Older Women's Network NSW in Newtown, New South Wales | Community group

Older Women's Network NSW

Locality: Newtown, New South Wales

Phone: +61 2 9519 8044

Address: 8-10 Victoria Street 2042 Newtown, NSW, Australia

Website: http://ownnsw.org.au

Likes: 3176

Add/Update information

Reviews

Tags

• Community group
• Non-profit organisation
• Community organisation
• Non-governmental organisation (NGO)

25.01.2022 For anyone wondering why trade unions are necessary, the ruling by the Federal Court against a McDonalds franchise will provide the answer. The union took a franchisee of Maccas to court because it didnt want to implement a 10 minute break for every 4 hours worked rule. The manager sent an sms to workers saying that if it did, then the workers would only be able to go to the toilet and drink during that break and not when they are working. The Federal Court has just ruled... that workers can go to the toilet and drink water while they are working. Yes. It is unbelievable that it took a court case to draw the line for humane behaviour. https://bit.ly/2YRDPRS

25.01.2022 The numbers are clearer and it needs repeating. More than 71% of women on support have been relying on it for at least a year. For women aged 45 and above, they are on support for at least 5 years. 5 YEARS!!! For many, JobSeeker (or Newstart) had become a defacto age pension until they hit retirement age. Under the LNP, the number of women in their 40s, 50s or 60s living on welfare have gone through the roof. It needs repeating that there is nothing in this budget to encoura...ge employers to hire older workers, including older women. There is nothing in this budget for increasing the rate of Newstart so we will return to $40/day at the end of the year. There is nothing in this budget to build social housing even though older women are the fastest growing cohort amongst the homeless. It needs repeating that this government does not care about older women. https://bit.ly/OWN20_216

24.01.2022 If you have a place of worship that is special to you, how would you feel if thousands of tourists were to climb all over it and take selfies on its roof every day? Exactly. Uluru is a sacred place for indigenous Australians, and we've finally made the right decision to respect that. Channel 9 paid a right-wing racist senator to climb Uluru for the sake of generating headlines and nasty soundbites. This is unethical and totally unacceptable. The media is meant to report on news, not create it like this by stoking racism. Our sense of community is being destroyed by profit driven media and we should call it out. #Boycott9 http://bit.ly/OWN20_218

24.01.2022 Imagine the scenario. A man grabs the breasts of a woman on a street and says, "Why dont you go and get a bigger set of tits?" He then smashes a wine glass in the face of his girlfriend. When the police turn up, he kicks a policewoman in the mouth. Fast forward a few months and he is involved in another domestic incident and has to be subdued with pepper spray when he assaults the police. Now he gets invited to join celebrities like Patti Newton to take their clothes off f...or entertainment. Doesnt it just send the right message? Its perfectly fine to assault women because you can still be celebrated on TV. Tell Channel 7 that its NOT OK! WhatsApp them: 0438 777 123. http://bit.ly/OWN90_196

24.01.2022 What would it do to your mental health if every day, you get various messages from men who write to tell you which particular implement or technique he’d employ to anally rape you? This is what our female journalists experience, and one which other women who engage in social media will occasionally face. Men who hate women, and who want to 'put women in their place', are proliferating the internet, creating their 'manosphere' of misogyny. We agree with Julia Baird that the a...nswer is not for women to 'ignore and leave' the platform, or 'grow a thicker skin'. We must confront this, call it out and report it. The problem is that their ideas about the need for rape to be tolerated, or legalised; that there is a vast feminist conspiracy and the (false) claims about women lying about rape and domestic violence can be readily found on sites with many thousands of members. And these ideas are 'leaking' into the mainstream. When women are seen as something to be controlled, mistreated, raped and abused because they are not following orders and behaving according to certain men's norms, we will continue to see violence against women. #16DaysOfActivism https://bit.ly/39n7Cr

24.01.2022 The greed of aged care providers knows no bounds. 92 year old Norma Atkins lay dying in hospital from COVID19 for a month but Menarok continued to charge her fees. Her son has not heard back from them after asking for a refund. He is one of many families of residents of the home who were continued to be charged even after their loved ones were taken to hospital and died. Rick Morton of the Saturday Paper has written a brilliant piece about how we ended up in this position. It... started with John Howards reform of the aged care sector in 1997. It basically ripped apart the safeguards, funding and regulation necessary to keep our elderly safe and let in the wolves. For instance, he noted that before John Howards 1997 aged-care changes, the number of registered nurse (RN) hours that a typical nursing home with 60 residents was funded for and received was 308. Within a decade, it dropped to just 198. Today, it is 168 hours in a week. The article is definitely worth a read. You can find it here: https://bit.ly/3iod5jI The Guardian article about Norma Atkins can be found here: http://bit.ly/oWN20_197

24.01.2022 We support the Health Services Union's call for a pay raise for aged care workers. We agree with its president who pointed out that aged care has relied for too long on the goodwill of the underpaid, insecure and predominantly female workforce. It is such an irony that these workers are working themselves into poverty and will not be able to afford aged care themselves in the future. The government does not need to wait for the report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care to... act now. The union survey has found that "four in ten aged care workers intend to leave the sector within the next five years, because they are at breaking point." The workers who provide care to our elderly deserve to be paid more, and ratios in care must be put in place. They do just as valuable a job as our politicians but earn less per hour than what politicians get for a single meal allowance. It is unacceptable. https://bit.ly/35lZdCx

24.01.2022 The Aged Care Royal Commission has labelled the homecare system as "unfair, cruel and discriminatory" in its interim report which called on the Government to cut the waiting list. There are more than 100,000 on the list, and 28,000 have died waiting. In the meantime, the government has done absolutely nothing to stop the price gouging of vulnerable older Australians, with providers charging up to 70% in fees. Someties, the fees charged are more than the service itself. Like ...Anns mother, 93 year old Evelyn Micallef. She was charged $550 in admin fees for a $354/month service to be showered. Richard Colbeck, the Minister for Aged Care, says that this is "reasonable" because there is "competition" which will "drive down the cost of the provision of care". The reality on the ground shows that this government is engaged in ideological war against its own citizens and were paying the price. Taxpayers are being fleeced and our vulnerable older Australians are not receiving the care they deserve and need. https://ab.co/3ij5Mtx

24.01.2022 Cate Turner is in her 90s and still actively trying to change the world for older women. She has experienced the gender pay gap first hand. When I finally retired I found out that my equivalent in Victoria, a man, was paid one thousand dollars more than me and had a car. It made me feel very bitter. She nearly found herself homeless when she retired despite having a long professional career in HR. Cate, therefore, is highly attuned to the issues OWN has long campaigned on. Cates passionate about helping older women not fall into homelessness. Weve voted for Cate to be a Westfield Local Hero. By voting for Cate, youll be supporting OWN continue our work to help older women! Vote here: http://bit.ly/OWN_Cate

