Early childhood educators perform some of the most valuable work in our society for less than half the average Australian wage. Anyone who has had a child attend child care knows the importance of a good teacher and how central they are to a child's life.

This Government is creating a myth—the deserving and non-deserving poor, where poverty and unemployment are recast as personal or moral failure rather than a result of complex people facing complex challenges.

Quite often, the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to an individual—someone who has used their power or their platform to achieve a worthy end. However, ICAN is something very different. It didn't inherit any pre-existing platform; it willed it into existence through a gradual accretion of individuals and organisations to its cause.

Today, Australia voted for equality with the marriage equality postal survey returning a overwhelming victory!

Australia faces a huge challenge to protect our unique wildlife. An unacceptable number of our animals such as the hairy nosed wombat and the iconic koala are vulnerable, endangered or face extinction.

The Senate inquiry into the Community Development Program (CDP) has heard from NGOs, community members, Indigenous leaders and employment providers that they were not consulted by the Minister for Indigenous Affair about the CDP.

All Australians are urged to check their enrolment before midnight tonight following concerning reports the AEC will not be able to complete automatic enrolments in time for the marriage equality postal survey.

Malcolm Turnbull: “I have great faith that the Australian people, in that plebiscite, as they have in one contentious issue after another for the whole time this Commonwealth has been one, will be able to debate this issue in a sensible, civil and intelligent manner.”

The Chair of the Senate inquiry into the postal survey, Senator McAllister, has called on Australians to report offensive campaign material. The Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee has been given wide ranging powers to inquire into the conduct of the postal survey.

I’d like to start off by thanking the Diversity Council Australia for the opportunity to be here today.I’d like to acknowledge the importance of the work that you do in developing the ideas, information and strategies to increase workplace diversity & inclusion.