Category: Australian News

From Tuesday the Morrison Government will provide women leaving a violent relationship access to a one-off payment of up to $5,000 to help them establish a life free of violence.
Under the two-year Escaping Violence Payment trial women will receive financial assistance of up to $1,500 in cash with the remainder available for goods and services or direct payments of bonds, school fees or other support to help establish a safe home.
The UnitingCare Australia Consortium has been selected as the service provider to deliver the payments and will also support women to engage with other relevant services that support women and their children. This includes other Commonwealth or state and territory government funded community services.
Minister for Women’s Safety Anne Ruston said the payments would help address the financial barriers that may stop women leaving violent relationships.
“We know that financial hardship as well as economic abuse, which may involve interfering with work or controlling or withholding money, reduces women’s ability to acquire and use money and makes it difficult to leave violent relationships,” Minister Ruston said.
“The new Escaping Violence Payment aims to help address those issues so women have more security when making that brave decision to leave any form of intimate partner violence – including physical violence, coercive control and financial abuse.
“The payments will assist people who need financial support to leave. We know the size of the house a woman is fleeing doesn’t matter – often she bundles the kids into the car, maybe the dog too and they leave with nothing more than the clothes on their backs.
“The Morrison Government is absolutely committed to ending domestic, family and sexual violence and this new program offers another tool in the toolkit under our record $1.1 billion investment in women’s safety.”
UnitingCare Australia National Director Claerwen Little said the Escaping Violence Payment would help women to access some of the essentials needed to create a safe home and life for themselves and their children.
“The UnitingCare Network has extensive experience supporting victim-survivors of domestic, family and sexual violence and staff would leverage that knowledge to provide a wrap-around service for women and their children,” Ms Little said.
“We believe that all people, especially women and their children, have the right to live freely and without fear, and this payment is an important step forward to ending violence against women and their children.
“As part of the individualised support packages, UnitingCare Network agencies will provide tailored assistance and engage with other relevant agencies that support women and their children including other Commonwealth or state and territory government funded community services.”
The Escaping Violence Payment is not considered taxable or reportable income and will not impact on any other social security payments a recipient may be receiving. Eligibility includes financial stress and evidence of domestic violence including, but not limited to, a referral from a family and domestic violence service provider with a risk assessment and safety plan, an AVO, court order or a police report.
Women can apply for the payment through UnitingCare Network from 19 October 2021. More information will be available at unitingvictas.org.au/escaping-violence-payment
The Escaping Violence Payment will build on and complement existing programs offered by state and territories, as well as Australian Government support offered to women experiencing violence, including:

• Services Australia’s Crisis Payment for Extreme Circumstances of Family and Domestic Violence
• No Interest Loan Scheme for Women Experiencing Domestic Violence
• Emergency Relief
• Keeping Women Safe in Their Homes.

The two-year trial will be independently evaluated to assess the benefit of the payment, including demand, eligibility criteria, needs of specific cohorts, and how it works with related services.
The $144.8 million Escaping Violence Payment trial is part of the landmark $1.1 billion women’s safety package contained in the 2021-22 Women’s Budget Statement.
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au

