The ASU has been fighting for years to have the Portable Long Service Authority allow workers to apply for registration rather than waiting for their employer to do the right thing (with no consequences from the Authority). While the Authority recently created a webform to this end, the ASU has had no indication that these applications are being processed!  What we have seen from the Authority over the last 5 years since the Portable Long Service Scheme went live is:  • prioritizing collaborative ‘education’ of employers who repeatedly flout the legislation and continual ‘last chance’ warnings from the Authority;  • dismissing and ignoring Community Services workers – including many workers being told to be patient for a period of several years, while the Authority has friendly discussions with employers;  • refusing (until mid-2024) to implement a Worker Application form, despite this being a legislative requirement; and  • treating their role as financial fund managers rather than service providers for Community Services Workers;  and regulators of sketchy employers.   ASU Community Services members fought hard to get this scheme in place, and we’re not going to let the Authority leave eligible workers out in the cold.

Tasmanians deserved a budget that invested in our critical public services, a budget that provided the resourcing required for workers to effectively deliver high quality public services to the community.   Privatisation and cuts are never the solution.   The cuts to be made through “efficiency dividends" have drawn significant criticism from prominent independent economist Saul Eslake who has labelled them “crude” and a “very poor means of achieving meaningful and lasting expenditure savings”.    The CPSU is campaigning for change (not cuts) to save our public services. 

The ammonium nitrate explosion in Bororen, Central Queensland in September 2024 wasn’t the first but with your help it can be the last. Let's tell government it's time to make our communities safer. Join the campaign here to show your support.

Together, we've pushed politicians to make changes that make Aussie workplaces fairer and more equitable. Multi-employer bargaining, casual conversion, and 'same job, same pay' laws makes it easier for workers to achieve the pay rises they deserve. Don't let the Liberals drag down our pay - sign our petition!

Why Reproductive Health Leave is Essential • Promotes Health and Well-being: Ensures workers can manage their reproductive health without compromising their employment. • Fosters Inclusivity: Recognises the diverse health needs of all employees, promoting a fair and supportive workplace. • Encourages Preventative Care: Allows time for necessary health screenings and treatments, reducing long-term health risks. Take Action Now Sign this petition to advocate for the inclusion of reproductive health leave in the National Employment Standards. Your support is vital in creating workplace rights that values the health and well-being of every body.

The hardworking warehouse employees who drive the success of Supercheap Auto, Rebel Sport, Macpac, and BCF deserve fair treatment.  Workers' demands are simple: • a fair and decent wage increase  • greater job security • same pay for workers doing the same job As the Managing Director of CEO of Super Retail Group, Anthony Heraghty has the power to do what’s right.  It’s time for him to come to the table, listen to the workers, and close a fair deal that ensures dignity and respect for the people who make SRG's brands thrive.

Constant surveillance invades workers’ privacy, making them feel like they are always under suspicion. This stress and anxiety can lead to severe mental health issues and decreased productivity. Who you're talking to, what sport you play, your political opinions, health or financial situation, are all being tracked in a terrifying new level of control and intimidation. The Victorian Government needs to draw a line in the sand and put a stop to surveillance in the workplace.

We hope you’ll be there for them too, as they fight against wage theft and for better pay and conditions that will allow them to meet the rising cost of living and spend more time with their families.

Interpreters are vital to ensuring access to justice, healthcare, and essential services.  Interpreters facilitate communication between people with limited English proficiency, Deaf and hard of hearing and the public sector professionals they interact with in important, or even critical, life situations. Court Services Victoria and Language Service Providers (LSPs) are cutting interpreters' pay and reducing their hours, adding stress to an already demanding job.    Under the RNS, interpreters are considered officers of the court. Currently, the conditions faced by interpreters are well below any standard applicable to an officer of a court.   Recent changes undermine long-standing fee structures, leaving interpreters with a further degradation of their pay and conditions – pay and conditions that are not commensurate with the role, responsibilities and expectations quite rightly, of the professionals and community members who rely on them.   The Victorian Government initiated reforms to language services in 2018 which have yet to be completed. This has left the sector exposed to downward price pressure from Government agencies leading to aggressive competition among LSPs at the expense of the workforce. This has a direct impact on outcomes in justice, law enforcement, healthcare and all service provision generally.   The Victorian Government’s failure to address procurement reform has led to further erosion of interpreters’ pay and conditions in the form of: • Reduced minimum engagements; • Covert changes to fee calculation, resulting in lower rates of pay; • No increases to recommended rates in 6+ years; • Reduced pay for working remotely despite its increased complexity. For the justice sector and the community, this means: • The language services sector is becoming unsustainable because: • Experienced interpreters are leaving the sector. • Graduates are not entering the profession due to the poor conditions. • Failures can occur in the administration of justice due to: • Communities being disadvantaged by an absence of procedural fairness in the justice system. • A system that discriminates. • Government and their agencies will be in breach of their own multicultural, access and equity and inclusion policies. • All community services will be jeopardised similarly to the legal sector. • The greater financial consequence of system failures will be borne by the taxpayer. Judicial Council on Diversity and Inclusion Recommended National Standards (RNS) The RNS were produced by a specialist committee appointed by the former JCCD (now the Judicial Council on Diversity and Inclusion - JCDI) comprising Interpreting and Legal Experts, with its first edition published in 2017 and the second in 2022. The RNS are endorsed by the Council of Chief Justices of Australia. Their purpose was to develop frameworks, best practice advice, and resources to support procedural fairness and equality of treatment for all court users throughout Australia. The Implementation of the RNS is not only vital to promoting and ensuring compliance with the rules of procedural fairness. The RNS are concurrently intended to ensure that the interpreting profession throughout Australia develops to the benefit of the administration of justice generally. The RNS are not universally adopted in Victorian Courts. This is troubling, given the diversity of Victoria’s community, we would expect that Victoria should be leading the way. Regrettably, this is not the case. Join Us in Demanding Fairness for Interpreters and the Communities that they serve. All interpreters, translators, legal professionals, healthcare workers, and professionals who rely on interpreters at work, please sign this petition! Let’s show the Victorian Government that we stand together for justice, fair treatment, and the right to fair pay and conditions.   Get involved: Contact [email protected] for more information or to find out how to further support the campaign. Petition To The Legislative Council of Victoria: We, the undersigned residents of Victoria draw to the attention of the Legislative Council, the ongoing degradation of conditions and standards in Victorian Courts. We note the reduced terms of engagement for court interpreters by Court Services Victoria and the stalled procurement reform for this sector by the Victorian Government and the failure to universally adopt the Recommended National Standards for Working with Interpreters in Courts and Tribunals in Victorian Courts.   We, the undersigned residents of Victoria, therefore, request that the Legislative Council of Victoria call on the Victorian Government to:   1. Restore the previous engagement terms for interpreters in Victorian Courts, with half-day or full-day rates. 2. Adopt, fund, and implement the JCDI Recommended National Standards for Working with Interpreters in Courts and Tribunals, in full, within Victorian Courts and Tribunals. 3. Resume consultations towards procurement reforms for the language services sector to mandate higher standards in professionalism and quality. 

