Melissa Donnelly used to work at Target. Now she’s the head of the ACTU

August 23, 2026 — 5:00am

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In a week’s time, Melissa Donnelly will take over as secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, replacing Sally McManus who has served in the position for a decade.

Fitz: Ms Donnelly, I do want to talk about the ACTU, AI, ALP, and the CFMEU – WTAF? – but for the moment let’s put the “you” in ACTU, and explore your background. What led you to this extraordinary position?

MD: Yeah, sure. So I was born and grew up in north-west Sydney and still live in Sydney. I’m the fourth of five children, and from an early age our parents instilled values in us about fairness and that you stand up for other people, and you stand up for each other.

Fitz: And the first union you joined?

MD: My first job was as a shop assistant at Target, and I joined the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association. I went on after school to do law at Macquarie University and at that time, WorkChoices legislation was being introduced, which took away workers’ rights, removed unfair dismissal protection, cut people’s take-home pay, and that really galvanised me to get more involved in the union movement. And as a young lawyer, I was involved in court cases against the Howard government, which banned public servants from participating in rallies against those laws.

Fitz: I know you then went on to lead the Community and Public Sector Union, at a time of declining union membership overall. Yet membership in your union surged. What did you do to make it surge?

MD: In the CPSU, we have been undertaking a lot of activities to drive our growth. Some of that has been just about making the case in the public domain around the importance of public sector jobs. But I think the most important thing is for union members to feel empowered in the workplace and for unions to be working to deliver the outcomes that workers want to see. People join the union movement when they can see improvements in their working conditions and their rights at work.

Fitz: In terms of getting this big gig, what was the process?

MD: I was approached by a range of people and encouraged to put my hand up. In some ways, I was a bit nervous, Peter. I do have two young kids, and so I was a bit nervous about managing the huge responsibility of leading the union movement, alongside my family responsibilities.

Fitz: I’m glad you raised that subject because I would not have dared. When I interviewed Sally McManus, she said flat-out “I have no partner, bar two million union members”. But if I had asked “how are you going to fit in this role with being a wife and the mother of two young children”, I accept it would be quite legitimate for you to roll your eyes and say “You bloody well wouldn’t........

© The Sydney Morning Herald