The Greens says today’s second interim report from the Select Committee on Job Security shows that the Morrison Government’s ideological mission to outsource the public sector has seriously undermined the Australian Public Service’s ability to deliver services and provide effective policy advice.
Greens deputy leader and public sector spokesperson Senator Larissa Waters said:
“Under the Morrison Government we’ve seen the public service gutted and billions handed out to massive multinational consultancy firms and labour hire companies.
“This rampant outsourcing has produced more expensive, lower quality and less transparent service delivery, while seriously damaging the public sector’s ability to provide effective and impartial policy advice to government.
“Unsurprisingly, the big consultancy firms profiting from this systematic undermining of the public service – EY, Deloitte, PwC and KPMG – are massive political donors, stuffing a combined $4.7 million into the pockets of the major parties over the past decade.
“Australia needs a strong, independent public service capable of meeting the education, housing, health, social security, environmental protection and infrastructure needs of the country. But this PM, true to form, is more interested in delivering corporate handouts than he is in delivering good policy outcomes.
“The Greens support the report’s recommendations to rebuild public service staffing levels, strengthen job security, reduce our reliance on contractors and consultants and improve public oversight of outsourced advice.”
Greens candidate for Canberra Tim Hollo said:
“The outsourcing of ever more essential government functions to private corporations has serious negative impacts on both the Canberra community and the state of our democracy.
“People go into the Public Service because they want to contribute to its vital work, but they’re finding it devastatingly under-funded, with more and more of its work being contracted out to for-profit corporations like the Big 4 consultancy firms.
“Talking to people across the city, from junior public servants to senior ranks, I hear deep frustration that the federal government is constantly undermining their capacity to do their important work through under-funding, contract work, and outsourcing.
“I also speak to countless Canberrans who share our concern about the ties the major parties have to these consultancy firms. People rightly make the connection between the huge amounts of political donations the Labor and Liberal parties receive from these firms, and the loss of job security and capacity within Canberra’s biggest employer.
“But what should worry everyone in this country is that what we’re seeing through this process of corporatising the basic functions of democracy is a shift from governing for the public good to government by for-profit corporations.”

Australian Greens Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has welcomed the publication of the Senate Select Committee on Job Security’s second interim report, and called for its recommendations to be implemented.
Senator Faruqi, who is a Committee Member, said:
“Wage theft at our universities is out of control. What’s worse, most universities are continuing to wipe their hands of it and dismiss the systemic and serious nature of the underpayments.
“Casual workers, and particularly women who are overrepresented as casuals, are bearing the brunt of this wage theft that has been allowed to flourish, almost completely unchecked until now. Casualisation and wage theft are inextricably linked. We heard from so many university staff during this inquiry about their horrific experiences.
“An entire generation of casual academics have been hung out to dry.
“Our universities are in desperate need of a massive investment of public funding after the devastation of Covid-19 and the abandonment of the sector by the Commonwealth. But we also need an overhaul of university governance. The corporate university has been built by corporate, neoliberal university management.
“The report provides some very useful recommendations. There should be much clearer reporting requirements with respect to employment statistics. The government should require universities set publicly-available targets for increasing permanent employment, and link this to funding. There should be improved rights of entry for trade unions. All very useful initiatives, and some the Greens have proposed strengthening.”

The Covid outbreak at the Park Hotel detention facility was a preventable crisis that is a direct result of Government negligence, the Greens say.
“The Liberals were warned repeatedly that this would happen, but because of their cruel indifference they left people in cramped and unsafe conditions,” Greens Immigration Spokesperson Senator Nick McKim said.
“These are people who have been locked up for over eight years and were in Australia for medical treatment. It is a complete failure of duty of care at every possible level.”
“The Australian Government has manifestly failed to deliver the protection it owes these men.”
“With more cases every day, it is incumbent on the Minister to give these people freedom and safety in the Australian community, with appropriate medical care and precautions to ensure that they and the broader community are safe from Covid.”

The Greens have today tabled legislation to extend and reinstate the temporary visas of people who were stranded overseas because of international border closures.
“Tens of thousands of temporary visa holders, including people with established homes, jobs and in some cases partners in Australia, were overseas when Australia’s international borders closed due to Covid-19,” Greens Immigration Spokesperson Senator Nick McKim said.
“Many more had spent thousands of dollars on their visas, had packed up their homes, quit their jobs and were about to move to Australia when the borders closed.”
“Despite their best efforts to return, many have been left languishing overseas watching their visas run down and expire through no fault of their own.”
“The pain and trauma this situation has caused is immeasurable, and there is still no end in sight after more than 18 months.”
“At no point in the pandemic has the Government addressed the pain that the border closure has caused to temporary visa holders stranded overseas.
“They have no plan, no timetable and no pathway for how people on temporary visas will be able to return to their homes, jobs, lives and partners in Australia.”
“The Greens Legislation provides this pathway, by extending visas by the amount of time people have been stranded overseas or reinstate visas that have expired while a person was stranded overseas.”
“The legislation will apply to all temporary visa classes that have been affected by the international border closure.”
“We urge all Members of Parliament to support this Bill.”