23.01.2022 It's amazing how quickly the government will act to get what it wants. It is spending millions to keep a small family in detention despite their contribution to the Biloela community who want them back. It can quickly commandeer a RAF aircraft with 8 staff to accompany Matthias Corman to help him get a job in Europe. But it won't move quickly to help child victims of abuse, including sexual abuse, get their compensation from institutions which facilitated/covered up/did nothi...ng to stop the abuse. With every day that passes without the victims being compensated, they are being robbed of an extra day of getting a little bit of comfort to ease the aches, pains and health complications which have arisen from the trauma they suffered. It is UNACCEPTABLE that they be made to wait longer. How many of them have died since the National Redress Scheme was announced before they got their compensation? 80 organisations have yet to sign onto the scheme. Why is the government also dragging its heels in concert with these organisations? Many of these victims don't have much time left. This is a national disgrace. https://bit.ly/39oUhiw

22.01.2022 We know its tough for people to be locked up in hotel quarantine. Even though its only for 14 days, the impact is not pleasant and weve seen how people have tried to escape or smuggle guests into their rooms. Imagine the uproar if lockdown was for months on end. But it is exactly what were subjecting some of our elderly to. We already know that some nursing homes are short-staffed and COVID has meant that its easier to lock residents in their roooms. There is just not en...ough resourcing to provide the care and support they need, so residents are literally locked in their rooms for months. Shane Durance tells of Jill, a resident who has decided to stop eating and drinking because she cannot leave her room or see her family. "We could provide additional staffing so as to ensure that patients were allowed to be taken out of the garden and supervision for at least an hour a day I mean, surely, a prisoner gets at least that." Another nurse also warned that proper infection control is still an issue in some aged care homes, with cross contamination from the positive unit to the negative unit still taking place. Were calling for the system to be fixed so that our elderly like Jill dont have to give up the will to live, and they can be better protected. Thats why we support having mandated ratios in aged care. https://ab.co/3hzDud8

22.01.2022 Being a leader means owning up to failures and taking responsibility. Yesterday, Scott Morrison once again defended the indefensible - that the government had a plan for dealing with COVID in aged care facilities. They dont. They failed in not having a national strategy.They failed in not preparing for dealing with the inevitable eventuality of staff falling ill and having to replace nearly the entire workforce. They failed in alerting aged care homes of what happened in Ne...wmarch and coming up with a plan if it happened in Victoria. Most importantly, it has failed for so many years in not acting on all the reviews on aged care. The Aged Care Royal Commission issued a statement yesterday that the government is failing to establish independent monitoring and reporting of aged care quality outcomes. The best part? A Liberal backbencher said he is "not entirely sure a royal commission coming up with policy solutions to aged care was a good idea in the first place". We know where the buck stops. But do they? https://bit.ly/3aQvUsW

21.01.2022 When Josh Frydenberg said "We Have Your Back" last night during the Budget speech, it was clear that the backs of women, and older women in particular, were not included. The country is going to take on a trillion dollars in debt, but it is not doing anything to deal with poverty, homelessness and climate change. Fydenberg said that "This Budget is all about jobs". While the initiative for workers who are 16-35 is very welcome, there is not a dollar for the biggest group of p...eople on Newstart - ie those between 50 - 64. Giving employers incentives to hire younger workers without a corresponding initiative for older workers is to leave older workers on the scrapheap. Pensioners are going to get $500 cash to make up for not increasing the pension rate. Why not just raise the pension rate? There is also no good news for JobSeeker to be extended beyond December. Going back to $40/day is forcing people to live in poverty. It's bad for the economy too. Poverty causes terrible health outcomes, including mental health conditions. There was only a $1billion loan finance scheme for building community housing. That falls far short to what we need - investment in building 5000 houses a year for 10 years. Women make up 51% of the population but we're the biggest losers of the budget which was engineered by the boys. Older women will continue to slide into homelessness in bigger numbers than before. And that's unforgivable. https://ab.co/34uerUq

21.01.2022 Heres an example of when not using a gender lens costs lives. Doctors and nurses who are not white, standard-sized males are finding that the N-95 masks provided to them in hospitals do not fit properly. The Australian Medical Association has raised the alarm that only 1 size of N-95 masks which fit your standard-sized white male construction workers is being provided. This is particularly problematic for young female health workers, as the masks are generally tailored for ...larger faces. Only South Australia has fit testing of masks implemented. Were calling for the safety of our doctors and nurses, and other frontline staff in contact with COVID patients, to be provided with the right sized masks. It is unbelievable that even this basic infectious disease control step has to be begged for during this pandemic. http://bit.ly/OWN20_194

21.01.2022 This is Dr Jesse Zanker, one of Victorias health care response team members now working to support residents in nursing homes which are COVID positive. Dr Zanker is having to break terrible news to residents and their families every day, including on multiple palliative or "end of life" decisions. He paints a situation where nurses and even he are left in tears because they are in a situation where resources and support are not available to enable them to do the job they wa...nt to do. Is this THE PLAN that Scott Morrison says he has in place for aged care in this country? The Aged Care Royal Commissioner disagrees and has recommended last Friday that the government set up a national coordination committee for aged care. However, Scott Morrison has rejected this advice. Watch the 7:30 Report tonight on the ABC to hear directly from Dr Zanker and his colleagues. Were traumatising and letting down not only our elderly in nursing homes, but also the brave medical and other support staff who are working with them now. https://bit.ly/OWN20_192

20.01.2022 At the AGM of the Older Women's Network NSW, the members agreed that the pension age for women should be lowered to 60. It is becoming impossible for older women to find employment. And it is cruel to expect older women, like the others on welfare, to survive on $40/day. 1.4 million people are on JobSeeker at the moment. Over half of those those aged 60 and above are women. With the government giving incentives for employers to hire workers under 35, older women will be left... permanently on the scrapheap. 65 year old Jessica Harrison has a job as a part-time cleaner, but can't find anything else, despite applying for every job she has seen, including a park ranger job. She's stressed because she knows that cuts of JobSeeker will mean even less money in December. The statistics prove it, the research backs it up and the stories illustrate how older women are being left behind. Scott Morrison simply does not care about older women. https://bit.ly/3nUtdwy

20.01.2022 Senator Rachel Siewert reported in her Twitter feed on Thursday that the government has introduced legislation to make the Indue Card permanent in the current trial sites and introduce it to the Northern Territory and Cape York. It is a violation of human rights and evidence has shown that IT DOES NOT WORK. In fact, it makes life even harder for those on the card. A previous Senate hearing heard for instance of a nursing student who was unable to buy a stethoscope and univers...ity books from the Medshop. The Indue staff said she could not buy those things as she may be trying to buy hand sanitisers to drink. The plan to roll it out to include pensioners will continue unless we make our opinions known. The Indue Card does not permit cash withdrawals and it will also make life a lot more expensive because we will not be able to purchase second hand goods, or buy from markets. The government is on the path of transferring our welfare system towards a private company that has no interest in the wellbeing of welfare recipients. And it will not come as a surprise that this company is owned by LNP linked individuals. https://bit.ly/3nCU8wD

