Our Federal Office final financial statements with Independent Auditor’s Report have now been published for the information of members.  The Federal Office represents the common interests of members in policy and legal matters that are national rather than State based.  It has responsibility for representation of State public sector workers at the ACTU, and committees of that peak body, and all other national and international forums. During the first half of the reporting period the impact on the work of our members as a result of the pandemic was a significant focus of our work. Significant time has been spent on managing the impact of various Health Orders on members, along with issues about access to paid leave if isolating (as a casual employee) and access to PPE.

In addition, we were involved in national discussions regarding the rollout of the vaccines and the various mandates regarding having the vaccine and the impact on a member that refused.

Extensive work involving groups of our members, such as Forest Firefighters, Child Protection, Prison Officers to name a few, has taken place or been commenced during the reporting period.

During the report period the Union successfully defended a rule change application regarding the coverage of the United Firefighters Union in Tasmania that, if successful, would have had implications for our coverage in all States. The matter was resolved by the UFU unilaterally withdrawing its application

Through the ACTU, the union was involved in discussions regarding the federal election and matters that could have an impact on the members in more than one state, including a national Mental Health strategy and items related to the federal election.

The Federal Office also commenced a project to reform the governance rules of the Group and of some of its Branches during this reporting period including reforming the election rules which require amendment after the COVID effected Federal and State Branch elections.