The Morrison Government is boosting Australian led stem cell research through $25 million in grants, to help find and develop innovative, safe and effective treatments for devastating diseases and injuries.
Through the Government’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), the Stem Cell Therapies Mission is investing $150 million over 10 years to support world-leading stem cell research, which will improve health outcomes, in partnership with patients and carers.
Up to $25 million is available over five years from 2021-22 through two funding streams –

• Stream 1 – up to $15m: to support the development of novel stem-cell based treatments by disease-focused large-scale multidisciplinary teams.
• Stream 2 up to $10m: to support large-scale projects that will focus on pre-clinical evaluation and screening of new treatments using human tissues made from stem cells involving large-scale multi-disciplinary teams.

To receive grants, projects must be working towards a final product or therapy, have a feasible pathway to market, and consider the ethical, legal and social issues associated with the treatment.
Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt, said previous projects funded by the Mission are already starting to show promising results.
“These early, yet promising findings, show that our Mission is on track to develop and deliver safe and effective stem cell medicines and treatments that will benefit all Australians who need them,” Minister Hunt said.
“Australia is taking a lead role in stem cell research, and I encourage all stem cell researchers to consider applying for these grants, which will help improve and save lives.”
Previous projects funding through the MRFF Stem Cell Therapies Grant include Professor Peter Currie and his team at Monash University, who have identified a new function for a molecule to activate the body’s own muscle stem cells to repair injury or disease. This finding could change treatment options for tens of thousands of Australians who experience the debilitating effects of muscle injuries and wasting diseases.
Also recipients of previous grant funding, the Council of Queensland Institute of Medical Research researchers have found that inflammation is likely the primary driver of cardiac injury in COVID-19 patients. They have identified a class of drugs that could prevent this and will shortly begin a Phase II clinical study to determine safety and efficacy.
The grants are being offered in line with the Morrison Government’s recently released Stem Cell Therapies Mission Roadmap and Implementation Plan.
These key strategic documents will ensure the Mission remains focused on the priorities determined by an expert advisory panel, led by co-chairs Professor Melissa Little and Professor Mark Kendall.
Applications for the 2021 Stem Cell Therapies Grant Opportunity are now open, with funding available over five years from 2021–22. More information on the grant round can be found at www.grants.gov.au and on the MRFF at www.health.gov.au/mrff.
The Morrison Government’s $20 billion MRFF, is a long-term, sustainable investment in Australian health and medical research, helping to improve lives, build the economy and contribute to the sustainability of the health system.

With a Senate Committee into the Juukan Gorge crisis due to conclude today, the Greens have announced a comprehensive $767 million ‘Caring for Country’ plan to expand protections for Indigenous areas and sacred sites, fund more First Nations ranger programs and legislate environmental personhood to areas of First Nations significance – ensuring that future crises’ like that at Juukan are avoided. 
“Caring for Country is our birthright as First Nations people. Successive governments have undermined Aboriginal land rights and heritage protections to favour big corporations, who often make big donations to the Liberal and Labor parties,” said the Greens spokesperson for First Nations: Gunnai, Gunditjmara and DjabWurrung Senator Lidia Thorpe.
“To avoid the kind of destruction we saw at Juukan, we need better laws to protect First Nations heritage and Country.
“That’s why the Greens will legislate environmental personhood to areas of First Nations significance. Environmental personhood is giving nature, or parts of nature (like mountains, rivers, and lakes) rights in the same way that humans have rights.
Environmental personhood reconfigures our relationship to the lands we inhabit through an Aboriginal lens. We rely on our lands, waters and sky to survive. Likewise, our lands, waters and sky rely on us to survive. Our plan, released today, reflects this ongoing connection to Country.”
The Greens will: 

• Strengthen laws to protect First Nations tangible and intangible heritage, knowledge, and intellectual property
• Expand Indigenous Protected Areas that are owned, cared for and managed by First Nations people
• Triple funding for First Nations ranger programs as Ranger programs deliver up to $3 worth of environmental and socio-economic value for every dollar spent. This is a $767m commitment

