Media Releases
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
Sally McManus. Inequality speech to TJ Ryan Foundation, Brisbane
June 29, 2021
We are coming to an end of an era. The end of the 30 years of the neo-liberal experiment.
Consensus that neoliberalism is the right approach for society has fractured, as the results of this experiment are there for everyone to see.
Working people were promised more jobs, greater wealth and better services.
Unions tell Morrison Government to “just get the job done” and mobilise to vaccinate aged care workers
June 28, 2021
The Morrison Government has announced today that it will mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for those working in the aged care sector by September, but announced no plan as to how they would act to urgently vaccinate the two-thirds of aged care workers who are yet to receive their first dose, other than an inadequate $30 per dose worker payment for sick and vaccination leave for the 180,000 unvaccinated staff.
Morrison pushes mandatory vaccines to distract from failed vaccine rollout
June 28, 2021
The ACTU understands the Prime Minister will pressure state and territory leaders today to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for aged care workers. This decision should be made by public health experts, based on the best scientific and medical advise and not by politicians seeking to distract from the ongoing cost of a failed vaccine rollout.
Sydney lockdown and poor vaccine rollout renew calls for JobKeeper 2.0
June 25, 2021
Woollahra, Waverly, Randwick and the city of Sydney have gone into lockdown, renewing union calls for
Jobkeeper 2 to be brought in to cover ongoing lockdowns caused by the Federal Government’s failure to
rollout the vaccine.
Unions call for paid domestic violence leave as domestic sexual assault surges.
June 25, 2021
Family and domestic violence-related sexual assault surged by 13 per cent during 2020 according to figures released yesterday by the ABS.
Government’s Respect@Work reforms fall short
June 24, 2021
After years of campaigning by unions and gender equality advocates, the Federal Government has introduced a Bill to the Senate with a limited set of reforms which fall short of protecting workers from sexual harassment and gendered violence at work. The Bill has been referred to the Senate Employment and Education committee to report by the 6th of August.
Morrison continues attacks on retirement savings
June 17, 2021
The Morrison Government has rammed another ideological attack on the superannuation system through the Parliament, ensuring that millions of working people will be worse off in retirement by hundreds of thousands of dollars.
2.5% increase for minimum wage and award workers, but increases for hard-hit sectors delayed
June 16, 2021
Unions have won a 2.5 per cent pay increase for a quarter of all workers through the Fair Work Commission’s annual minimum wage case, despite hard-line opposition from the Federal Government and big business. However, unions are disappointed that the Commission has decided to delay this increase for hundreds of thousands of workers, including those in retail where many companies have posted record profits.
ACTU calls for transparency on UK-Australia Free Trade Deal
June 16, 2021
The UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement has been negotiated in secret for almost a year and the legal text of the agreement still have not been released, with the only detail about the deal coming from Prime Ministers Morrison and Johnson.
ACTU/TUC joint statement on proposed UK/Aus FTA
June 12, 2021
The UK and Australian Government are set to announce an in-principle agreement at the G7 summit this weekend on the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement that has been negotiated in secret for almost a year.
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