I’ve been a loyal worker in Kmart’s Truganina Distribution Centre for over two and a half years. Even though I was engaged through a labour-hire company as a casual, the work was regular and reliable. I get on well with my co-workers and manager, and have never had any problems or disciplinary issues at work. I am in my 50s, with a family and the regular work at Kmart has meant a lot to me because it can be hard for older workers to find employment. I thought that after years of hard work and good service this was a steady job and I organised with Kmart to take my first holiday in years, even though I knew this was unpaid because I’m a casual. After my well-earned break, which was approved by my employer, I did not hear from Kmart about shifts. When I called them, I was shocked to be told there was no more work and that I would need to return my security pass. When I tried to find out why, I was told that there was no more work, even though since that time Kmart has engaged a number of new casual labour-hire employees in roles I could easily be performing. I want to go back to work at Kmart. 200 of my co-workers have already signed a petition on site to ask Kmart to bring me back to work, but the company has refused to listen to them. Because of my status as an agency casual, I am left in a legal limbo – despite my service I have no legal claim to reinstatement, even though I have been sacked for taking a holiday, which would be illegal if it happened to a permanent worker. This has left me feeling stressed, has been hard on my family and I just want to go back to work at Kmart.

• Starting formal school at a younger age goes against what contemporary research shows is best for children’s holistic learning and development. • The changes could potentially have a devastating effect on the viability of many child care services, especially in regional areas where some centres may be forced to close. Starting formal schooling at such a young age is developmentally inappropriate and can be damaging to children’s long-term health, wellbeing, learning dispositions and educational attainment. Cambridge University expert in the cognitive development of young children, Dr David Whitebread, says, ''the overwhelming evidence suggests that five is just too young to start formal learning…The empirical evidence is that children who have a longer period of play-based early childhood education, finish up with a whole range of clear advantages in the long term. Academically they do better and they experience more emotional wellbeing.'' If this change in the Education Act really is about increasing Tasmania’s education outcomes, do not send our children to school before they are ready.

Telstra claims that whilst it still supports marriage equality it will not 'publicly participate in the debate further.' However this comes at the request of groups actively opposed to Marriage Equality. Telstra's decision to yield to the Catholic Church's demand shows a lack of respect and care for the well-being of LGBTI workers and customers who may feel ostracised by this decision.

Deakin University has decided to withdraw from its campus in Warrnambool for reasons that are not primarily about the viability of the campus. The campus is vital to the future of Warrnambool and its region. It provides rural and regional families with an opportunity to complete a university degree, and for local students to get the benefits of a higher education. With the local community, staff, students, unions and local and State governments all committed to ensuring a university campus remains in Warrnambool, what is needed now is for Minister Birmingham and the Federal Government to make a commitment to ensuring the campus remains open. PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE OUR PETITION TO #SaveWarrnamboolCampus

Australia's big banks mishandle, mismanage and misappropriate our hard earned wages on a daily basis. And the Liberals haven’t done a thing about it. If former investment banker Malcolm Turnbull is serious about cleaning up the banks, he can't sit on his hands any longer while workers are getting ripped off. We're sick of the way we're being treated by the banks, and believe the best way to get to the bottom of the problems in an industry riddled with fraud, corruption and mismanagement is with a royal commission.

Sam's story: "I’m a disability worker and I have been employed in the sector for 15 years. I currently work across three services as a permanent and casual employee. "There is a lot of burnout in the sector and workers suffer from traumatic events due to the nature of the people we support." Matt's story: "I have supported people with disabilities for over 20 years in nine casual positions. If I received long service leave and I added all my years together, I'd have six months off. Instead I've had five unpaid holidays in 20 years." Andrea's story: "I have worked in the mental health sector for over 26 years, and I have worked two jobs for the last 8 years. I have been focused on getting to the 10 year mark, now to find that it’s at the discretion of my employer and 15 years is the benchmark – who makes it through 15 years at one front line service?" Kim's story: "I’m a Pre-School Field Officer and have been employed in the sector for 28 years. In this time I have gained several qualifications and taught in a range of workplaces, but my hard work has not been rewarded with long service leave at any time. " Sign our petition to show your support for better, fair long service leave. Let’s fix long service leave.