20.01.2022 On the same day as he excused his philandering ministers who breached their own code of conduct by saying that they were just victims of 'human frailty', with no reference to the women who were involved and whose careers were destroyed because of it, Scott Morrison announced further cuts to JobSeeker. Now, the unemployed will need to survive on $50 a day while he takes home over $1500 a day. Let us not forget the large number of older women who are stuck because ageist employ...ers are being incentivised further to practice ageism through the government's handouts to employ people under 35. At a time when the economy is COVID infected, and when there are more people than jobs on offer, forcing people to live on $50/day to cover rent, food, transportation and medical expenses is just cruel. Human frailty to Morrison only applies to well-fed, comfortably housed, handsomely paid ministers who can't keep their zip up but not to older women who are struggling to survive. https://ab.co/2UfHCWo

20.01.2022 The best place in Australia if you need aged care is a Victorian government run facility. Research by the Royal Commission into Aged Care has found that public aged care homes run by the Victorian government are the best performing in 21 of 24 clinical indicators, and all 14 of the other quality benchmarks, which include resident feedback and workforce conditions. The evidence is clear. There were 2000 Covid infections in private & not for profit facilities with 655 deaths in... Victoria ; but only 3 residents who contracted COVID with ZERO deaths in Victorian government run facilities (6% infection rate vs 0.1% infection rate). Dan Andrews has announced that he'll set aside $40million to improve staffing ratios in aged care if Scott Morrison will fund recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety to introduce minimum mandated staffing ratios in private and not for profit residential aged care facilities." Morrison does not need to wait till February for the final report to put into place an important measure which is evidence based. Dan Andrews has challenged him to act on it now, with a commitment to put extra funding by the state to support this. What is Morrison waiting for? https://bit.ly/2Va0kzd

20.01.2022 These are the faces of the two children who were killed by their father. Jack kept a cricket bat in his room to protect himself, and his sister Jennifer tried to never have her back to him for fear that he would hit her. They were forced by the court to continue seeing him even though they told the court appointed childrens advocate that they were terrified of him, and that he had hit them. The police knew he had a long history of violence but granted him a "Commissioners... Permit" for firearms. Imagine the years of terror that they and their mother, Olga, suffered. Olga could not live without them and took her own life 5 months after their murder. Domestic violence is a serious problem, and our courts and police need to understand it better. Ingrained attitudes about parental rights to access their children must be challenged by the reality that some parents are dangerous and abusive. It is not in the childs best interests to have contact in these situations and the court has to recognise this. We also need to change the policing system. How can a man with such a violent past be allowed near firearms? There are many more Jacks, Jennifers and Olgas out there. We need to keep speaking up to change the system. https://ab.co/2DIc0nO See more

19.01.2022 We've been beating the drum about this for some time. Jane Caro's latest opinion piece summarises it beautifully. More older women are retiring into poverty and homelessness due to government policies, and nobody seems to care. Jane Caro asks, "Why is it the only people who seem to notice are older women themselves?" She gives the examples of: 1) 400,000 women over the age of 45 are facing homelessness 2) Women who are in the private rental market, who are not employed full ...time and are a sole parent have a 64% risk of losing the roof over their head. 3) 61% of all jobs lost since February were lost by women, and only a third of the jobs that have returned have gone to women. 4) 60% of older single women (never married, divorced, widowed) rely on the full age pension and half of them live in permanent income poverty. COVID has made it difficult for us to march on the streets, especially those of us who are older. If you care about these issues, please sign up to become a member. There is strength in numbers. Join us: https://ownnsw.org.au/get-involved/membership/ You can read Jane Caro's article here: https://bit.ly/33aCjfI

19.01.2022 Imagine living in house where there's mould everywhere - it's in the walls, it's in the ceiling, it's in the floor, it's in the carpets, it's in the kids' toys, it's in the kids' clothes. This is the reality of Shay and her 4 children who live in public housing. At a time when the government can provide funding to fix these issues, it's not doing so despite the great advantages to jobs creation that this also offers. No MP in Parliament will need to put up with this, even though they're also in a public building. Would Scott Morrison allow his wife and daughters to live in these circumstances? We thank Jason Clare for raising this issue in parliament yesterday.

19.01.2022 Were very happy to announce that Caroline Baum is the inaugural OWN NSW Ambassador! Caroline is an author, journalist and deeply committed to social justice. She was born in the UK and has worked for the BBC, Time Life and Conde Nast in the UK before moving to Australia in 1984. In Australia she has worked in all media from print to radio and television, as well as co-producing a documentary. She is the author of ONLY: A Singular Memoir, (published in 2017 by Allen&Unwin) de...scribing her complex life within a family traumatised by history and domestic violence. She is now the carer of her mother who has moved from the UK to live with her. Caroline has written about aspects of ageing, ageism and aged care, and also hosted and moderated national forums and webinars. "Ive experienced ageism professionally and personally. Its not pleasant but unlike a lot of the challenges facing us as a society right now, this one is not that hard to fix. I feel motivated and energised by this role with OWN and hope that I can provide more opportunities for older womens voices to be heard in the forums that count. I urge older women to join our community for the opportunities to learn, contribute, grow and celebrate through the stories that demonstrate our spirit of curiosity and resilience, and the wisdom we have to share with our sisters, daughters and friends." Please join us in welcoming Caroline to the OWN family!

19.01.2022 Two stories. One message. That women are playthings and dont matter. Canterbury League Club has re-elected George Coorey as its chairman despite his appalling behaviour. "Ask any of the women that used to go to the club. He used to grab his dick and balls when somebody was walking past, stick his tongue out, saying come and sit on my lap." In South Australia, the University of Adelaide failed to remove its Vice-Chancellor Peter Rathjen, after he groped and kissed his colleagues at an event. It took the states corruption watchdog to deal with the matter. Denigrating and sexually harrassing women are not acceptable, and our institutions/organisations keep rewarding this behaviour by promoting men who do so!

18.01.2022 Did you know that 34% of single women (divorced, widowed or never married) are living in poverty by the age of 60? That number rises to 50% of them once they are on the aged pension. Its not their fault. Women are paid less than men, and are expected to pick up caring duties and sacrifice earnings and savings without recognition for their contribution. Plus, theres sexual harassment and domestic violence thrown in the mix. Jane Caro has written a brilliant article about why older women are poor. You can read it here: https://bit.ly/34QMNCE What infuriates her the most (and us) is the government response - that women are poor because we are financially illiterate and therefore we need to learn how to manage money! That just shows how blind they are to the reality on the ground.

