Sally McManus and the IEU Victoria Tasmania

Every Australian worker should be grateful for the courageous work of departing ACTU Secretary Sally McManus over the past nine years.

She has stood firm in fighting for workers’ rights and helped usher in vital workplace reforms, the full impact of which is likely to become even more significant with time.

The IEU is particularly appreciative of her support during our push for a Single Interest Authorisation (SIA) in Victorian Catholic education.

In March 2025, McManus told more than 100 IEU Reps at a statewide training event at Trades Hall in Carlton that the SIA campaign had implications beyond education, describing it as ‘a beautiful prize’ to pass on to workers who would follow.

She told Reps: ‘It was so wrong that you couldn’t take industrial action’ and pledged that the union movement was committed to seeing them win.

In September 2025, McManus publicly backed the campaign in a video to Victorian Catholic education staff, urging them to make Statements of Support for the SIA. She argued that without an SIA, employers had too much power, leaving workers without protected industrial action, Fair Work Commission support or meaningful bargaining leverage. She said of the right to take protected industrial action: ‘It’s not a luxury, it’s a necessity’.

In November 2025, McManus again praised the IEU campaign, saying the wider union movement’s multi-employer bargaining reforms had been ‘on the precipice’ when she had asked the IEU to step up and help lead the campaign. She attributed its success to organising, workplace meetings and one-to-one conversations, saying: ‘You continue to out-organise the bosses.’ She said the rest of the union movement was watching and that the campaign was ‘so inspiring’.

The IEU Victoria Tasmania thanks Sally for her steadfast support and solidarity and wishes her every success for the next chapter of her life and work.