Australian companies are failing to comply with modern slavery laws, “When you speak to a glove worker in Malaysia forced to work around the clock to make PPE for the COVID crisis, or a migrant worker on an Australian farm working in terrible conditions, it brings home just how much more needs to be done,” Freya Dinshaw, a lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre. Today’s Pro Bono news cartoon.
‘The best form of welfare is a job’, the government’s mantra opposing raising the Newstart (unemployment benefit) rate – which hasn’t been raised in real terms since 1994. Homelessness services, for example, are struggling to cope with a huge increase in Newstart recipients seeking housing assistance. Read more here. This week’s Pro Bono news cartoon.
It is Homeless Prevention Week. Today’s Pro Bono news cartoon.
This morning’s Pro Bono news cartoon. The government is maintaining the long tradition -since 1994! – of not raising the unemployment benefit Newstart. Read more here.
Australian Budget cartoon, Pro Bono news today.
Today’s Pro Bono news cartoon. The federal government has recently increased the participation requirements jobseekers must fulfil to continue their income support. In particular, this affects older jobseekers who now need to do more hours per fortnight PAID voluntary work. As a result they are cutting back on their (unpaid) volunteer hours – and searching for paid volunteer work – to meet the half paid/half unpaid requirement. In turn this significantly impacts charities and not-for-profits who rely on (unpaid) volunteers. Confused? For more about a getting-even-more-complex system see Welfare Changes Causing Anxiety for Jobseekers on the Pro Bono website.
Today’s Pro Bono Australia news cartoon, inspired by Eva Cox’s opinion piece ‘Welfare needs a radical restructuring’. Pro Bono Australia is Australia’s leading news, jobs, events, research and funding resources for the not-for-profit and charity sector.
The Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union is working on a comprehensive guide to inform unemployed workers of their rights. This animation encourages people to get involved in the production of an easy to read summary of the Job Active Government Guidelines.
Simon Kneebone - cartoonist and illustrator 