17.01.2022 Peter Dutton does not bat an eyelid to spend your money on a $60,000 dinner wining and dining representatives of the World Customs Organisation in Cairns. He is part of the LNP government which is intent on keeping people in poverty. Reports out today show that demand for food relief has risen by 47% on average during Covid-19, driven by casual workers and international students. At the end of this year, the JobSeeker supplement is due to be cut, and everyone will return to the old Newstart rate of $40/day to survive. Politicians who spend thousands on one meal are dictating how much we should survive on if we're unemployed. It's Anti-Poverty Week and we hope you can sign up to the campaign to Raise the Rate. https://raisetherate.org.au/

17.01.2022 If youre sitting on reports which indicate that assaults, including sexual assaults, are increasing in nursing homes, what would you do? Wouldnt you want to act as soon as possible to prevent these from happening? Not if youre Richard Colbeck. He delayed the implementation of the Serious Incident Response Scheme to July 2021. We agree with Prof. Joe Ibrahim who said that the federal governments lack of action on the thousands of reports it was sitting on "borders on crim...inal". Prof. Kathy Eager believes that "We need an ombudsman in aged care and whistleblower legislation, which mandates staff to report assaults if the provider doesnt." We agree with both of them. We wonder what it will take to get Scott Morrison to shed a few tears for the vulnerable elderly who are being abused and assaulted now in the same way he did for the poor young woman who could not say farewell to her father in Queensland. http://bit.ly/OWN20_198

17.01.2022 If we waited for all police and courts to be trained before implementing any law, domestic and family violence will still not be a crime here in Australia. We have police officers and judges who hold deeply misogynistic views of women, but the laws are in place to allow women the opportunity to use it to escape abusive relationships. It's not a perfect situation, and advocates are continually working to improve it. Those who say that coercive control should not be criminalise...d because police and court systems are not skilled to deal with it should be heard, but their concerns can be addressed by strategies which can be put in place to train police and courts over time. It will not be perfect, but it's a start. Coercive control is another form of violence against women. Criminalising it sends a powerful message to the community that it is unacceptable behaviour. We know that even though the law is there, it doesn't stop some men from hitting women. But it has stopped others and the community knows it is wrong. In the same way, while coercive control will not stop all men from engaging in a systematic process of belittling and controlling their partners, it will stop some men and the community will know it is wrong. Coercive control was present in the relationships of 111 of the 112 domestic violence related murders that were reviewed between 10 March 2008 and 30 June 2016 in New South Wales. That's more than enough proof that it's time to criminalise it. https://bit.ly/3nA8qND

17.01.2022 Yesterday, we posted about how how under-staffed and under-resourced the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission is. Today, we have to say that the Commissioner, Janet Anderson, is unqualified to hold the position, together with Minister Colbeck. Yes, that same Minister for Aged Care who is unable to tell you how many people in nursing homes have died, and how many are infected. Nurses in St Vincents Hospital have revealed their distress, shock and horror at having to care ...for an elderly resident who was admitted to hospital suffering weeks of neglect. She was a resident of Kalyna Care which FAILED its audit. The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission found that the nursing home was not dressing wounds and relieving pain to the standard necessary in early July. It took the Commission ONE MONTH to release the official report, by which time COVID had taken hold. The Commissioner did not had any plan to deal with the situation, and neither did the Minister. If a nursing home has already been found to be failing in its duty of care to its resident, it should immediately ring alarm bells and measures should be put in place to support residents. Instead, NOTHING was done, and this poor woman was left to "rot" in her bed. But it appears that this is acceptable to the Commissioner and the Minister because they havent come up with any plan to show us why this wont happen again. That woman left to rot to death is someones mother, aunty, grandmother and friend. Our hearts are broken. https://bit.ly/3hk1yS1

16.01.2022 It's what you'd expect from a shonky sales operator - just keep lowering your targets so you look good when you 'overachieve'. Then you pay yourself a handsome bonus. Trouble is, it's the taxpayers who are forking out for this sham. Meet Stephen Rue. He's the CEO of NBN. He paid himself a $1.1 million for 'overachieving' targets that he himself lowered. Apparently NBN executives were paid $3million in bonuses at the same time that they put their hand out to the government (ie... us, the taxpayers) for more money to fix problems in the NBN. How good is Australia that executives can get away with this? https://bit.ly/3niwXGX

16.01.2022 While smaller nursing homes are genuinely struggling, some of Australias biggest not-for-profit nursing home providers are generating large cash surpluses. A researcher from the University of Tasmania, Jason Ward, has found that even though 4 out of the 5 largest non-profit nursing home operators reported a loss for 2019, they actually had at least $26million cash flow each. They use the extra cash to invest in property, and report the difference as a loss. Ward said that it... is not possible to see how money is actually spent because these charitable and religious institutions do not have to report detailed figures. "The focus on growth may come at the expense of providing high-quality care for elderly Australians," he wrote. "As consolidation continues and smaller operators are forced out of the market, the lack of transparency and accountability is a growing concern." And we wont be able to see how taxpayer funds (over $18billion) are actually spent because the government voted against making this transparent to us. So we wont know how many millions are being spent to increase building assets for these religious and charitable institutions, and how much is being speng on care and meals for the elderly residents. https://bit.ly/OWN20_189

16.01.2022 Workers at the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission which regulates nursing homes say that it is a toothless tiger, under-resourced and under-staffed. 60% of them revealed they dont have enough time on-site to identify problems. They cant take photos, record key interviews, or photocopy & take information away from them. Believe it or not, providers can choose not to answer questions! On top of that, 25% of the staff are contract hires who dont have the training or expe...rience to handle complex cases. The workers union report that the response time to complaints had blown out to longer than 190 days in some cases, with as many as 300 cases unresolved at some times. According to one assessor, there is "no real penalty to failing the meet standards. Just the inconvenience of additional visits from the commission." What a sham. https://bit.ly/2Qp8rpr

15.01.2022 Today, we want to send a special shout out to all the women out there who are surviving, and trying to keep head their head above water in terrible circumstances of violence. We know we're not doing enough as a society to help you leave. We have not made investments in public/social housing, that is why so many of you leave violence and drop straight into homelessness. Our welfare payments are below the poverty line, that is why so many of you leave abuse and land straight in...to destitution. Law enforcement and the judicial system are riddled with barriers and obstacles, that is why so many of you leave assaults to drop straight into a mental nightmare. We can do better and we must. On International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, there's one thing we can do to make it better. Please sign the petition calling for the criminalisation of coercive control: https://bit.ly/3n68W65 #16DaysOfActivism #NoToViolenceAgainstWomen

15.01.2022 This is proof that were never too old to dream or to start something. Harbhajan Kaur is a 94 year old entrepreneur. She started her business when she was 90. Her daughter asked her if she had any regrets in life and Harbhajan said that she had never earned money. So, the idea of Harbhajans was born. She now makes her signature dessert and her daughter helps her to sell it. It has expanded to chutneys and a couple of other delicacies - all made by Harbhajan herself. What an inspiration!

