ANU tutor Raphael Morris moved to Canberra from Melbourne with his partner in February. For him, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected his housing and employment - he stayed with his partner's parents during lockdown before securing housing, and due to the precarious nature of casual employment, he took extra shifts remotely at Monash University.
Mr Morris said the university sector is in crisis, and the government has not helped. He wants to see more funding for universities, more support for casual staff and likely changes to degree funding scrapped.
"The upcoming changes to degree funding put more financial pressure on students, which doesn't help the university sector," he said.
Mr Morris is glad "surplus by any means necessary" is no longer the government's aim. He is sceptical that tax breaks and promises to small businesses will lead to jobs growth, and wants to see the government help workers directly.
"A lot of jobs won't be able to exist until after the pandemic ... I think the government has a responsibility to support people who are unable to find jobs," he said.
Investment in mental health and domestic violence services is a big priority for Mr Morris.
"I can get only 10 [subsidised] sessions a year for therapy ... it makes it very difficult because we have to ration out when we can afford to see a counsellor," he said.
"There has been a huge spike in call to domestic violence hotlines ... it's a massive emergency."
