The Centrelink Age of Independence for Youth Allowance sits at 22. Young Australians can drink, smoke and drive at the age of 18 but are not considered independent. Even students moving out of home to attend university can be denied access to income support based on a parent or partner's income. For students in the higher education sector, the global pandemic has meant that students are more vulnerable and poorer than ever before. Students are the victims of the casualised workforce, penalty rate cuts and the shutdown of industries predominantly worked in by young people due to COVID-19. With funding provided by Universities drying up and the Federal Government income support being reconsidered, anyone can see the impending impact on young people. . The health crisis isn’t over and the economic crisis certainly isn’t over. We should be ensuring that Australia’s future is well protected by investing in young people to be able to live and study and not sending them through the cracks of our welfare system to potential lifetimes of poverty. We need to fund our future. A liveable wage is essential so students are not skipping meals, going without medication, sleeping rough or couch surfing. Recognising that young people are independents from the age of 18 and the current age of independence makes life incredibly difficult in unstable households and for queer youth. The Government must act to ensure that means testing is genuine and that we keep students out of poverty. Grace Franco National Union of Students (NUS) Welfare Officer Bailey Riley NUS President

Since the closure of the South Croydon Primary School site, residents have fought to protect the public open space and environment that remains on site. Thankfully to date the site remains undeveloped. However, it has recently been announced that a portion of the land, owned by the State Government (shown as purple border in picture), is to be sold off, most likely to property developers. Open space in our already dense community provides many aesthetic and intrinsic benefits. Open space encourages physical activity, can aid in the reduction of pollution, is a place for children to grow and play, provides and important wild-life corridor and can be of mental health benefit to the local residents who use it. With the increase of our population, open space is getting harder and harder to come by and local residents do not want to see high density development on this site. We want this land to remain in community hands and call on the State Government to protect this site as a park of public open space.

The AMWU is the Union for Sugar Industry maintenance workers. The Sugar Industry has a proud history in Regional Queensland, supporting jobs, families and communities. We will always fight to protect the longevity of the industry – which means training the next generation of tradespeople. MSF has a responsibility to workers, communities and the industry to act.

As your FUSA Student Council, we fight for all students, especially those facing financial vulnerability. Flinders University has announced a campus carparking price hike from $200 to $420 over three years. This will unequally impact lower socio-economic students, students with disabilities, students with families, and all those already facing financial hardship due to the effects of COVID19. These increases disincentivise student attendance on-campus, risking lower participation in both classes and community culture. Making parking unaffordable for many will also significantly jeopardise the safety of students, especially those forced to walk or take public transport after-dark. Increasing parking fees to a cost that many simply can’t afford will inevitably hinder accessibility to higher education for those most affected by the pandemic. In the long-term, it will create a significant barrier for prospective students. In addition to demanding the price hike is stopped, we’re also calling upon Flinders University to increase transport accessibility on campus that ensures the University is a place where we can all participate. To guarantee that Flinders is a place that we can freely access, we need your support to stop the parking price hikes.

1. Chinese and Japanese are "nationally strategic languages" --- Australia needs graduates who are culturally and linguistically competent. 2. As language students at Swinburne, we will be disadvantaged by not being able to complete our language studies at Swinburne.

Rail companies already have an extensive amount of data available (data Logger/Event recorders, Driver Advice Systems, radio voice recordings, and forward-facing camera) for investigation, compliance and assessments. Adding surveillance inside the cabin of locomotives will not prevent an incident from happening. Better training, support and a “no blame” culture will. We believe that the extended use of in-cab recording devices will have little if any impact on the efficacy of rail safety investigations and will have a significant detrimental effect on the mental health of Traincrew.

TW: Sexual assault & R*pe. Marjorie's Law is a campaign for better recognition and protection of transgender people in Australia's prison services. In July 2017, Marjorie Harwood, a transgender woman, was brutally raped by five men in Risdon Prison, Tasmania. The severity of the assault saw her hospitalised and needing to use a colostomy bag. In 2018, Marjorie was hospitalised again for a kidney-related illness. With a period of custody in Risdon looming, she refused medical treatment and accepted death rather than going back to prison where she knew she would be beaten and sexually assaulted again. Marjorie identified as a woman, prison staff referred to her with female pronouns, yet she was not placed in the female prison where she would have been able to safely serve her prison sentence. Transgender prisoners deserve to serve their sentences safe from abuse and assault. It is time for change so no one has to go through what Marjorie faced.

Employers in every industry commit wage theft. Whether it’s stolen super, unpaid hours, penalty rates or overtime, if you show up, they should pay up. Wage theft has become a business model – where the fines for stealing are less than the wages stolen! Without change to the law, employers will keep thieving over and over. Currently, workers only have protection in Queensland and Victoria. All Australian workers should be protected from thieving bosses.

It is important that Liverpool City Council employees sign this petition to ensure their working rights are upheld and maintained. Employees need to advise the CEO Dr Eddie Jackson, that it is unfair to close council early and require staff to use their own leave. Further by cancelling staff Christmas celebrations Council has already saved money and therefore requiring staff to use up to 3 hours of annual leave is unfair and not in the spirit of the season.

Yarra Council area is an open, accepting community. Edinburgh Gardens attracts a wide cross-section of our community, and on a sunny day is enjoyed by hundreds who picnic, play and walk through the gardens. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of public green space. Everyone should have access to green space where they can meet family and friends, host end of year catch ups and socialise in a COVID-safe way. The proposal to institute a blanket alcohol ban will unnecessarily impact on residents' use of our public park. Not all residents of Yarra have private backyards, or space to host friends and family in a safe way. Access to public parks is really important for social connections, but also broader community connectedness. An alcohol ban would also have a disproportionate impact on marginalised people. Yarra City Councillors should not bow to a vocal minority. Edinburgh Gardens is a park for our whole community, and should be able to be enjoyed by everyone.

The proposed cuts of all foreign language studies (Chinese, Italian, and Japanese) at Swinburne Uni will be detrimental to students, denying them the possibility of learning critical languages skills. Current language students will be disastrously impacted as the proposed changes do not offer a teach out of language units leaving the more than 100 students enrolled in languages with nowhere to go to finish their studies. It will also impact the University’s reputation as a University that puts the needs of its students first. We the undersigned ask the VC Professor Pascale Quester to reconsider this decision, and ensure Swinburne University’s reputation as a University that cares about its students.

A net zero target by 2030 is essential for cleaner air, a healthier environment, cheaper power, better health and a fairer society. A rapid shift to renewables will create significant ongoing local jobs for people in trades, administration, services, procurement and other industries. As Professor Tim Flannery stated recently, 'Here’s the truth about action on climate change: it creates jobs. Plenty of them. It’s good for the economy. And it will lower power prices, protect people, and save our environment.' Join us in our race to zero!