15.01.2022 We just dont get it. Up to last week, frontline firefighters in rural NSW have been begging for their old equipment to be replaced. Some of them operate old trucks with water tanks which leak! Small brigades are also fighting fires in trucks that are more than 20 years old and not fitted with an up-to-date fire suppression system, dedicated sprinklers for the windows and tyres, and a heat curtain to protect the crew in an overrun. Celeste Barber has raised $51 million for the RFS. We agree with the Greens that there has to be transparency and accountability in the use of this pool of money. It is beyond reason why these firefighters are not given the right equipment when money is already in the kitty and the bush fire season is now upon us again. https://bit.ly/2QEpB2s

15.01.2022 We're being told that we'll be paying much more for fruit and vegetables this summer because crops are being left to rot in the fields as there are not enough workers to pick and process them. It was a job which was mainly done by backpackers but with COVID closing borders and stopping international travel, the farmers have been worried as to why they can cope. We do know, however, that this is a sector which is riddled with sexual harrassment, poor working conditions, and ve...ry poor pay. The government wants to see more unemployed Australians working on the land, but news reports have revealed that farmers prefer to hire cheap, easily exploitable foreign workers over locals. The New Daily has spoken to unemployed locals across the country who say they are struggling to find farm work, with many applying for almost 30 jobs and hearing nothing back! On top of poor pay (which can be as low as $4.60/hour) many jobs also required workers to stay in local hostels, which don’t come cheap. The going rate can be upwards of $250 per week for a bed in a dorm. Don’t agree and you don’t get the job. (read more about this issue here: https://bit.ly/36UtIz3) Unless the government cleans up the industry and farmers pay a decent wage, more fruit and vegetables will be left to rot and we'll all pay a higher price. https://ab.co/3flD7Dk

14.01.2022 It's not unusual for anyone to be entangled with the wrong type. Many of us have given our hearts to individuals who, in hindsight, were clearly unsuitable. Our premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has found herself in this position. We believe she has every right to have a private life, and to make relationship mistakes. She's only human. Unfortunately for her, the man she chose has been shown to be corrupt, and we do not know the extent of her knowledge of his deeds. She only ended... the relationship in August when ICAC came knocking on her door. When giving evidence yesterday, we heard her tell her partner that she "didn't want to know" about his dealings. Is it good enough for the leader of the government to silently condone corrupt behaviour for the sake of keeping a relationship going? This is not to deny that the Premier is hardworking. Is that enough of a criteria for leadership? https://www.abc.net.au//nsw-premier-gladys-bereji/12758010

14.01.2022 Theres something very wrong with the way the Federal government is managing our money. They cut Jobkeeper from childcare workers who are amongst the lowest paid workers, but channeled millions to companies like Nick Scali Furniture and 1300 Smiles which used that money to boost their profits. So much so that their owners could pay themselves handsomely. We agree with the Greens that this is "corporate welfare". Why should taxpayers give more money to companies that can afford to pay millions in dividends? JobKeeper has to go to people who need it. Not these millionaires. https://bit.ly/OWN20_186

13.01.2022 Anybody can be homeless. That's a very simple message, but one which we may not all understand. It just takes the loss of a job, an illness, or a bad relationship to plunge us into a downward spiral. The waiting list for social housing can be as long as 10 years and up to 20 years. As Debbie Georgopoulos of the Women's Housing Company says, "It's a very long time to wait if you're in your 50s, 60s or 70s". The answer is simple - we need more public/social housing. The waitlist is over 60,000. We need a build of at least 5000 a year over 10 years just to meet the current demand. But the NSW budget only delivered 1,200. With older women falling into homelessness in even greater numbers than before, this is shockingly inadequate.

13.01.2022 It affects half of humanity, but its not something we discuss often enough. Michelle Obama talked about her experience of menopause and how women experience ageing in her new podcast series. She mentioned how her husband noticed and acknowledged his staff experiencing menopause, and asked for the air-conditioning to be turned on. Its great that this physical change that older women experience is highlighted so that it can be dealt with respect and dignity. https://bit.ly/OWN20_191

11.01.2022 It is a bit rich for the Australia Post CEO who earns $2.5 million to ask workers to put in unpaid extra hours, and use their own vehicles, to deliver parcels. Especially when Australia Post is also making a profit ($7million) and the CEO is eyeing a $1 million bonus. This is not the first, nor the last time, that workers have to subsidise the lifestyle of executives. The last we heard, 200 Australia Post office workers have expressed an interest to volunteer and they have been asked if they can carry 16kgs. Seriously. https://bit.ly/3lHYzVS

11.01.2022 Its Gender Pay Gap Day today. Women retire with much less savings and superannuation than men. Thats why by the time they are 60, 34% of women live in poverty. Discrimination starts young - research has shown that girls get 27% less pocket money than boys. Weve got to mind that gap! Join us and support our work in ending discrimination! https://ownnsw.org.au/get-involved/membership/

10.01.2022 Women, stop speaking out about how cruel and unfair this budget is. We've got it all wrong. Our very own Minister for Families and Social Services has said that we can take advantage of driving on the new roads. Scott Morrison has said that no credible women were making claims that this budget is bad for women. He proudly declared that nothing in the budget is gendered. He just doesn't get it. That's precisely the point. We agree with Emma Dawson. A budget that treats every...one equally ignores the fact that "women start from a place of significant disadvantage on almost every meaningful economic measure". This government does not understand economics, and does not understand what it means to be disadvantaged. This is the same minister who said that pensioners shouldn't complain because the pension is "generous". She is also the Minister who presided over Robodebt. Now, she's telling women to be quiet, drive on those roads and be grateful that the government is thinking of them. We will not be quiet. We will keep speaking out until all older women are given a fair deal. http://bit.ly/OWN20_217

10.01.2022 People on Newstart had the opportunity to eat properly and get healthcare with the Corona Virus supplement. Scott Morrison wants to wind it back at a time when there are not enough jobs to go around. The poverty line in Australia is $457/week. 13% of Australians live in poverty, and 18% of children under 15 live below the poverty line. For a country rich in natural resources, this is an outrage. Older Australians are the biggest group on Newstart. They deserve better than to try to survive on $40/day. Let your MP know that the rate has to be raised - for good. https://raisetherate.org.au/national-day-of-action/

09.01.2022 Preethi Reddy would have been 34 on Tuesday if she was not killed by her ex-partner. She became another domestic violence statistic but her sister is determined that her death is not in vain. She assisted a Labor MP with a private member's Bill, called 'Preethi's Law', to criminalize coercive control. If bashing a woman is illegal, why is it still legal to humiliate, denigrate, control and psychologically abuse her? The NSW Attorney General has set up an inquiry into crimina...lizing coercive control. If you would like to share your story with us so we can provide older women's perspective into this inquiry, please contact us at [email protected] All information shared will be de-identified and treated in confidence. This is not the silver bullet to end domestic violence, but it will send a strong signal to society that coercive control is a criminal act. All women deserve to be treated with respect and valued. Coercive control destroys that. https://bit.ly/34RGyNm

09.01.2022 The verdict is in, and its one which you already know. Aged care standards in government run facilities are bettter than in for-profit facilities. Research done by the Aged Care Royal Commission also found that of aged care facilities rated as providing the best quality of care, 41% are homes with one to 15 beds, while 17% are homes with 31-60 beds and just 5% are homes with 61-120 beds. The researchers said that to move to smaller home models of care, providers would need ...to spend an extra $3.2bn per year in total. Are we against extra spending? Absolutely not. BUT we want to see accountability for the funds spent. Legislation which the LNP and One Nation voted against which called for all providers to provide a detailed breakdown of how funding is spent must be passed before more money is thrown at the sector. Or well end up with more Maseratis on the road. http://bit.ly/OWN20_196

