The Victorian government is gutting the community mental health sector. It argues that it can pull this funding out of the sector because the NDIS is a better system for people with mental health needs. But here is what is really happening: • 91% of Victorian with severe mental health needs are not even eligible for the NDIS – leaving a massive 135,000 people without any support services. • Mental health admissions at ED’s have jumped over 19% in the past 4 years, putting an incredible strain on an already over-burdened system. • Victoria spends less per capita on mental health support than any other state or territory – $197 per capita to the rest of Australia’s average of $227. Along with these shocking facts, more than a thousand well-trained and dedicated Community Mental Health workers are being forced out of their jobs. This is devastating to them, their families and the people they support. Community Mental Health workers work in services that support Victorians with a wide range of mental health challenges. Their support helps people to live better lives and contribute to their communities. Community Mental Health is the frontline of mental health services that takes pressure off the hospitals and other acute services, the police and the courts. We’ve been warning of a crisis in mental health support – that crisis is now here. Vulnerable people with complex needs are falling through an ever widening gap. The Andrews government must recognise this looming disaster and act quickly to save Victoria’s recovery-focused community-based mental health support services.

Newstart at $269 per week, is $177 per week below the poverty-line. It is less than 41 percent of the minimum wage, less than 18 percent of the average wage, and has not been raised in real terms for 23 years.
 Even the Business Council of Australia has advocated to the government that the low rate of Newstart presents a barrier to employment and risks entrenching poverty. 
 Increasing Newstart would benefit local economies, by increasing the spending power of those on low incomes, whose extra funds would circulate through local businesses. It would also reduce the strain on Council community services assisting the growing number of people experiencing hardship. Eleven local councils in South Australia and Victoria have added their voices to the chorus of business, union and welfare groups which have called for Newstart to be increased. The South Australian councils which have passed motions are Adelaide, Clare and Gilbert Valley, Copper Coast, Kangaroo Island, Mount Gambier, Onkaparinga, Playford, Port Adelaide Enfield, Salisbury, and Streaky Bay. In Victoria, the Moreland City Council has also passed a motion. The inadequacy of the Newstart payment entrenches poverty and contributes to homelessness. With the growth of gentrification and development in Melbourne's inner west the Newstart payment is no longer providing the means for Maribyrnong's working-class and migrant population to live in the area. The Maribyrnong City Council should support the motion to increase Newstart and protect the area's identity as being one of the most diverse and accessible places to live in Melbourne.

Background: The Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation was established in March 2017. It’s funded by the $3 billion bequest of Australian businessman and top Liberal Party donor Paul Ramsay. The Ramsay Centre says it wants to “advance education by promoting studies and discussion associated with the establishment and development of Western civilisation.” Board member Kim Beazley also said the study of Western civilisation "needs a systematic voice" in Australian universities. In December last year, it was announced that ANU and the Ramsay Centre had opened negotiations about creating a degree. Overview of the Degree: The proposed undergraduate degree, titled 'Bachelor of Western Civilisation,' would offer text-based courses for yearly cohorts of sixty students. Thirty students each year would receive $25,000/year scholarships. The proposed program comprises 16 core courses, typically taken over three years, which will cover “great texts,” art and architecture from Western civilisation. The degree will be ‘elite but not elitist’; the ATAR required for entry will be 97. Negotiations are ongoing and both the Ramsay Centre and ANU have said academic independence will be respected. However, Ramsay Centre CEO Simon Haines has said they will review all course content, not hire teachers who have criticised Western civilisation and will withdraw funding if they think the course isn’t sufficiently pro-West. Our Stance: We oppose the ANU’s collaboration with the Ramsay Centre based on the Centre’s ideological bias and its stated aim to teach only the positive aspects of Western civilisation. We do not think that such uncritical teaching should have a place at our university. We oppose the reductive premises on which the Ramsay Centre is based: the idea of a ‘West’ and the assumption of its superiority.

The NSW Government are hell bent on selling off our public services, and there is no better example of this than what they have done to public transport in our great state. They’ve sold off Inner West buses, bungled the light rail, over-worked and under-staffed our train drivers and now they want to sell off the Illawarra/Eastern Suburbs Line (https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/eastern-suburbs-and-illawarra-line-to-stand-alone-in-a-decade-report-20180327-p4z6j3.html) Public transport should remain just that. We need public services that exist to serve our community to the highest standard possible, not a system that is motivated by profit and which can leave ordinary working people with a higher cost of living. Tell Andrew Constance and the NSW Liberal Government that NSW Public Sevices are NOT for sale and to keep the Illawarra/Eastern Suburbs Line in public hands.

