1. OUR SKILLS ARE EMPLOYABLE: The government’s assumption that studying arts degrees and subjects does not lead to any ‘employable skills’ is factually wrong. These subjects provide highly transferable skills, such as critical reading, research and analysis skills, problem solving, and writing persuasively for different audiences. 2. OUR SKILLS ARE THE FUTURE: The World Economic Forum says the top three skills for 2020 The Future of Jobs are Complex Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, and Creativity. These are the skills that a broad, liberal education teaches. 3. LIBERAL EDUCATION IS A FOUNDATION OF DEMOCRACY: Healthy democracies need a strong and liberal education system. It’s good for both society and for maintaining a productive, dynamic workforce. A liberal education helps us understand ourselves as a nation, how to navigate our current world as well as how we can learn from our shared human history. 4. STUDYING HISTORY, CULTURE, AND SOCIETY IS A RIGHT OF ALL, REGARDLESS OF WEALTH: Australia has long had a proudly egalitarian tertiary sector, which has allowed students from less advantaged households to benefit from higher education. Why should an arts, social sciences, or legal education or career be only available to the very wealthy? 5. LET'S NOT LEAVE DISADVANTAGED AND DIVERSE COMMUNITIES BEHIND: Less funding is likely to have a particularly damaging effect on teaching programs and the careers of many disadvantaged and diverse communities, including Indigenous communities, regional communities, and women. FOR MORE INFORMATION: News article from The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/fee-cuts-for-nursing-and-teaching-but-big-hikes-for-law-and-humanities-in-package-expanding-university-places-141064 World Economic Forum here: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-10-skills-you-need-to-thrive-in-the-fourth-industrial-revolution/ And word from the British Academy on arts and social science graduates: https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/arts-humanities-and-social-science-graduates-resilient-economic-downturns/

Teachers and school support staff working in Queensland Lutheran schools are facing the biggest attack on working rights seen in their sector. A serious question mark hangs over the employment future of employees in Queensland Lutheran schools as their employer remains intent of pushing through a plan of cuts, controls and constraints to the existing working conditions. Some of the cuts the LEQ want to make to their employees’ conditions: - CUTS to Teacher Hours of Duty protections for some teachers - CUTS to key employment protections which ensure procedural fairness and natural justice for all employees LEQ's shameful plan was made very clear when the employer stopped collective bargaining negotiations in early June 2020 with a view to hold a ballot on its substandard agreement for employees. LEQ’s plan will make it far from an employer of choice in the non-government education sector. The move by LEQ to cut, control and constrain current conditions is an affront to Queensland Lutheran teachers and school support staff who have shown the utmost dedication and professionalism over the last few months of the COVID-19 crisis. Learn more about LEQ's plan of cuts, controls & contraints @ www.qieu.asn.au/stopthecuts

This Convention is ground-breaking for many reasons, including that it: • Protects against all forms of violence and harassment in the world of work, including during commuting to and from work, and through information and communications technologies; • Protects all individuals in the world of work, irrespective of their contractual status, including volunteers, trainees and apprentices, and casuals; • Recognises that family and domestic violence is a workplace issue and sets out specific measures that can be taken to protect workers; • Recognises that workers in some sectors, such as health, transport, education, retail and hospitality, or those working at night or in isolated areas, may be more exposed to violence and harassment and need special protections. Although violence and harassment in the workplace can be suffered by any worker, stereotyping and power inequalities make women much more vulnerable to it. The ACTU’s 2018 sexual harassment survey found nearly two thirds (64%) of women and more than one third (34%) of men who responded had experienced one or more forms of sexual harassment at some point in their working lives. The Sex Discrimination Commissioner supports ratification of the Convention in her report ‘Respect@Work’, which shows that our laws don’t keep workers safe. We urgently need improvements to our work health and safety law, anti-discrimination laws, and workplaces laws which make governments and employers step up and do their bit to prevent violence and harassment. Please tell the Attorney-General and Minister for Women to urgently commit to ratify C.190 to make workplaces healthy, safe and respectful for all of us.

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

DUSA - Deakin University Student Association is supporting the NTEU - National Tertiary Education Union in a day of action to protest the job cuts at Deakin and to support its workers. Join DUSA in ensuring that students AND workers get the fair and equitable treatment from the university they deserve. #DeakinStudentsFightBack #SaveDeakinJobs

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

The petition of certain citizens of the City of Kingston draws to the attention of the Kingston Council that: 1. Don Tatnell Leisure Centre was closed on the 30th of January 2020 due to serious structural issues that made the centre unsafe for use. 2. This facility was used by many of members in the Parkdale, Mordialloc and Mentone community -offering pool, spa and sauna facilities, as well as a gym with local classes and other support services. 3. Don Tatnell is walking distance from Parkdale Secondary College and St John Vianney's Primary School, and accessible to many other local primary and secondary schools in the Mordialloc-Parkdale area. 4. The centre is readily available to our local community via bus from Mordialloc Station. 5. Since its closure, Kingston Council has not committed funding to a redevelopment on its current site and has instead flagged a possible relocation. This would be a huge loss to our local community. 6. The Mayor of Kingston has stated that costs to return the ageing building to a “useable state, without any improvements in service” would incur $9 million in costs and a 10-month closure. Instead, the Mayor says the Council “will focus on developing a new, modern centre that meets the current and future needs of our community.”

Young, casual workers are too often exploited. These are company wide issues impacting 100's of casuals workers, many of whom are young. This is a common story, in the last few weeks we have heard similar stories from workers at Cotton On, David Jones and General Pants Co. Sadly young workers are missing out on the JobKeeper payment that is designed to help workers like us through this health crisis. We need this money to pay our bills. Young workers are hanging on by a thread. I'm calling on Decjuba to opt us into the JobKeeper wage subsidy. Please send a message to Decjuba that this is not on, and that no worker should be left behind.

Young, casual workers are too often exploited. This is a company wide issue impacting 100's of casuals workers, many of whom are young. This is a common story, a few weeks ago we heard a similar story from Cotton On workers and now I'm telling you about my experience at General Pants Co. Sadly young workers are missing out on the JobKeeper payment that is designed to help workers like us through this health crisis. We need this money to pay our bills. Young workers are hanging on by a thread. I'm calling on General Pants Co. to opt us into the JobKeeper wage subsidy. Please send a message to that this is not on.

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.