The Greens are pleased that the Government has finally announced that Australia has joined the COVAX facility. 

Australia’s participation in COVAX is critical to ensuring developing countries, especially our neighbours in the Pacific, have access to a Covid-19 vaccine as soon as it becomes available.

Australia has a responsibility to be part of the solution to vaccine nationalism. 

The Government must continue to commit funding to COVAX to actively support smaller nations to access Covid-19 vaccines. 

The Greens have called the Government's plan to bring back harsh penalties for people looking for work on the Jobseeker payment mean spirited and unfair.
 
“This is an approach solely driven by ideology”, Greens spokesperson on Family and Community Services Senator Rachel Siewert said. 
 
Compliance driven approaches that demonise people on income support do not help them find work. 
 

The Greens welcome the announcement  that the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety will issue a special report on the COVID-19 pandemic in aged care ahead of its Final Report
 
“It is very clear that action is needed now to address the failures in the system that has lead to the terrible impact COVID is having and its continuing potential to severely impact aged care residents. We cannot wait until the final report of the Commission is handed down early next year”, Greens spokesperson on Ageing Senator Rachel Siewert said.

The Greens say that the resignation of Rio CEO Mr Jacques is a good sign that the company is taking some responsibility for the Juukan Gorge disaster but there needs to be a cultural shift in the entire company and across the mining industry.
 
This cannot just be a symbolic gesture, there is still a lot of work to do, Greens Senator for Western Australia Senator Rachel Siewert said. 
 

The Greens warn that ending access to telehealth items for mental health care at the end of September will have dire consequences for Australians particularly those in Victoria, in quarantine or COVID hotspots. 
 
Temporary MBS telehealth items for mental health care are due to expire on 30th September, but the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the Australian Medical Association have called for telehealth to be made permanent. 
 

 The Greens welcome the strategies proposed by the Grattan Institute Report Go For Zero and support the goal of zero transmission.
 

The Community Affairs References Committee has tabled its third interim report into Centrelink's Income Compliance Program commonly known as robodebt.

The Senate voted to support the committee recommendations to require the Minister representing the Minister for Government Services to provide an explanation of claims of public interest immunity to the upper house. 

 The Greens have said that Anglicare Australia’s latest Rental Affordability Snapshot update, released today, has shown that only a tiny percentage of rentals (1 percent or less) are affordable for Australians on low incomes, and this will only get worse if the JobSeeker payment is reduced in the coming months. 

Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Australian Greens Housing spokesperson, said:

 The Senate Community Affairs References committee have tabled their second interim report into Centrelink's Income Compliance Program known as robodebt.