a safe space for the Ethnocultural Collective would allow students of colour the chance and space to discuss, dissect and reflect on their experiences by connecting with other students who face similar barriers and difficulties. This would also allow space for students of colour to raise awareness among students and pointing them towards processes of resolve in the face of discrimination and utilise the complaint system that is currently existent, but not particularly accessible. Urging the need for an allocated room and therefore Ethnocultural safe space, is the University Senior Executives’ plans for the “phased reactivation” of campus, as quoted in Andrew Parfitt, Provost and Senior Vice-President’s email sent to students on Monday the 11th of October 2021. With the reactivation and reopening of campus, comes the obligation of UTS Senior Executive to fast-track the bureaucratic process, and align the Ethnocultural safe space’s establishment with the return of students to campus. An Ethnocultural safe space would improve the campus experience for students of colour by firstly cultivating an active, ‘sticky campus’; but also filling the gaps that the university’s formal complaints processes aren’t able to address for students of Colour. Ultimately, a safe space would give students an outlet to express frustrations and anxieties of systemic and interpersonal racism, resulting in improved student wellbeing.

The Australian Parliament will vote on these laws in the next two weeks. We need you to add your voice to hundreds of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and organisations who have called for the rejection of Scott Morrison’s undemocratic laws. There are already enough barriers to casting a vote in an election, especially if you live in a remote community. This is not the answer. Will you sign this petition to help us stop Scott Morrison’s undemocratic laws?

Imagine a situation where you wake up and realise, you’re living in a body that does not feel like your own, that the way you look and the way the world perceives you, does not align with who you are. Put simply, this is gender dysphoria. It is an everyday distress that affects most, though not all people who are transgender. Easy and unhindered access to assistance for people experiencing gender dysphoria is extremely important. Gender dysphoria can be alleviated in a multitude of ways including (but not limited to) counselling, hormone therapy, surgery and updating legal paperwork. We believe people who have to go on this journey should have access to an additional paid leave to assist with their affirmation simply and easily. As union members, whether this is a situation that affects us directly, indirectly, or something we have no experience of, we stand for equality. We ask you to stand with us.

2021 marks 100 years since the partition of Ireland. The imposed division of Ireland triggered decades of injustice and conflict, resulting in the loss of thousands of lives. The signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 ended decades of political conflict, and also provided a path for the achievement of Irish national self-determination through peaceful and democratic means. It was endorsed through referendum by an overwhelming majority of the people of Ireland, north and south, and is an internationally binding Treaty that places legal obligations on both the Irish and British Governments to ensure full implementation of all its provisions. The Good Friday Agreement provides for concurrent referenda north and south, to determine any change in the Constitutional status of the north of Ireland. Specifically, the Agreement provides for a poll to be triggered by the British Government. Recent historic political developments in Ireland, including the detrimental impact on Ireland of Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union, and the failure to provide an all-Ireland response to the global Covid19 Pandemic, have resulted in an unprecedented and building momentum for Constitutional change. The most recent polls have shown that a majority of citizens in the north of Ireland now favour a Referendum being held within the next five years. Recognising that Australia and Ireland have long and deep historic links – with an estimated one-third of today’s Australian population having Irish ancestry – we share many common bonds and democratic values. In this spirit, as part of the Diaspora of generations of Irish people in Australia, we call on the British government to honour the requirement set out in the Good Friday Agreement and to hold a Referendum on Irish Unity. We say – ‘It’s Time’ to let the People decide. I believe its time for the people of Ireland to decide their future

Paramedics have made immense sacrifices throughout the pandemic. At times, many have felt scared to go home to their families, worried they will bring home COVID-19. The amendment provided the small comfort of knowing that if the worst did happen and we did become infected with COVID-19, at least we would not have to face the stress of proving our infection occurred at work. We cannot stand by and watch while our Government turns its back on the workers that carried this state through the pandemic. We're sending a clear message that NSW will not accept the cruel and short-sighted repeal of this amendment.

We are aware of at least three expired agreements within Mantle Group. Young workers have been speaking out and request Mantle Group agree to: 1. Terminate any expired workplace agreements within the Group; and 2. Recognise and promote the Union in the workplace.

Without these health workers, the public health system would come to a grinding halt. It's not enough to call them heroes. These workers need an annual $500 COVID retention bonus in recognition of their drastically increased workload. It's the least the Victorian Government can do. Sign this petition. Join the campaign to recognise the hard work of Victoria's non-clinical public hospital workers. The Victorian Government needs to show it values these workers.

The mega-wealthy should pay the same average rates of tax as everyday Australians, but the Morrison Government has failed to change bad laws that offer incentives and loopholes for mega-millionaires to reduce their tax to less than the average rates. The end result is that when mega-millionaires and billionaires use these tax loopholes, it costs billions of dollars each year. Tax avoidance is not a victimless crime. This is money that could fund hospitals, schools and job-creating infrastructure.