“Billionaires, big polluters and big corporations will foot the bill. They have profiteered off stolen lands for decades. It’s about time they Pay the Rent and work with us to heal Country, for everybody’s benefit.” Said Thorpe.
Yamatji-Noongar Senator for Western Australia Dorinda Cox: the Greens spokesperson for Mining and Resources said:
“Juukan Gorge was legally obliterated, sanctioned and given permission for ‘the right to destroy’ by the current and brutally unfair law, that saw the economic benefits of mining more important than the connection of First Nations people to their Country,” she said.
“The destruction has caused deep trauma and shock for not only the First Nations people of the immediate area, and in WA, but across Australia and the world.
“The consequential hand wringing and apologies by the mining companies mean nothing if our laws continue to allow proponents to legally get away with destroying these cultural sites.
“Our people, our lands, for now and into the future need certainty, not a wink and a nudge that we can trust mining companies to do the right thing, because history has shown us that we can’t trust them.
“I now call on all shareholders, investors, mining company boards and executives to stick their necks out and publicly call on the WA Aboriginal Affairs Minister Stephen Dawson to rethink the draft Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Bill and give First Nations people the final right to say ‘No’, rather than giving him the final say.
“Aboriginal people want to see the Bill before it is introduced into Parliament, we want to make sure that it includes internationally recognised best practices around Free, Prior and Informed consent, otherwise it’s not worth the paper it’s written on.
“We have been waiting 50 years for this Bill to make First Nations the primary decision makers of their cultural heritage, and this once in a lifetime moment cannot be lost to us,” she said.
Unfairness of the Bill: 

• The Minister still gets the final say, even if Traditional Owners say no;
• The draft Bill still allows proponents to legally destroy cultural heritage sites;
• Aboriginal people are not the primary decision makers.

 
To find out more about Caring for Country, see: https://greens.org.au/campaigns/caring4country

The Greens have today announced that in the balance of power after the next election, they will push to boldly reform our defence force to ensure a peace-focused approach is prioritised.
This announcement coincides with the 20th Anniversary of the beginning of the invasion of Afghanistan, Operational Detachment A574, on 19th October 2001.
Australian Greens Peace Spokesperson, Senator Jordon Steele-John said:
“The Greens are committed to reducing defence spending, this will make $312 billion available over the next decade for essential services our community needs. We can build 1 million homes, ending homelessness. We could improve ventilation in schools, making our kids safe. We could get dental and mental health into Medicare. We could increase income support so no one in the country needs to live in poverty.
“Our Australian Greens Towards Peace plan will renegotiate our alliance with the United States, close all foreign military bases in Australia, reduce defence spending and prioritise peaceful efforts in our region to tackle the climate crisis.
“As we reflect on the war in Afghanistan, it’s clear there was a complete lack of any overarching strategic objective from the very beginning. It’s been 20 years of bloodshed, trauma, and occupation. And many in our community have expressed deep sadness and anguish at the humanitarian disaster that has unfolded.
“We must never again participate in a colonial war of aggression. Our goal must always be peace.
“Our community does not want our future to be at the behest of the United States of America. The Australian Greens are committed to re-negotiating the ANZUS alliance, we will not proceed with the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine deal, and we will close all foreign military bases across Australia.
“This is the plan we need to ensure a peaceful future for our country. Our plan will make Australia a better global citizen, and can ensure everyone in our community has what they need to live a good life.”
The details of The Australian Greens plan:

• Reduce defence spending to 1% of GDP by 2026 ensuring that Australia has a light, readily deployable, and highly mobile force that is commensurate with our size and location;
• Renegotiate the US alliance with the terms of a new relationship focused on making Australia safer and a better global citizen;
• Pass War Powers legislation that is currently before the Senate to require Parliamentary approval for decisions that commit Australia to war;
• Close all foreign military bases in Australia;
• Sign and ratify the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty; and
• Ban the development and use of lethal autonomous weapons.