08.01.2022 This is a classic example of jobs for the boys. Matthias Cormann has resigned from his position and in exchange for backing him against Turnbull for the Liberal Party leadership, Morrison is now backing him to head up the OECD. This means arranging the RAAF Falcon to be at his disposal as he flies around Europe trying to lobby to get votes for the job. It will cost taxpayers $4,300 per hour, with the return journey between Australia and Europe alone to cost $100,000. It's not... as though Cormann is crash hot on economic policies and environmental policies and needs to lead the OECD in a better direction. We know that European countries has criticised Australia's stance on climate change. As taxpayers, are we happy to foot the bill for Cormann to swan around Europe at our expense, or do we want to put money towards keep children out of poverty? (Nearly 20% of children in Australia under 15 live in poverty.) https://bit.ly/3l7337j

08.01.2022 On the day we hear of another tragic case of a man murdering his wife at home, domestic violence support services report that they are struggling to deal with the increased calls on their services. Hayley Foster from Women's Safety NSW states that There [have been] just so many more strangulation cases, so many threats to kill, so many more serious head injuries, and sexual assaults [have been] going through the roof." - 10% of Australian women in a relationship had experien...ced domestic violence during the coronavirus crisis. - 67% of the women said the attacks started or became worse during the pandemic. - 50% of women with previous experience of physical or sexual violence said the abuse had become more frequent or severe since the start of the pandemic. Yet, the government has not provided the DV services with the necessary funding to meet the increased demand. Services are having to turn women away. The waiting list for counselling has blown out from 2 weeks to 3 months. Only an additional $150 million was set aside at the start of the pandemic. It is just not enough. The government pours billions into Defence for shonky contracts and lousy equipment but not into the real defence for women living in abusive and life threatening situations at home. The government's pathetic response to public/social housing shortfalls, moving Newstart/JobSeeker to below poverty levels, and inadequate funding for DV services all mean one thing - Women don't count. #16DaysOfActivism https://bit.ly/37lyZjp

08.01.2022 Here's the video of the webinar in case you missed it. It was a terrific hour filled with personal stories, wisdom and insights, including: - "It just takes a couple of missteps" to find ourselves facing homelessness. - "The first thing you need is A HOME". - "Having purpose and meaning is very defining and allows us to have strength". - "Together we are stronger than we are alone."... Thank you to all the panellists who shared their stories - Ronni Kahn, Liz McEntyre, Elaine Paton, Beverly Baker. And to Caroline Baum, for doing such a brilliant job at moderating the conversation. Take home message - Women are resilient, but asking women to be resilient when she has to live on $40 a day with no roof over her head is a misuse of the term.

07.01.2022 Taxpayers give $13billion to the aged care sector to look after our elderly. Its being spent on chandeliers and not incontinence pads. Its being paid out to shareholders. Over the past 2 years, Estia which operates two of the worst hit homes in Victoria, paid out $55m to shareholders, of which almost $5m flowed to companies associated with Perth billionaire Kerry Stokes. If you want to choose a home for your loved one, there is no way for you to find out how much is actuall...y spent on care, activities and food. Or how many cases of assaults have taken place in the facility. The LNP and One Nation thrashed the legislation introduced by Senator Stirling Grif last year which would have required the aged care sector to be more transparent about how taxpayer dollars are spent. It is unbelievable that Scott Morrison wants aged care providers to keep this information secret. Thats why there will be more spending on Maseratis and chandeliers than on incontinence pads. https://bit.ly/2GxK8nt

07.01.2022 Before COVID, nearly 15% of us live in poverty. The figure is closer to 20% if you are a child under 15 years old. One silver lining to COVID is that a supplement was introduced to Newstart and people finally had a chance to stop skipping meals, and to go to see a doctor. Simple things like the wheel on a bicycle could be fixed so children could ride again. In a few days time, this supplment will be cut and the payment will plunge people and children into poverty again. This... time it will be worse, because were in a recession and there will be more of us. If the government doesnt have empathy for human stories of what poverty means, then they should listen to the economists. Especialy those from one of the top accounting firms in the world, Deloitte. It found that the planned reduction to the supplement in two weeks before its removed entirely after Christmas would reduce the size of the economy by $31.3bn and cost the equivalent of 145,000 full-time jobs over two years. If human stories and economic modelling doesnt move this government to make the right choices for the country, then it is sheer ideology driving its morally and economically bankrupt policies. The rhetoric weve heard from the government is that these payments are making people lazy and not apply for jobs. What is the reality? There is only 1 job for every 12 applying (but 1 job for every 28 applying in regional areas). There are situations where there were 1,500 applicants for 1 job. Forcing people to live in poverty to punish them because the government thinks they are not applying for jobs is wrong. Especially as before COVID, the biggest group of people on Newstart are older Australians (55 - 64 years old). Read the news about the Deloitte report here: http://bit.ly/OWN20_199 Know the facts and contact your MPs and tell them what you think.

07.01.2022 First up, we want to make it clear that we are deeply appreciative and honor the members of our Defence Forces who do the right thing, and who are prepared to sacrifice their lives to protect us. We are, however, deeply saddened and appalled that there is a group of elite soldiers who have developed their own culture of impunity and cruelty to the extent that killing children is seen as a rite of passage. Defence chief Angus Campbell has said that this 4 year investigation in...to the murder of civilians and prisoners may not have uncovered the full extent of the problem. Let's not try to gloss over what happened. These are not 'illegal killings' - it's cold blooded murder. And let's not try to pretend that those at the top of the command chain did not know it was happening. Apart from the usual call for these murderers to be brought to justice, we're calling for all charges to be dropped against David McBride, the whistleblower who leaked information about this to the press 3 years ago. He should be treated as a hero, not a criminal. He is facing jail time for telling the Australian people that their soldiers were slitting the throats of innocent 16 year old kids. Where is the justice in that? https://bit.ly/331Lz5P

06.01.2022 The CEO of Fortescue Metals Group, Elizabeth Gaines, has criticized the sexism in the resources sector and questioned the presence of scantily dressed "skimpy" barmaids at the annual Diggers and Dealers gathering in Kalgoorlie. The Diggers and Dealers mining conference has, over the years, gained infamy for the 'old boys' culture of skimpies in industry events. We agree with Gaines that the "objectification of one part of society, and the other part of society looking on" is... inappropriate, especially with more women joining the industry. A female geologist had said that walking into a bar and seeing a "girl with naked breasts .... isn't part of a professional experience that I wish to have." Framing this issue as a working class vs wealthy class; and the right of the women working as a 'skimpy' to do what they want; is deflecting from the core issue - that this is an issue of the objectification and sexualisation of women which goes against all our efforts to create a safer, more equal world for women. https://bit.ly/352ULaw