Why is this important?  CLCs offer free legal services to those who need it most. They ensure that everyone, regardless of their circumstances, has access to legal support and justice. Just as our reliance on CLCs have grown, their funding has plummeted.  • Over 350,000 people are turned away from CLCs each year across Australia, including women and children escaping family and domestic violence.  • 9 out of 10 legal centres experienced an increase in demand for services, despite inadequate funding and staff shortages.  • Community lawyers earn 10-35% less than layers in the public sector. Combined with higher demand, staff burnout and turnover, community legal centres struggle to hire and retain staff.  • An independent review commissioned by the Federal Government confirmed what CLCs have said all along: current funding levels are inadequate to meet community needs.  Well-funded CLCs can ensure workers are appropriately-paid, have secure local jobs and continue to provide essential services to those who rely on them. But right now, CLCs have less than a year of guaranteed funding left. Without urgent government support, CLCs will be forced to reduce staffing, close programs, and turn away more Australians who are in desperate need of legal help. This will only exacerbate the challenges faced by those already struggling to navigate a complex legal system.  Sign the petition to stand for justice for all.   

These workers have tried since August 2023 to engage with Saputo’s Australian and Canadian division to resolve this issue, but their efforts have been rebuffed.   Workers have been left with no option but to go on strike which has been ongoing for 3 months. The AMWU and CEPU are seeking an enterprise agreement which, over 2 years, would provide pay parity with Saputo’s Victorian workers, who do the same job, but for higher pay. Saputo’s maintenance workers help in the production of a huge variety of dairy staples in your homes (across Australia and abroad), and they need your support.   Please sign our petition and tell Saputo’s Canadian and Australian management this is unacceptable.   It’s time to show Saputo bosses how strong the union movement is when we stand united on behalf of workers.    Please participate in the boycott of Saputo made products until they pay their workers mainland rates of pay!   You can put the pressure on by boycotting dairy brands including Cheer, Mersey Valley, King Island Dairy, Cracker Barrel, Tasmanian Heritage, Devondale, Great Ocean Road, Liddells, South Cape, Sungold and Mil Lel.   We say same job, same pay! Take a stand with us today.

Senior management at La Trobe University are proposing severe changes to the structure of degrees, coursework and student services. These include changes to ‘Course Architecture’, ‘Course Optimisation,’ and restructures to Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic Portfolio Staff, School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Environment, School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, La Trobe Rural Health School, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Information Services Staff. These eight proposals are part of the same attack on the quality of education and on the proper governance of La Trobe, made by Theo Farrell, Jess Vanderlelie, and Rob Pike. The changes pose a severe risk to the University’s reputation, enrollments, accreditation and medium- to long-term financial position.In some cases, changes to Honours degrees may mean that students studying Honours at La Trobe do not qualify for La Trobe’s own PhD degrees. In terms of student services,  Courses and subjects are being cut across the entire university, giving students less choice about what they study. Senior academics are being made redundant and replaced by junior academics. Some staff are concerned that the Bachelor of Science and the Bachelor of Arts will become untenable in several years if these changes go ahead. La Trobe is dismantling the team of experts who provide assistance to students with a disability, replacing some of their functions with generic student services staff. Staff cannot understand how massive restructures and cuts will help La Trobe, because their rationale is unclear. Nor has Senior Management explained why these changes must be implemented so hastily. Students have not been consulted. They have been forced to organise their own meeting to demand that Senior Leadership explain these changes to them. Staff have expressed wide and deep concerns about the adverse effects of these changes. Senior leadership have ignored or dismissed these views.  Vice Chancellor Theo Farrell has been in the job for less than twelve months. If these 8 changes are part of his vision for La Trobe, we reject his pessimistic view and embrace one that respects and values the expertise of staff and students.