Media Releases 2021
Read current and past media statements from the ACTU.
All ACTU media enquiries should be directed to ACTU Media team:
T: 03 9664 7315 (24 hours)
E: media@actu.org.au
Recent Media Releases
Agricultural visa program will allow employers to treat workers like property
November 10, 2021
Minister for Agriculture, David Littleproud, has conceded on RN Breakfast this morning that the new Agriculture Visa has virtually no limits on how employers can use short-term migrant workers, and evaded questions on whether it will allow workers to be traded between bosses like property.
New Agriculture Visa would strip safeguards present in routinely exploited Pacific Labour Mobility program
November 9, 2021
Migrant workers facing widely reported exploitation under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme will be at greater risk of abuse and mistreatment under the Morrison Government’s new Agriculture Visa, which offers even fewer protections than the PALM scheme.
Profits defy pandemic recession while workers continue to battle stagnant wages and rising insecurity
November 4, 2021
ACTU President Michele O’Neil will address a Senate Inquiry on job security to tell Senators that while Australian businesses netted a 17.9 per cent increase in profits over the last 18 months, workers continue to inch towards a decade of record low wage growth.
Up to 700,000 workers to have disaster payments cut today
October 29, 2021
Up to 700,000 workers will have their disaster payments cut by the Morrison Government today as Victoria reaches 80 per cent full vaccination, despite reopening being incomplete and worker capacity remaining staggered.
Workplace deaths increase two years in a row, report shows
October 28, 2021
Workplace fatalities have increased for a second year running according to data released this week. In a year that saw the Morrison Government reject including industrial manslaughter in model OHS laws, 194 workers lost their lives due to injuries at work.
$5 billion in superannuation stolen from workers
October 28, 2021
$5 billion in superannuation has been stolen by employers from almost 1.7 million men and 1.3 million women, according to a report released by Industry Super Australia today.
Removal of $450 threshold a huge win for working people
October 27, 2021
After years of campaigning by the Australian union movement, the Morrison Government finally introduced legislation today to remove the $450 minimum threshold for superannuation guarantee contributions, marking a significant step towards workers being paid super on every dollar earned.
Morrison Government attempts to shift responsibility for Respect@Work to private sector, states and territories
October 25, 2021
Attorney-General Michaelia Cash has today tried to shift the responsibility for implementing the recommendations of the Morrison Government’s Respect@Work report to states, territories and the private sector.
New data shows Central Queensland leads the country in insecure jobs
October 22, 2021
Insecure work is at crisis levels in Central Queensland, with nearly 4 in 10 workers (38.7 per cent) in casual work, well above the Australian average of 21.9 per cent, according to a report released today by the Queensland Council of Unions and the ACTU.
Australians working multiple jobs at highest level on record
October 21, 2021
There are now 867,900 Australians working multiple jobs – the highest number since the ABS began tracking secondary jobs in 1994.
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