The Fair Work Commission has proposed alarming changes to the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award that would have devastating consequences for our sector, our workers, and the people we support.

When businesses collapse, Australian workers have a safety net. Migrant workers don’t. Right now, temporary visa holders are locked out of the Fair Entitlements Guarantee (FEG)—the government scheme that ensures workers get their unpaid wages, redundancy, and leave entitlements when employers go bust. 🚨 This isn’t just unfair—it’s exploitation. Shady employers game the system, shutting down businesses to dodge paying workers. The result? Migrant workers lose everything.

Work doesn’t look the same as it did a decade ago. Jobs are less secure and while we’re working harder than ever just to break even, bosses are using new technologies not to help but to make our jobs more difficult. If we’re serious about defending the fair go at work, we need to change our workplace laws so that: bosses can’t listen in on your phone calls, read your emails or track you at work AI can’t be used to hire or fire you, or push you to do unsafe work you don’t miss out out on long service leave just because the business name at the top of your payslip changes you can work from home if you want and if it’s possible with your job.

Victorian public schools are the lowest funded in Australia – and the Premier has walked away from her promise to fix this. Every school in the state is affected. That means the learning and wellbeing of every student is negatively impacted. In January 2025, Premier Jacinta Allan signed an agreement with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to deliver full funding to public schools – this was cause for celebration, especially during a chronic teacher shortage. But what the Premier didn’t tell us was that her government had already decided not to pass on any additional funding until 2031, effectively cutting $2.4 billion from our schools. Victoria is the only state or territory in Australia that does not have arrangements to deliver fair funding. This is unacceptable. Funding delayed is funding denied.

A lot of Victorians in all sorts of industries can’t work from home - but our whole community wins when those who can work from home are given the option. It means fewer cars stuck in peak hour traffic and less congestion on public transport. Local small businesses benefiting from increased lunchtime demand. Families with someone around to pick up the kids up after school. That’s why I support moves by the Victorian Government to legislate a right to work from home for two days per week for people who are reasonably able to do so. I want all politicians, and all Victorians, to get behind this simple proposal that will improve the lives of millions of Victorians and their families.

More than 2000 Victorian nursing and midwifery students will miss out on a graduate program place in our hospitals in 2026. Student nurses and midwives will find out if they have a graduate place on Wednesday 17 September 2025. It is absurd that many of the students who received financial assistance from the Victorian Government and the taxpayer and encouraged to start their course in 2023 will be told they are not wanted or needed. Nothing could be further from the truth. We know that our public and private hospitals are relying on nurses and midwives to work overtime and double shifts, and employers are still relying on agencies to fill gaps in the roster.