Month: August 2025

The Albanese Labor Government recognises 50 years since the Gurindji land handback, a turning point in the struggle for Aboriginal land rights.
 
On 16 August 1975, Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam poured soil into Vincent Lingiari’s hands, during an official handover ceremony which formally granted the Gurindji people a lease to a parcel of land at Wave Hill cattle station.
 
It would become an iconic image of land rights and a defining moment in Australian history.
 
Almost a decade earlier, on 23 August 1966, 200 Gurindji, Mudburra and Warlpiri stockmen, domestic workers and their families, led by Vincent Lingiari, had taken a stand.
 
They led a walk-off from Wave Hill station against injustice, not just about their pay and working conditions but about their land.
 
The Wave Hill Walk-Off continued for nine years, during that time the strikers moved back to their traditional Country at Daguragu (Wattie Creek), closer to their sacred sites.
 
The lengthy campaign was a significant milestone in the Aboriginal land rights movement.
 
Their courage helped pave the way for the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) 1976 Act, Commonwealth legislation enabling First Nations people in the NT to claim land rights for Country where traditional ownership could be proven.
 
Next week, the annual Freedom Day Festival will bring people together on Gurindji Country to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the handback and the anniversary of the Wave Hill Walk-Off.
 
The 2025 Freedom Day Festival, a celebration of land rights, self-determination and community, will be held at Kalkarindji August 22 – 24.
 
Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese:
 
“Today we remember a mighty victory and we honour those who fought and won their long battle for justice.
 
“Even now, when we hear the word Gurindji we picture the endless blue of the outback sky and the vivid red earth trickling from Gough’s hand into Vincent’s. 
 
“That iconic image stands as an enduring tribute to the courage, determination and solidarity of a proud people.
 
“Yet as Gough said to Vincent on this historic day: “Your fight was not for yourselves alone”.
 
“There is more to do to ensure traditional owners can unlock the economic potential of their land and build the long term prosperity that will see their communities thrive.
 
“Let the milestone we look back on today, inspire us for the journey ahead.”
 
Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy:
 
“The Wave Hill Walk-Off laid the foundation for Aboriginal land rights across the Northern Territory and the country.
 
“This year’s Freedom Day Festival will reflect on 50 years since the Commonwealth, through Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, recognised the Gurindji people, through Vincent Lingiari.
 
“The formal handover of land to the Gurindji people – and the soil passing from one hand to another – is a defining moment in the Aboriginal land rights movement and Australian history.”

The Albanese Government is delivering on its promise to boost Adelaide’s housing supply with the completion of another 40 new DHA homes in Angle Park.

The 40 three-bedroom townhouses in the Northwest Quarter estate, built by local builder Burbank Homes, will bring additional Defence families into the Angle Park community in coming weeks.

The new completions come on top of 14 homes built in the Stage One precinct in 2023, with another 31 new build-to-rent properties expected to be complete in coming months. These total 85 properties will support Defence personnel living in the region. 

In addition, 102 lots have been sold to private owners, supporting a mix of Defence and non-Defence tenants living alongside each other.

The area was selected as it is conveniently located less than half an hour from both RAAF Base Edinburgh and the Osborne Naval Shipyard, and offers Defence families easy access to Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Adelaide’s CBD.

Defence members and families have already settled into the estate’s Stage One properties, and the DHA housing and private properties will ensure posted families can build connections with the local community. 

Around 150 local workers were employed in the construction of the new properties.

Minister for Defence Personnel, the Hon Matt Keogh MP: 

“This is a win for Defence families and a win for Adelaide’s housing supply.

“Whether it’s directly building new houses or crowding in private construction investment, it all helps to take the pressure off Defence families looking for a home.

“The Northwest Quarter is booming, with ADF families and non-ADF families working and living side-by-side to build up a thriving local community.

“We remain dedicated to increasing Defence capability across the country; providing our personnel with quality, secure housing in convenient locations plays a vital role in attracting and maintaining our workforce to support this capability.”

Defence Housing Australia Managing Director, Andrew Jaggers: 

“DHA is proud to deliver another housing development that fosters engagement between ADF members and the wider community.

“It’s rewarding to stand here today in acknowledgement of 40 new Angle Park Northwest Quarter properties entering DHA’s portfolio to support growth plans for the ADF and the required capability in the Adelaide region.

“DHA remains dedicated to meeting the needs of our ADF members, and we now turn our attention to completing the next 31 properties at Northwest Quarter through our leasing business model to create long-term and rewarding opportunities for investors.” 

The Greens will move to establish a Senate Inquiry into the safety and quality of early childhood education and care as soon as Parliament resumes, after what they and the sector have described as a failure to act with urgency on a system in crisis.

Australian Greens spokesperson for early childhood education and care, Senator Steph Hodgins-May, says years of neglecting the system has left children at risk and families without confidence.

In the last sitting week, the Greens supported a Bill allowing government subsidies to be cut from centres that repeatedly fail to meet quality standards. But Senator Hodgins-May told the Senate these were “band-aid fixes” that would do little to lift quality:

“Tinkering with the subsidy system will not keep our children safe. We need more than reactive tools to act after harm occurs — we need leadership to prevent that harm in the first place.”

The proposed inquiry would examine the regulatory system, workforce, and whether the current subsidy model supports high-quality care. It would aim to deliver recommendations to keep children safe and also inform long-term reforms towards universal early learning — a goal the Government has outsourced to Deloitte at a cost of millions and a delay of years.

The push comes as a rapid review into Victoria’s early learning system is completed and a NSW parliamentary inquiry is underway. The Greens say a Senate inquiry would bring this work together nationally to keep kids safer in every state and territory.