From today, a new Head to Health pop up clinic will open its doors providing additional mental health support for Canberra residents who have been substantially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Morrison Government invested more than $1 million to rapidly establish a Head to Health pop-up clinic as the ACT navigates the COVID-19 outbreak.
Canberra residents seeking help can call a dedicated number (1800 595 212) to talk to a mental health professional and be directed to the most appropriate care for their individual needs. Telehealth services will also be available.
Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt, said residents will also be able to access face-to-face services from November 1, 2021.
“Mental health is a key part of Australia’s pandemic response and the current restrictions across the country have been taking a toll on the mental health and wellbeing of Australians, including those in the ACT,” Minister Hunt said.
“This clinic will play an essential role in supporting ACT GPs, private and public hospitals and emergency departments, by providing accessible mental health care.”
When fully operational, the clinic will have a team of mental health support workers, including psychologists, mental health nurses, social workers, care coordinators, peer support workers and other allied health professionals with experience in mental health.
Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, David Coleman, said similar pop-up clinics in Victoria and New South Wales were supporting thousands of Australians.
“This clinic is using the same model of care as the 15 HeadtoHelp clinics we established in Victoria during their extended lockdown in 2020, and the 10 which opened in NSW on 6 September 2021,” Assistant Minister Coleman said.
“Established in record time, these clinics are readily accessible and free, and they are making a real difference for people affected by the pandemic.”
Video and phone supported mental health and assessment services will be available, as well as COVID-safe face-to-face support where recommended by a clinician.
Senator for the ACT, Zed Seselja, said “These are extraordinary times and the Morrison Government recognised very quickly that the mental health burden of the COVID-19 pandemic across the country and here in the ACT was of great concern.”
“As the ACT starts to open back up again, many Canberrans are facing mental health pressures and these services will ensure they can access mental health support when they need it.”
The clinic will form a strong alliance with existing or planned ACT Government mental health services, allowing a coordinated territory-wide approach to intake, assessment and referral processes for mental health services to be adopted.
The Morrison Government continues to make mental health a national priority, investing a record $2.3 billion in the 2021-22 Budget for the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan to lead landmark reform of the mental health system. This includes a record $6.5 billion in mental health and suicide prevention services and supports in 2021-22, doubling since 2012-13.
The ACT ‘Head to Health Pop Up’ clinic will operate until 30 June 2022.
In addition, Australians looking for support throughout the COVID-19 pandemic can access the Beyond Blue Coronavirus Wellbeing Support Service any time via telephone at 1800 512 348 or online at coronavirus.beyondblue.org.au.
Anyone experiencing distress can also seek immediate advice and support through Lifeline (13 11 14), Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800), or the Government’s digital mental health gateway, Head to Health.
If you are concerned about suicide, living with someone who is considering suicide, or bereaved by suicide, the Suicide Call Back Service is available at 1300 659 467 or www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au.

The Morrison Government has now paid out around $234 million to support more than 6,250 child care services across locked down areas of New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT.
Fortnightly payments of 25 per cent of pre-lockdown revenue are available to child care services impacted by lockdowns. Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) services are eligible for payments of 40 per cent.
These payments will continue until those jurisdictions allow all children to return to child care and for OSHC, all school levels return to face-to-face learning.
Minister for Education and Youth Alan Tudge said the payments were keeping services open and ready to welcome back children once lockdowns lift.
“Thanks to these payments, services have stayed open, staff have been kept in work and families have had much needed fee relief during these lengthy lockdowns, Minister Tudge said.
“It is a condition of the payments that services pass on gap fee waivers to families, meaning our child care subsidies continue to flow to services, without parents paying for days their children can’t go to care.
“Now that our vaccination rates are soaring and lockdowns are ending, families can get back to work knowing their local child care centre or after school care is still open.
“Given each jurisdiction is easing restrictions at different rates, we will keep payments flowing until kids are allowed back to child care and back in classrooms.
“I want to take the opportunity to thank all the hard-working educators and staff who have remained on deck throughout the pandemic to care for the children of essential workers.”
The payments are in addition to existing supports, such as additional allowable absences from care and gap fee waivers which allow Commonwealth Child Care Subsidy to continue even when children are not attending.
Payments have been made to 3,405 services in NSW ($120 million), 2,586 in Victoria ($99 million) and 266 in the ACT ($15 million).
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, over $3 billion has been invested in the child care sector to support families.