06.01.2022 Imagine putting your life savings into a housing scheme and finding out that both your savings and the house have evaporated because it was run by a shonky operator. Imagine how absolutely frustrating it is that this shonky operator could have been put out of business a long time before, but it wasn't because the regulator was just not doing its job. And so the shonky operator could continue to fleece more older Australians out of their entire life savings. Maureen Cameron su...ms up what the others are experiencing: "They've just robbed us of our golden years because we're not at an age where we can go out and get work. It's just back to being struggling people." ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission) is the regulator which failed miserably in protecting older Australians like Maureen. What on earth was it doing when complaints were raised to ASIC about the scheme that Maureen and others signed on to? This is yet another failed Commission of this government, which has also failed older Australians in care. Like the Aged Care Quality Commission, it has 6 figure paid officials who are absolutely incompetent. You may remember that just recently, the top official was outed for getting taxpayers to foot his $120,000 tax advice bill to manage his overseas money; and his colleague who was paid a 6 figure salary was charging 'rent relief' of $70,000 to the taxpayer. They're certainly busy working for themselves, but not us. What's the point of having a Commission which just doesn't work? Honesty, integrity, responsibility, accountability. That's what a regulator should demonstrate. Or older Australians will continue to be ripped off by these unscrupulous operators who prey on our need for secure shelter. https://ab.co/33jYYXf

06.01.2022 When Jill Murphy retired from her job as a literacy teacher, her favourite pastimes of shopping, going out and drinking didnt seem enough to fill her days. Her husband went mad and bought a red sports car. She took up weightlifting instead. She joined a group of older women who had previously no interest in exercise, let alone weightlifting. One of them said, Ive always hated exercise. If there was exercise to be done, I went the other way." They range in age from the...ir 60s to 80s, and they all have benefitted enormously from doing weight bearing exercises. Their health, strength and overall wellbeing improved. We encourage all older women to get active and stay active. Its one thing we can do to be able to live independently for as long as possible. You can join OWN NSWs free online classes if you cannot access a gym: https://ownnsw.org.au/covid-19/own-online-activities/ The article on Jill and her gym mates can be found here - its well worth a read: https://ab.co/3aOgZPJ

06.01.2022 These are perhaps two of the most heartbreaking images you'd see on how we've destroyed the habitat of the creatures who share the planet with us. Elephants are scavenging in plastic filled rubbish dumps, and seahorses are clinging onto human waste in the sea. It tells us that we must do much more to stop plastics from polluting our environment, and to rehabilitate the habitats of these animals. Scientists have just released a report that there are at least 14 million tonne...s of plastics sitting at the bottom of the ocean. For those who eat seafood, this will make its way up the foodchain onto their plates. Unfortunately, Scott Morrison has joined Modi, Putin and Trump in not signing a voluntary pledge to reverse biodiversity loss which included a goal to stop plastic entering the ocean by 2050. Why on earth wouldn't we join the positive forces in the world to make it a better place for our grandchildren? http://bit.ly/OWN20_215

06.01.2022 Scott Morrison and his bureaucrats insist that there is a plan in place for our vulnerable elderly in aged care. Four Corners on the ABC last night demonstrated that this plan does not exist. More shockingly, the government knew from Newmarch House and Dorothy Henderson Lodge in April that nursing homes could lose up to 80% of staff once Covid strikes a facility. That advice was not acted upon. So when Epping Gardens called for help, nothing was forthcoming, leaving just 4 staff to care for 115 residents. What is worse is the advice that Covid positive residents were not to be moved to hospitals. All these vulnerable older people have been made sitting ducks because were not taking all the necessary, pro-active steps to deal with the situation. Can someone remind us of what the definition of manslaughter is? https://bit.ly/OWN20_193

05.01.2022 It is an irony that on the same day Scott Morrison launched the mental health report by the Productivity Commission, his government settled the Robodebt fiasco out of court. The Productivity Commission was very clear in its findings - that people receiving unemployment benefits are 3 times as likely to have anxiety or depression as wage earners are. It said that there has to be "recognition in all government policies, payments and programs, of the importance of social exclusi...on and disadvantage as ongoing risk factors for mental illness." In other words, government policies are causing mental illness. It is a tragedy of our country that mental health costs us between $200 billion and $220 billion. We spent $227 billion on Social Services this year. Think of the savings, and the big boost to the economy if we did not have such a punitive, cruel and absolutely senseless welfare system. Robodebt literally cost us lives because 2030 people had died after receiving a robo-debt collection notice, more than a third of whom were aged under 45. The punishing of the poor by this government can also be witnessed in 2016 when the Coalition announced plans to use government doctors to medically review 30,000 disability support pensioners each year for three years. Its target was to dump 2300 people from the pension. Instead, the program managed to cancel only 135 pensions over a 16-month period. It cost too much money to administer so they cancelled it. Imagine the distress that caused the people on disability pensions. From the new year, we'll have an extra 330,000 people thrown into poverty because the government will cut their welfare payments. But at what price? The Productivity Commission has put a price on cruelty. Will this government ever learn that looking after the vulnerable, the sick and those with disability makes much more economic sense than kicking them out into the poverty scrapheap? https://bit.ly/3m3M3QF

05.01.2022 The Indue Card Bill is now before parliament. Just days after the government agreed to settle the class action of $1.2 billion (of our money) for ROBODEBT, Scott Morrison is now embarking on another scheme which law academics are saying is unlawful. Why? Sending a debit card or credit card to a person who did not ask for one is prohibited under section 12DL of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001. The government got around this during the trial period... by getting ASIC to issue a letter saying that it would not take any action against Indue for sending the card to people who did not ask for or want one. However, this does not make the Indue scheme legal. Apart from the fact that all the research and evidence show the Indue card doesn't work to decrease the ills of gambling etc, the government continues to persist with it. Now, we hear from those who teach the law that the card is illegal. We will soon see another ROBODEBT type debacle on our hands, won't we? And who is going to pay for it? Those who are going to suffer from its imposition, and taxpayers. Sign the petition here: https://bit.ly/39yWisC and read the Guardian article here: https://bit.ly/36tFxx3

04.01.2022 Before you can fix a problem, the first thing you need to do is to admit that there is a problem. Weve already heard the horror stories of vulnerable aged care residents left to lie in soiled sheets, who were not fed for days, who were not able to drink, who didnt have their wounds cared for, and who were left to rot and die in their beds because there was NO PLAN for aged care. To then hear that this is a sign of "a very good job" being done by an "effective" minister, we just have to wonder if they have misplaced their morals. https://bit.ly/2YqcwxW

04.01.2022 When a man in the pub slapped her bottom, Annabel Bassil took a stand against sexual harrassment in the workplace. Shes one of four managers in the pub where this happened and was working at the time. She pressed charges and won. We completely agree with her belief that under no circumstances is it acceptable for workers in pubs to be touched by patrons. "No-one has the right to touch anyone at all. Full stop. There are no exceptions. I could pour you a thousand beers, and it does not mean anything." In court, she was asked what she was wearing. Amazing question to ask in this day and age, dont you think? https://ab.co/2YeGfdb

03.01.2022 Were sending a big shout out to fathers out there who love and support their children, no matter what, just like Scott Stuart. Scotts son is a big fan of Elsa from Frozen and wanted to dress up as the princess. Scott was initially hesitant - Then I came to [a] realization. Maybe as parents, one of our toughest jobs is figuring out who our child really is and what they really love, and allowing that to shine as brightly as possible. What makes me the proudest? He is completely and unashamedly himself. I wish I had that as a kid. We are counting on men like Scott to change the narrative to build caring, inclusive and hopeful communities. Happy Fathers Day!

