{"id":850570,"date":"2026-08-10T19:16:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T19:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/850570\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T19:16:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T19:16:28","slug":"new-head-of-australian-trade-union-movement-named-after-sally-mcmanus-steps-down-australian-trade-unions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/850570\/","title":{"rendered":"New head of Australian trade union movement named after Sally McManus steps down | Australian trade unions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Melissa Donnelly, the national secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union, will take on the role as the next head of the trade movement in Australia, after the resignation of Sally McManus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Australian Council of Trade Unions\u2019 secretary and its president, Michele O\u2019Neil, revealed last month they would be stepping down after eight years together as the first all-female leadership team in the ACTU\u2019s 99-year history, playing a major role in shaping the Albanese government\u2019s workplace agenda.<\/p>\n

On Monday, the ACTU executive met to elect 44-year-old Donnelly, who will be among the peak body\u2019s youngest secretaries.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Donnelly said it was a \u201ctremendous honour\u201d to take on the \u201cimportant role\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing in the footsteps of Sally is no easy task,\u201d she said. \u201cShe has dedicated her life to fighting for fairer, safer and more secure workplaces.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI am eager to get to work delivering real outcomes for working people and advancing the interests of workers across the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of all, I am looking forward to meeting union members from every corner of Australia and serving alongside you as we work to lift living standards and secure a better future for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donnelly, who started her career as a lawyer in private practice, has led the CPSU for seven years, rising through the ranks after spearheading the union\u2019s federal court case enabling public servants to participate in the nationwide \u201cYour Rights at Work\u201d campaign, which opposed the Howard government\u2019s WorkChoices legislation.<\/p>\n

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In a statement, the CPSU said membership had grown by 23% during her tenure, with Donnelly pursuing flexible working arrangements, including a removal of caps on the number of days staff can work from home, delivering 18 weeks\u2019 paid parental leave for both parents and leading the campaign to reverse the government outsourcing work to private consultancy firms.<\/p>\n

Under her leadership, the CPSU has recently taken the tax office to the Fair Work Commission<\/a> over alleged violations of the Albanese government\u2019s \u201csame job same pay\u201d laws.<\/p>\n

In a statement, the public service minister, Katy Gallagher, congratulated Donnelly and said the pair had worked \u201cclosely together\u201d to rebuild \u201cthe public service and strengthened its capacity and capability to deliver for Australians\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMelissa has been a tireless advocate for public servants,\u201d Gallagher said. \u201cI know she\u2019ll bring that same determination and experience to standing up for workers across Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n

McManus said Donnelly had \u201coverwhelming support\u201d across the union movement, describing her as \u201csmart, strategic and completely focused on the needs of working people\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe average union member is a 44-year-old working mother and so is Melissa. She\u2019s a year younger than I was when I took up the office and represents generational change,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith two school-age children and having led a large union, she well knows the pressures working people are under. She has my full support, and I look forward to assisting her as she steps into the role.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Melissa Donnelly, the national secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union, will take on the role as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":850571,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-850570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=850570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/850571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=850570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=850570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=850570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}