The recent re-opening of the Grafton jail was a welcome announcement by the Baird Government following its sudden closure in 2012 that resulted in 100 local job losses. While the influx of new and previous workers will be a much needed boost to the local economy at a time of high unemployment, there remains serious concerns over plans for the new facility. When built it will be privately operated. Private prisons are bad for public safety, bad for the economy, and bad for the communities in which they are based. Myriad of American research has proven that private prisons are unsafe, have significantly lower staffing levels than publicly operated prisons and a higher rate of assaults on staff and inmates. The same logic that motivates companies to operate prisons more efficiently also encourages them to cut corners at the expense of workers, prisoners and the public. Every cent they do not spend on food, health care or training for guards is a cent they can pocket. It is not desirable or appropriate for parts of the justice system to be outsourced to private companies. Stop the Americanisation of our justice system by ensuring no more privatisation of our gaols.

• These changes would severely impact work-life balance for APS professionals • The proposal ignores the successful implementation of hybrid working models • It disregards the national nature of many APS agencies and their operations • The changes could lead to significant loss of expertise in the public service By signing this petition, you're standing up for: • Fair working conditions • Professional autonomy • Work-life balance • Evidence-based workplace policies

It's just been uncovered that Queanbeyan hospital has formally banned surgical abortions, which were previously available for terminations of cases of feotal abnormalities or other medical reasons requiring surgical abortions. The service was stopped abruptly in August. One woman was turned away on the day of her planned procedure. The Southern NSW Local Health District has stated saying that this is due to a lack of resources to support performing this procedure. In reality, the hospital has claimed it is "conscientiously objecting" to abortion. Cases which require surgical abortions are time sensitive and there can be dire repercussions if this healthcare is not received in time. If these procedures cannot be performed locally it puts women in an already difficult position under more stress and financial strain. Women's healthcare is consistently underfunded and under resourced and this is simply not good enough.  This has happened in the context of moves being made around the country which restrict or threaten to restrict abortion access. Orange hospital recently introduced a now reversed policy banning access to abortions for people with no identified pregnancy complications or medical reasons on the basis of the hospital administration conscientiously objecting to these procedures. The election of Donald Trump in the US and the rise of an emboldened and virulently sexist far right in has its echoes here. In South Australia, an anti-abortion bill was narrowly defeated by just one vote. In Queensland, after the election of the Liberals and Crisafulli, a similar bill is on the table. In this context it is crucial to fight to defend women's access to abortion. We the undersigned demand: • That Queanbeyan Hospital reinstate surgical abortion, and that NSW Health Minister Ryan Park ensures that no other hospitals make similar moves across the state.  • That abortion be available on demand for free, not just in cases deemed medically necessary: it's a woman's right to choose. • That hospitals employ specialists which ensure that abortions are able to be performed at any stage of pregnancy

Financial strain, which jumps 600% during placement periods (Smith et al., 2018), is one of the leading drivers of preservice teacher drop outs. Not because these teachers are poor at the job, nor that they do not enjoy the work or the high workload, but purely because they cannot financially sustain themselves for weeks without pay. During a teacher shortage, this is a broken system. Furthermore, there should not be an education system that only allows for those who are financially viable to succeed, especially in a sector that so desperately needs new staff. Let's fix this now! Support the AEU Preservice Teacher Association members in our fight for preservice teacher payment by signing below. Join our Facebook page to assist in the campaign here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/635367530941019

Newcastle bus drivers need your help. Newcastle’s private bus operator, Keolis Downer, doesn’t think these essential workers deserve pay rises that will keep up with the rising cost of living. Keolis Downer has offered drivers a meagre 10.5% pay increase over four years, despite inflation looking set to hit 7% just by the end of this year. Following a four hour strike on June 3rd, management told workers if they wanted extra pay they could work Sundays. Newcastle bus drivers just want to have their pay keep up with the cost of living and to be able to afford to live in the city they work in. Yet Keolis Downer refuses to accept RTBU’s very reasonable request of a 7% pay rise over 2 years. Continuing the fight, drivers went on strike for 24 hours yesterday and have turned off ticketing machines indefinitely. Now we need your help to support these essential workers. Sign the petition now to call on Keolis Downer to meet RTBU's demands!

It's important to acknowledge AV staff years of service and provide fair entitlements to all staff. A mother who has worked fulltime in Ambulance Victoria for 9 years returns to work from maternity leave to undertake 20 hours of work per week. When she takes her LSL, she will not receive payment based on her years of service within Ambulance Victoria but the 20 hours per week she has most recently worked. This discrepancy impacts women, care-takers, and staff who are working part-time even though they have worked fulltime for many years within the service. AEAV members believe it is discriminatory and unfair to not acknowledge staff years of service simply because a staff member has more recently worked part-time.

As residents we are entitled to safe roads.

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.

In the music industry there is very little hope that any form of normal operations will be possible for a long time and even teaching a musical instrument especially a woodwind instrument will only be possible on line, which is not satisfactory for advanced students. Soloists, Ensembles, Chamber Music Groups and Orchestras will have no way to provide any work for the many outstanding freelance instrumentalists probably for years rather than months even after a vaccine has been rolled out especially the impossibility of overseas touring which many artists rely on.

It’s very hard to survive Only aged care workers are targeted There is no new case in South Australia and even in aged care This restriction is only for cares don’t understand the reason why only Carers Mask being mandatory for all personal care workers including the nursing staff so why still the care workers can’t work at multiple site

As revealed in the 60 Minutes' expose on Sunday the 23rd of August, the Federal Member for Deakin and Minister for Housing, Michael Sukkar, has been accused of being complicit in an extensive and fraudulent scheme to increase his ideological influence through the Victorian Branch of the Liberal Party. This scheme was also alleged to have helped install Marcus Bastiaan and himself into influential positions between the state and federal branches of the Liberal Party. If true, Minister Sukkar’s involvement with Marcus Bastiaan is reprehensible. It’s been alleged they collaborated and organised together, and used high paying ministerial offices of various members of Parliament to funnel taxpayer money and resources to help increase the internal influence of the Bastian-Sukkar political faction, as well as externally influence political donations. They’re accused of employing a network of friends, and even Minister Sukkar’s immediate family, and the pair were able to utilise taxpayer funds to pay these accomplices for the organising and branch stacking. These insurgent operatives in electorate offices have been employed to purchase votes, and register fake members, in order to stack branches within the Liberal Party of Australia. As a likely participant in this insidious plan, Michael Sukkar has allowed his office to host an unknown number of Party recruiters and organisers in fake political jobs. Minister Sukkar is lacking any shred of personal integrity, as he has overseen part of these criminal actions, employing a graphic designer with the express purpose to create flyers that were used to either solicit political donations to the Liberal Party or discredit political opponents within the Party. This position was also funded by taxpayers. It is an utter embarrassment and disgrace that the current Liberal Prime Minister, Scott Morrison has failed to properly address and respond to these allegations. Any politician alleged to have been involved in the misuse of public funds should be temporarily stood down, and doubly so when that same politician is implicated in alleged fraud related to branch stacking. Minister Sukkar, if any integrity resides within him, would happily volunteer to stand down from his positions until a full investigation takes place, and his lack of action speaks volumes about the validity of these claims.

Bolt writes one of the widest distributed columns in the nation. He always uses this platform to promote his anti-science agenda. Maybe you can argue that is free speech. But when he is blatantly pedalling falsehoods on public health during a pandemic he must be refused a platform. Mr Weir needs to pull Bolt into line before people die.