The Easter Sunday public holiday is a chance for hard-working Victorians to enjoy a much-needed break and quality time with family and friends. Others won't be so fortunate and they will spend Easter Sunday making our coffees, caring for the ill, pouring our pints and cleaning our hotel rooms. They deserve to be fairly compensated for missing valuable time with family and friends.

The ANMF have consistently raised these concerns with THS, however with little outcome. As a result, on the 19th March members committed to commencing industrial action. This action will continue until the ANMF receive a commitment for the following outcomes as identified by members in their resolution to highlight the current bed block crisis: • Funding, staffing and opening up all beds on ward 4D at the LGH to its full capacity. • Funding, staffing and opening up all beds on 4K at the LGH to its full capacity. • Funding, staffing and opening up currently closed beds in the Intensive Critical Care Unit to be used as a High Dependency Unit. • An action plan for respiratory isolation. • Funding to staff permanent assistants in nursing (AINs) as sitters on the medical wards, to alleviate nursing staff from undertaking double shifts. • A long term commitment to fund and open additional medical and geriatric beds at the LGH. • Permanent funding for the Emergency Medical Unit within the ED. • Funding to staff after hours allied health positions within the ED. • More telemetry units purchased as often patients are waiting in the ED for a unit to become available on the wards. • Implementation of a Psychiatric Emergency Nurses seven days (and evenings) a week, to de-escalate and support all challenging presentations. That this position is funded from additional resources. ANMF members working at the LGH deserve better and so do the patients, families and wider community affected by the issue.

Workers deserve a fair pay rise, the cost of living is increasing and wages are not. Yakult is making millions of profits and workers are struggling to keep up. This is a kick in the guts!

In 2016, there were over 53 million failed calls to Centrelink. The Centrelink Newstart line is engaged most of the day, which means it is actually impossible for unemployed workers to contact Centrelink. This is outrageous. As a result of this system, those on social security system are unable to call up to report, change circumstances, resolve a suspension, or just ask a question. Social security recipients deserve respect. The least the Government can do is listen to what we have to say.

The National Union of Students and the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations represent over 1.4 million students and are deeply concerned about this proposed legislation. This legislation would see the repayment threshold for student debt lowered to $45,000. This unfairly targets lower income earners and therefore disproportionately impacts women and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and graduates. This proposed bill would also create a lifetime student debt cap of $104k as we move into a future workforce where graduates will be expected to retrain or further specialise multiple times throughout their working life. We need to be preparing our generation for a lifetime of learning. The proposed legislation is shortsighted, and will fail to address escalating student debt. Help us #BuryTheBill and contact a member of the crossbench.

Cleaning is hard, dirty work. From 7am in the morning, every day of the week I'm at work making sure the public housing estate I work at is clean and healthy for families who live there. I work long hours, I sometimes give up my weekends and make sacrifices every day to make sure I can pay the bills, but I’m still going backwards. It used to be that we worked hard, and we could live a good life. But that reality has been snatched away as our wages go backwards and our voice at work is silenced. We have to change the rules so we can all have a job we can count on, and a wage we can live on.

The Fairwork Commission is undergoing a review that focuses on swim teachers pay for the industry. Most of the swimming instructors we work with will train for anywhere between 6 and 12 months. The process to become a swimming teacher is quite long and arduous. We do internal train, we do training courses we must have Working with Children and CPR certifications. We would cover these requirements over the 6 – 12 month period. During this time, however, we would at times still be required to teach classes generally due to the lack of teachers on a given shift. So, there we are, teaching kids to swim but technically still a ‘trainee’ and being paid that way. Given their way employers want this sort of practice to be written into the Fitness Industry Award by having a ‘trainee swim teacher’ role at level one. Given that the words ‘swim teacher’ don’t come into the Award until level 3, this would blur the lines terribly for new swimming teachers coming into the industry. We want to make a difference. We want to change the rules, so they support young workers not exploit them. We would really appreciate your support!

Australian Unions call on the Australian Government and Minister Kelly O'Dwyer to actively support the development of, and ratify once adopted, the new ILO Convention aimed at preventing violence and harassment in the world at work, including sexual harassment. We need to send a message that we won’t tolerate workplace gender violence: Not here, not anywhere. Sign the petition