The Australian Services Union, on behalf of 200,000 workers in the Social and Community sector, has lodged an Equal Remuneration Order (ERO) with Fair Work Australia. The ERO seeks to address the wage inequality between workers in the community sector as compared to those in similar roles within Government and For-Profit sectors. The Union is asking for pay rises of between 14-50%, bringing the predominantly female industry to parity with the Government and the for-profit sector.

Workers driving the Campaign for Equal Pay are those in the Social and Community Sector – careers, disability support workers, youth workers, counsellors and domestic violence support workers. 87% of workers in this sector are women, most in low-paid jobs, providing invaluable support to some of the most vulnerable people in our community in what are intellectually and emotionally strenuous roles. These workers fall under the Social and Community Sector (SACS) award classification.

Dear Mr Rudd,

What a difference 3 years makes!

In 2007 you promised a more humane approach to asylum seekers and refugees – no more children in detention, an end to indefinite detention and detention only as a last resort, for the shortest possible time.

Three years later you’re channelling John Howard – moving to suspend claims for asylum seekers from Afghanistan and Sri Lanka and resurrecting isolated desert detention centres.

What happened to the new leadership you promised? Please respect the rule of law and meet Australia’s international obligations, by treating these vulnerable people with the dignity and respect they deserve.

The Greens have been calling for review of our anti-terrorism laws since well before the Rudd government was elected. Rammed through our Parliament in 2005, the Howard-Ruddock anti-terrorism laws demand urgent review and overhaul rather than strengthening, because of how seriously they undermine our human and civil rights.

A 448-page National Security Legislation Discussion Paper on Australia's anti-terrorism legislation was introduced to the parliament by the Attorney General Robert McClelland on 12 August 2009. It is open for comment until 25 September 2009.

The Government plans to remove two of the three work eligibility criteria from the Independence Test for Youth Allowance, effective from January 2010.

This impacts greatly on prospective university students who have deferred their studies, embarked upon a gap year and worked in good faith that they would qualify as Independent and be able to leave home to start university.

30,700 students are estimated to be affected by the removal of these work eligibility criteria, and despite the Government's assurances, we are yet to know how many of those 30,700 will be eligible for income support under the changes.