Australian Council of Trade Unions

The objectives of the ACTU, found in its constitution, are:

• the socialisation of industry,
• the organisation of wage and salary earners in the Australian workforce (within the trade union movement),
• the utilisation of Australian resources to maintain full employment, establish equitable living standards which increase in line with output, and create opportunities for the development of talent.

Executive

Union Aid Abroad

Australian Trade Union Institute

Mind Your Head

In Australia, agitation for One Big Union took place from 1911 from two different sectors: from the revolutionary Australian section of the IWW and from the pro-arbitration Australian Workers Union (AWU). At that time the AWU was the largest single Australian union. In 1918 after the collapse of the Australian IWW, a group of militant trade unions (which were opposed to the AWU) attempted to form One Big Union under the name Workers Industrial Union of Australia (WIUA). The hostility between the WIUA and the AWU prevented the formation of One Big Union in Australia. The ACTU was formed as the Australasian Council of Trade Unions in 1927 and was one of the earliest attempts by trade unions to apply the principles of One Big Union earlier explored by more radical syndicalist unions like the CNT or revolutionary industrial unions like the IWW. The ACTU has not achieved the ideals expressed for One Big Union: it remains a council organisation, but it does however represent the majority of Australian trade unions. At its formation in 1927 the ACTU was only seen as representing blue collar trades unions, and only managed to achieve the support of trades unions.

Attempts of Nationalist Stanley Bruce's federal government in 1927 to dismantle the Australian Industrial Relations Commission impelled Australian trade unions to form a national council. The ACTU's Australian trade union "peak body" precursors include state labour councils like the Victorian Trades Hall Council (originating in 1856 as the "Melbourne Trades Hall Committee"), the Labor Council of New South Wales (originally formed in 1870 as the "Sydney Trades and Labor Council") and the Inter-Colonial Trade Union Congress (formed in 1879).

From 1948 peak bodies of white collar associations existed, and from 1969 peak bodies of government employees. The white collar bodies were: the Council of Professional and Commercial Employees Association (1948), which became the Council of White Collar Associations (1954), which amalgamated with the Salaried Employees Consultative Council of New South Wales (1954) to become the Australian Council of Salaried and Professional Associations (ACSPA) in 1956. The government employee bodies were: the Council of Commonwealth Public Service Organisations (1969) which became the Council of Australian Government Employee Organisations (CAGEO) in 1975. The ACTU successfully integrated these bodies in 1981. After 1981 the ACTU was generally viewed by the Australian media and public as the organisation representing all workers' organisations.

The ACTU and Labour Councils have often united Australian working class opinion behind certain initiatives like the eight-hour day or compulsory arbitration. In the early 1980s this unifying impulse created the Prices and Incomes Accord. The ACTU retains a close relationship with the Australian Labor Party: former ACTU President Bob Hawke went on to become the leader of the ALP and then Prime Minister of Australia. Other former ACTU Presidents who went on to become members of Federal Parliament are: Simon Crean (president 1985-90), Martin Ferguson (1990-96), Jennie George (1996-99), and Ged Kearney (2010-18). The November 2007 election win by the Labor Party, saw the election of a number of union officials to the parliament (Commonwealth) including Bill Shorten (Australian Workers Union) and Greg Combet (former ACTU Secretary).

In the late 1980s and early 1990s the ACTU was influential in a move to forcibly amalgamate smaller unions into so called "super unions". The ACTU's plans envisaged 20 super unions organised on an industrial basis. While many amalgamations occurred in the late 1980s and early 1990s (in part under the influence of changed industrial law), there are still many unions, and union coverage is often organised by historical amalgamation, not by industry.

In 2026, McManus and O'Neil announced their resignations from their respective posts. McManus's resignation is to take effect from 31 August and O'Neil's will take effect before the end of the year. Secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) Melissa Donnelly has been announced as the next secretary of the ACTU.

In the lead up to the 2007 federal election, the ACTU campaigned actively against the Howard government's WorkChoices legislation, which included an advertising campaign and public rallies. This campaign was originally called "Your Rights at Work" but is now known as "Secure Jobs. Better Future" and was considered a success in making industrial relations an important election issue by both marketing companies and even MP Joe Hockey, the Federal Workplace Relations Minister, who said "This is the most sophisticated political plan that we have seen in Australia." One of the rallies was called Fill the "G" , attended by 50,000 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and broadcast to other similar rallies throughout the country. A previous national rally had a reported attendance of 500,000 around Australia.

The ACTU's current campaigns include the campaign to win paid pandemic leave for all workers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the For the workers campaign to oppose Commonwealth Government proposals to change Australian workplace laws, and the promotion of a Working from home Charter.

Following the 2007 Australian federal election, the ACTU's primary focus was the campaign to restore workers rights under the banner of the Your Rights at Work campaign. In addition to this campaign, the ACTU also ran a number of other campaigns, including workplace health and safety, working with other unions on the Your Rights at Telstra campaign and supporting the Rights on Site campaign.

The ACTU has also launched a service by which workers can join their applicable union directly through the ACTU. This self-titled "one stop shop" for union membership is Australian Unions.

In 2008, the ACTU launched a campaign to make paid maternity leave a new national employment standard.

In 2011, the ACTU launched a campaign to address the spread of casual, contract and other forms of insecure work in Australian workplaces. Part of this involved an inquiry into insecure work.

In 2023, the ACTU and other big unions, including the Health Services Union and the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union, began a campaign calling for a levy to be imposed on non-union workers after the union was able to raise wages through collective bargaining.

Presidents

Secretaries

Eight trade and labour councils are affiliated with the ACTU:

In 2024, the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union of Australia disaffiliated from the ACTU, citing the latter's support for the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) being placed into administration by the Federal Government. The CFMEU had been suspended from the ACTU and the Australian Labor Party following allegations of criminal misconduct in its construction division.

• 2019: Medal of the Order of Timor-Leste | For the union movement of Australia, who showed solidarity in the face of our struggle and contributed to the process of self-determination for the Timorese people.