{"id":27398537,"date":"2025-10-13T18:08:31","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T07:08:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nsw.nteu.au\/sydney\/?page_id=27398537"},"modified":"2026-07-10T12:54:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T02:54:01","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/nsw.nteu.au\/sydney\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"About the branch"},"content":{"rendered":"
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ABOUT USYD BRANCH<\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

Led by members.
Built for action.<\/h1>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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We\u2019re the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) \u2013 University of Sydney Branch: the largest group of university employees in NSW working together to improve the lives of staff and students.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our members include academic, professional, technical, and casual staff\u2014people who keep teaching, research, and student life running every day. We\u2019re part of the broader NTEU NSW Division and national union, but our focus here is local: standing up for secure jobs, fair workloads, safe workplaces, and a university that puts education and community before corporate priorities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Union members at the University of Sydney have won some of the best working conditions in the country through collaboration and struggle. Your membership in the NTEU is critical to defending the conditions we\u2019ve won, holding management to account and to further improving our working lives. <\/span><\/p>\n

From the weekend and sick leave to 17% superannuation and parental leave, union members made it happen. Our democratically-led branch has a proud history of leadership in bargaining, working to delivery the conditions that lead the sector and the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve also seen how management decisions made without transparency or genuine consultation can reshape entire faculties and undermine the work of hundreds of staff. Whether it\u2019s rushed restructures, relentless workload pressures, job insecurity, or governance failures, when we act together, we make a difference. <\/span><\/p>\n

Why you should join<\/span><\/h2>\n

Being in the union means you\u2019re not facing these challenges alone. It means having support when things go wrong, and real power when we stand together. <\/span>Our team of case support volunteers work behind the scenes, assisting members with issues in the workplace, and ensuring fair treatment and adherence to the requirements of the Enterprise Agreement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Through collective action, we\u2019ve protected conditions, pushed back against unfair decisions, demanded accountability from the executive, and defended the integrity of our work. <\/span>Through the work of our volunteers, we represent members\u2019 interests on consultative committees and through submissions, as well as being willing to campaign on issues of importance to our membership.<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019re building something better for the future: a university that reflects the values of its staff \u2014 fairness, respect, collaboration, and a commitment to high-quality education and research. The University of Sydney has a long tradition of innovation and social justice, and our branch continues that tradition by standing together to uphold the university\u2019s mission and defend the people who make it work.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Join the NTEU <\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Meet our Branch Committee<\/b><\/h2>\n

Branch Executive<\/strong>
Peter Chen, Branch President<\/span>
<\/span>Jennifer Dowling, Vice President (Professional)
<\/span>Nick Riemer, Vice President (Academic)
<\/span>Fiona Gill, Branch Secretary <\/span><\/p>\n

Ordinary Committee Members<\/strong>
John Buchanan
<\/span>Beccy Connell
<\/span>Alan Fekete
<\/span>Alex Luke
Matte Rochford
<\/span>Alma Torlakovic\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/span>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representative<\/strong>
Cheryl \u201cPossum\u201d Swinton<\/span><\/p>\n

Current vacancies<\/strong>
1 Casual representative\u00a0
<\/span>3 Ordinary committee member<\/p>\n

    <\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"dipi_cpt_category":[],"work_area":[],"class_list":["post-27398537","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"dsm_author":{"name":"Vince Caughley","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e9b3f2e373c10af80857d35c4fab45d728442851e6424df1e0c64a028a6a89e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","archive_link":"https:\/\/nsw.nteu.au\/sydney\/author\/vcaughley\/","biodata":""},"dsm_categories":[],"dsm_attachment_categories":[],"dsm_featured_image":null,"dsm_comment_count":0,"yoast_head":"\nAbout the branch - USyd Branch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nsw.nteu.au\/sydney\/about\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"About the branch - USyd Branch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nsw.nteu.au\/sydney\/about\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"USyd Branch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-10T02:54:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nsw.nteu.au\\\/sydney\\\/about\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nsw.nteu.au\\\/sydney\\\/about\\\/\",\"name\":\"About the branch - USyd Branch\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nsw.nteu.au\\\/sydney\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-13T07:08:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-10T02:54:01+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nsw.nteu.au\\\/sydney\\\/about\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nsw.nteu.au\\\/sydney\\\/about\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nsw.nteu.au\\\/sydney\\\/about\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nsw.nteu.au\\\/sydney\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"About the branch\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nsw.nteu.au\\\/sydney\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nsw.nteu.au\\\/sydney\\\/\",\"name\":\"USyd Branch\",\"description\":\"Better workplaces. 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