Labor is for Fairness
Throughout our history Labor has been synonymous with fairness. Whether it's in the workplace, at home or ensuring society's most disadvantaged get a fair go, fairness goes to the very core of Labor's being.
Labor knows the current system of disability care and support is underfunded and unfair for those who rely on it. That’s why we're introducing DisabilityCare Australia, the national disability insurance scheme, to completely transform the disability care and support system in this country by taking a tailored, life-long approach to providing care and support for local people with disability.
DisabilityCare Australia will work with people with disability, their families and carers to identify their plans and goals for the future. This will ensure they receive individualised care and support packages, are assisted by local coordinators to help manage and deliver their support, and are linked to mainstream and community services.
DisabilityCare Australia will mean more choice and control, more independence, and more opportunities for people with disability to be involved in school, work and community life. Importantly, it gives all Australians peace of mind that if they or a loved one are born with or acquires a disability, they will get the care support they need.
Labor has invested $1 billion to deliver the first stage of DisabilityCare Australia, beginning from July 2013. The first stage will benefit more than 25,000 people in five locations across the country and a historic agreement has been reached between the federal and NSW state governments to roll out DisabilityCare Australia across the state by 2018-2019.
Labor has always had a proud record of helping to deliver affordable housing for Australians and their families. The goal of ensuring all Australian families have access to affordable housing has continued with a massive increase in housing supply through both social housing and incentives for the private sector to keep building through the global financial crisis.
More than 21,000 homes are being delivered across Australia with Labor's $6 billion investment in social housing, while the $4.5 billion National Rental Affordability Scheme has provided incentive payments to the private sector to build 50,000 affordable rental homes.
All Australians deserve a safe, secure home and Labor is tackling the complex challenge of homelessness. Labor aims to halve the rate of homelessness and provide supported accommodation to all rough sleepers who seek it by 2020. To back this commitment, Labor has invested an unprecedented $5 billion into support for homelessness services and programs.
Consumers have been given a fairer go after Labor introduced the Australian Consumer Law which gives consumers the same rights wherever they live in Australia, gets rid of unfair contract terms and imposes heavy penalties if a salesperson ignores a visible ‘do not knock’ sign on a front door. At the supermarket consumers can now look at similar grocery products sold in different weights or quantities and work out which one represents the best value for money so they can get the best deal at the checkout.
Australians are resilient by nature, but when natural disasters strike local communities need a helping hand to get back on their feet. Labor helps families, workers, business and farmers with emergency relief, money to repair roads and community facilities and income support. This ensures people can keep operating within their local community.
When disaster strikes, Australians deserve the fairest insurance coverage available so they can rebuild quickly. After the Queensland floods, Labor laid down a standard definition of flood for insurance purposes. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of homes covered by flood insurance, more than 78 per cent compared to just 3 per cent in 2006.
Labor has changed 85 laws to remove discrimination against same-sex couples and their children. This means that same-sex relationships are treated in the same way that opposite-sex de facto relationships are for Commonwealth entitlements and programs like taxation, superannuation, social security, health, aged care, veterans’ entitlements, workers’ compensation, employment entitlements, immigration, child support and family law. Labor’s national platform changed at the 2011 National Conference to support marriage equality, and to amend the Marriage Act to reflect this.
Our society must keep striving to improve fairness, opportunity and safety for women in the workplace and in the community.
Under Labor there are new opportunities for women’s employment in non-traditional areas such as the mining industry and the military front line. Women’s representation on Australian Government boards is the highest it has ever been and is on target to reach 40 per cent by 2015, while businesses will need to provide information on gender equality in the workplace to help improve women's participation in the workforce.
Changes have been made to the Sex Discrimination Act: no one can be discriminated against based on family responsibilities, while breastfeeding is now its own separate grounds of discrimination. Labor has also introduced protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status.
Labor has set up 1800RESPECT, a national phone counselling and online service to assist victims of sexual assault and family or domestic violence. The service is also available to people who may encounter victims of sexual assault and family or domestic violence to provide advice on how to help people in need.
As a community we need to take a zero tolerance stance on all domestic violence and sexual assault, and Labor introduced the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children to do just that.
Everyone eligible to vote deserves the best opportunity to exercise their democratic right. That's why Labor has introduced direct enrolment which will assist in arresting the decline in enrolment rates across Australia by ensuring the federal electoral roll is as current and accurate as possible. This is particularly helpful with people who move house in making sure their enrolment details are up to date.