Handing over the titles to public housing properties to the non-government sector doesn't benefit public housing tenants or the community who has invested in public housing over decades. Such fundamental change should only proceed where clear benefits can be demonstrated and after a full community debate. The CPSU represents workers at Housing Tasmania who strive everyday to find suitable accommodation for vulnerable and disadvantaged Tasmanians. We believe this is one of the most important responsibilities of a government. The Hodgman government has been unable to explain why the titles to these properties need to be handed over in fact the responsible Minister previously acknowledged doing so could negatively impact tenants. In the 1980s the UK government sold off much of its public housing and now is having to buy back property for public housing in a million dollar market. Tasmania should learn from this experience.

In February, staff at Hog's Breath Cafe Kelmscott applied to the Fair Work Commission to terminate their 2007 agreement, which puts us in a position where we are worse off than what we would be under the award. Under this agreement, we are denied penalty rates, and are on average $59 worse off each week as a result. In addition to this we can be sent home from a shift after one hour of paid work, we do not get paid extra for working overtime and have to pay for our uniforms. For many of us, $59 a week can be the difference between whether or not we can afford textbooks for uni, can pay the week's rent and bills and sometimes whether or not we can get by without skipping meals or running out of petrol. Being sent home after an hour of work can mean it cost you more to get to work than the amount you get paid for that hour. We've since found out that a number of Hog's Breath Cafe franchisees have tried to get away with the same thing, and have retained dodgy, unfair agreements that were pushed through when the Howard government's anti- worker WorkChoices laws were still in place. WorkChoices was meant to be abolished after Labor won the 2007 election, however these antiquated laws are still dictating the wages and conditions of many workers in Hog’s Breath Cafes around the country. Hogs Breath Café workers deserve better than this. We deserve the at the very least the basic legal minimums set out under the Award, and staff should be compensated for having to miss out on important time with family and friends when they work weekends.

I am an early childhood educator. Every day I help shape the future chances and choices of every child I educate. But today, on International Women’s Day, my colleagues and I did something quite different — and a little scary: we chained ourselves to Malcolm Turnbull's office. Why? I was born in 1968. One year later, a brave woman called Zelda D’Aprano shocked the nation by chaining herself to Melbourne’s Commonwealth Building to protest against women being paid substantially less than men. That was almost 50 years ago, yet my colleagues and I are paid one third less than those educating children just a few years older – for one reason: 94 per cent of us are female. I have been waiting my whole life to have my work valued the same as a man. Educators are fed up. We won’t die waiting for equal pay. We want Malcolm Turnbull to fix this. Please stand with us and tell him it’s time to value our work by funding wages that befits our essential and invaluable profession. https://youtu.be/yzVcR4nSWXY

Trove is a phenomenal resource for anyone looking for information in Australia. It is a free and democratic portal to content from all of Australia's public libraries and archives as well as universities. Trove provides a gateway to old newspapers, video clips, archived records, sound and pictures. It is the digital age dividend for all our prior investment in information management. Read more: http://theconversation.com/treasure-trove-why-defunding-trove-leaves-australia-poorer-55217 Mr Turnbull, we need Trove and we need our public libraries.

Workers at Zerella work hard in tough conditions to produce the 250 tons of carrots plus other vegetables that go straight to Woolworths every week. Workers joined the union after finally getting rid of labour hire contractors that were paying them less than the minimum wage. Now Zerella workers want to negotiate a union workplace agreement, and have signed up to say so. Workers are taking their legal right to join a union and collectively bargain for a workplace agreement. People around Australia, many who shop at Woolworths every week, will not stand for intimidation. People around Australia will stand for human rights and decent workplaces.

Bullying is a real issue that can seriously hurt young people. A majority of young LGBTI people report bullying and 80 per cent of those say that it happens at school. All young people should be able to feel safe and supported at school, and this program is helping to do this. Despite scare campaigns around the program, schools make decisions about their level of involvement with Safe Schools, how much of the program they use and what is appropriate for particular age groups. Schools need to have the freedom to run these kinds of programs if they believe it is necessary to help create a safe environment within the school for all students.