Australian Greens spokesperson for early childhood education and care, Senator Steph Hodgins-May:

“We’ve tried repeatedly to work with this government on what should be a once-in-a-generation reform of early learning, but with no sign of urgency to fix this broken system, we’re taking matters into our own hands.

“This morning, the Prime Minister couldn’t offer a real plan for fixing the childcare crisis — just another round of patchwork meetings while children remain at risk and families keep paying the price. It’s not good enough.

“A Senate Inquiry will shine a proper light on a system in crisis, expose the conditions enabling abuse and neglect, and make strong recommendations for real reform.

“The sector and families are calling for change now. The Prime Minister says he wants childcare to be the legacy he’s remembered for –  we urge him to work with the Greens to make this vision a reality.” 

The Greens are urging Labor to avoid a second Robodebt-scale scandal by stopping all welfare payment suspensions immediately, following the release of a second damning report into the welfare system in two weeks.

The Deloitte report, released late yesterday, shows widespread legal and technical failures in the system responsible for the accurate administration of income support payments.

This is the second report in two weeks to smash the welfare compliance system, after a damning Commonwealth Ombudsman’s report that found over 1,000 welfare recipients had their welfare payments unlawfully cancelled by the automated system over two years.

While Labor has paused all cancellations and reductions of payments under the compliance scheme, tens of thousands of welfare recipients are still subject to harmful payment suspensions each month. Nearly 350,000 payment suspensions were issued in the first quarter of 2025, from roughly 800,000 welfare recipients who had compliance requirements during that period.1

The government excluded payment suspensions from the scope of the Deloitte review, but they will be considered by the Commonwealth Ombudsman in a further volume later this year.

The Greens have called on Labor to stop these welfare payment suspensions immediately, a call which has been echoed by a broad coalition of community groups including the Anti-Poverty Center, Economic Justice Australia and the Australian Council of Social Services.

Senator Penny Allman-Payne, Greens spokesperson for Social Services:

“Labor doesn’t seem to care if people on income support get the payments they need to make ends meet or not.”

“Hundreds of thousands of people are losing access to vital payments that they need to put food on the table – all because of a system flooded with inaccuracies that treats ordinary income support recipients like criminals.”

“Can the Employment Minister hold her hand on her heart and say that over 100,000 payment suspension penalties issued against welfare recipients each month are accurate? Are they lawful? Are they fair?”

“Robodebt showed us that automated systems can’t be trusted with peoples lives, and nor can so-called employment service providers who profit out of peoples poverty.”

“Clearly this system has not been fixed since Robodebt. And while Minister Rishworth hides behind Department officials, income support recipients are unfairly losing payments they need to put food on the table and keep a roof over their head.”

“Labor can’t wait for another report – they need to end payment suspensions right now.”

Key findings from the Deloitte report:

The Deloitte review confirmed legal issues in the system, stating that “legal and evidentiary basis for compliance actions […] cannot be consistently documented, verified, or reconciled with legislative provisions or policy intent.” (p8)

It describes a system where “errors and noncompliance may go undetected, and where systemic issues are not reliably escalated or addressed” (p10).

Despite the passing of new laws requiring the use of discretion when pursuing welfare debts, the report found “no records were available to demonstrate compliance with this requirement.” (p9)

The Deloitte review demonstrates that the Government has for years shown disinterest in meeting their legal obligations and avoiding undue harm to welfare recipients in keeping with the recommendations of the Robodebt Royal Commission. 

The Minns Labor Government is delivering on its commitment to build a fairer NSW by rolling out nation-leading emergency safety materials for passengers with vision impairments or intellectual disabilities on regional rail services.

Led by NSW TrainLink, the initiative introduces new accessibility measures including Braille for passengers with vision impairments and Easy Read format for people with intellectual disabilities.

This means if a TrainLink passenger is blind, has low vision, or has an intellectual disability, they’ll have the same access to life-saving emergency information as every other passenger.

These new materials help all passengers understand what to do in an emergency – like finding the nearest exit, pressing help buttons, or safely getting off the train.

Coinciding with National Rail Safety Week, the comprehensive suite of new safety materials is part of a blitz to make regional rail travel in NSW safer and more accessible. Other material includes:

• Animated safety videos both on board and on platforms
• Audio announcements on board trains and platforms
• Revised onboard safety cards in Braille and Easy Read formats
• Accessible station information including posters, digital screens and signage

The rollout of these groundbreaking materials is part of the Minns Labor Government’s broader commitment to ensuring essential services work for everyone in our community.

Minister for Regional Transport Jenny Aitchison said:

“We are making safety information more accessible at every stage of the journey.

“The Minns Labor Government believes in fairness and that means ensuring every passenger, regardless of their abilities, has equal access to the safety information they need to travel confidently on our regional rail network.

“Rail Safety Week from 11 to 17 August is a great opportunity to remind passengers of how important it is to be prepared in case of an emergency.”

Minister for Disability Inclusion Kate Washington said:

“The introduction of Braille and Easy Read safety materials represents a significant step forward in making public transport truly accessible.

“More than 450,000 Australians have an intellectual disability, and many more have vision impairments. This important initiative ensures those passengers have the same access to critical safety information as everyone else, which could save someone’s life.”

Council for Intellectual Disability advocate Shannon Lalor said:

“It’s vital that appropriate emergency messages reach everyone travelling on trains so they know what to do in an emergency. Easy Read helps people with intellectual disability understand information about staying safe on trains.

“These cards help people stay safe, especially when travelling long distance. We need to know this important information just like everyone else.”