03.01.2022 Heard of a teacher who gave Valium to her class of students because they were not behaving and she had to keep them safe? Just change teacher with aged care provider and students with residents and somehow, its all OK. Nursing homes are giving Valium to their residents to keep them in their rooms. As Professor Joe Ibrahim said, these drugs also suppress breathing, which is especially dangerous when they have COVID. We dont know how many nursing homes are turning thei...r residents into zombies and how much extra drugs they are giving out now because the government will not release the figures. The treatment of our elderly is ageism at its best, and theyre paying the price. Even dogs have the RSPCA to protect them. https://bit.ly/OWN20_187

02.01.2022 There is something wrong with the way we manage our borders. If youre Tony Abbott, you can fly out to the UK to take up a job appointment. But if youre wanting to leave the country to be by the bedside of a dying relative, you wont be allowed to do so. Similarly, priests are listed on the critical skills list but not highly skilled aged care workers like Spana Nakarmi. Nakarmi has been trained and works in aged care in Tasmania but was denied entry to Australia after her... trip to Nepal to care for her ailing mother. Her application to return was knocked back 9 times. There is a shortage of skilled aged care workers in the country. The government will let in priests but not workers like Nakarmi. It was only after the ABC asked about her case that she has been given permission to return, and the skills list changed. It shouldnt take the media to make things right. And you shouldnt have to be Tony Abbott to be able to leave and return to the country freely. https://ab.co/2R3sutF

02.01.2022 Christian Porter is unfit to hold the position of the first law officer of the country. He has betrayed the trust of his family, the government and the people of Australia by engaging in conduct which brings disrepute to the position of Attorney General. We agree completely with Malcolm Turnbull that such behaviour of drunkenness and extra-marital affairs with staffers expose him to blackmail. It is not just Porter, but also Alan Tudge who have portrayed themselves as family ...men, but who don't abide by it in their private lives. The Four Corners program last night also revealed Porter to be a misogynist whose unacceptable behaviour in Canberra has been aided and abetted by the toxic workplace culture in Parliament. It's disgraceful that sexual harassment and predatory behaviour are tolerated, and the culture of silence is observed by journalists who have witnessed it with their own eyes. It took the ABC to expose this, and you can be sure that the Morrison government will continue to cut funding to the public broadcaster. In fact, Morrison tried to exert pressure to stop the ABC from airing the story. There is no acceptable outcome other than the sacking of Christian Porter and Alan Tudge. https://ab.co/2IdNE7M

02.01.2022 If youre a nurse or teacher injured at work, the workers compensation scheme is meant to help you recover and get back to work again. Employers chip in to keep the scheme going. This morning, Adele Ferguson has revealed another major rort of this scheme. Weve already heard how iCare executives helped themselves to millions in bonuses even while the scheme was running into trouble, and how the CEO awarded an $800,000 training contract to his wife. Dominic Perrottet dipped in...to the scheme to pay for 2 staffers in his office, including an American with Republican party ties. This morning, Adele Ferguson, the journalist who exposed all this wrongdoing has revealed another shocker - iCare (which sits directly under Dominic Perrottets office) awarded $18million in contracts to a company with extensive Liberal party ties. These contracts were not put out to open tender. No surprises that this company, the IVE Group, donated almost $100,000 to the NSW Liberal Party between 2014 - 2019. It also donated $55,500 to the federal Liberal Party in 2018. iCare has grown a black hole of $2billion under Perrotets watch. Hes still got a job. The Board which is also responsible for this debacle still has a job. The executives in iCare who managed to get iCare into this mess also still have a job (minus the CEO). There is something rotten in the state of NSW. https://bit.ly/3lU53kJ

02.01.2022 There are 100 cases of residents in nursing homes who are assaulted, raped or killed every week. The real rate could be 10 times higher. The Senate has moved to censure Minister Richard Colbeck who is supposed to be in charge of aged care, but who is obviously not doing his job, especially during COVID. Imagine the uproar if 100 children in school were raped, assaulted or killed EVERY WEEK. Would we still be sitting at home and shaking our heads? https://bit.ly/2QPNHY3

01.01.2022 For many older women, life around the corner is certainly not what we expected. Relationship breakdowns, illness, sudden loss of employment - all of these lead too many of us into a life of challenges and difficulty. Ronni Kahn should know. She helps put food on the table of many older women, amongst others whose lives have taken a turn they couldn't imagine before. Join her this morning at 11am in a free webinar hosted by the Older Women's Network - Resilience in the Age of Covid: Older Women's Take on Poverty & the Way Forward. Sign up here: https://bit.ly/OWN20res

01.01.2022 The sale of the airport parcel of land which cost us 10 times more is nothing compared to what Barnaby Joyce gave Angus Taylor. He gave Angus Taylor's company 57 times more than the valuation of the water rights. So taxpayers paid $80 million instead of $1.4 million. A 'Freedom of Information' filed by Michael West Media revealed that the original valuation of $1.4 million was rejected, and another company brought it to value the water rights. Of course, Angus Taylor denies h...e had anything to do with the company he founded, and which is registered in the tax haven of the Cayman Islands. That's why we need a federal ICAC with big teeth, not the puppy dog version proposed by the LNP government. We also need that Royal Commission into media diversity because we need more independent media keeping our government accountable. Most of all, we want an honest government which truly works for the people honestly and with integrity. https://bit.ly/2U6oJVR

01.01.2022 Yesterday Scott Morrison made a qualified apology. Apparently he is "deeply sorry" about the aged care deaths but managed to take a side swipe at Dan Andrews. Morrison blamed the system for failing on some days. Rick Morton has broken the news in The Saturday Paper today that it was the Morrison government which: - Limited the number of PPEs that aged care providers could access. - Didnt want residents to be moved to hospital even though aged care providers begged for th...is to happen. Instead decision was left to each state. - Didnt act on the knowledge that providers could lose up to 80% of staff (as happened in Newmarch House). Saying sorry does not mean a thing when you dont want to listen to the experts to prevent deaths, misery, suffering and neglect of our elderly. https://bit.ly/OWN20_190

01.01.2022 The disability watchdog only issued one fine and banned one provider following over 8000 complaints. Seriously. The one fine and ban relates to the provider of Ann-Marie Smith who you may recall passed away in Adelaide from septic shock, multiple organ failure, severe pressure sores and malnourishment while in full-time care. At the same time, the executives are paid $2 million. This morning, the ABC reported on the father of Steve Osgood who died just weeks after he was admi...tted to a nursing home. He was moved around in a faulty wheelchair which meant that his feet were dragging on the ground. He developed sepsis and passed away. A whistle blower revealed that nursing home had only 1 cleaner for the entire 32 bed facility, and incontinence pads were not disposed of properly which resulted in maggots spreading to the kitchen. The nursing home only passed just 6 of the 42 standards, but as far as we can tell, no fine was issued by the aged care watchdog. The description used by Bill Shorten about the disability watchdog holds true for the aged care watchdog. Both are "toothless and sleepy" and are more like "expensive purse poodles". Isnt it telling that millions were spent pursuing vulnerable people in getting dollars back in Robodebt, but unscrupulous providers are being let off the hook?