Unionism in Their Blood: The Prichard Family and the IEU
While preparing an article on IEU families for our professional journal IE, we were reminded of the significant contribution the Prichard family has made to education, our union, and the broader union movement.
Sue and Lou Prichard.
The current link of this illustrious family to our union is former teacher and current Victorian IEU Organiser Lou Prichard.
“I don’t recall a time when I didn’t know about unions,” Lou told IE. “My family has been involved in the movement for generations.”
Involved is an understatement!
Lou’s mum, Sue Prichard, grew up with union values “instilled from birth” – both of her parents were activists. The habit stuck: Lou remembers Sue taking her to a Gough Whitlam It’s Time rally in 1972 when she was just a toddler.
Sue’s mantra was “If not me, then who?” It guided her work as a Catholic primary school principal – helping bring the Victorian Catholic Primary Principals Association into the VIEU (now the IEU Victoria Tasmania) – and throughout her 23 years as a much-loved IEU Organiser.
In recognition of her groundbreaking dedication, the Victoria Tasmania branch named an award after her, which is presented each year to an outstanding regional Rep.
Lou was the union delegate at the local pub during her university years, again while teaching at a Catholic primary school, and has worked as an IEU Organiser since 2006. This year, she moved into the new Member Services Unit.
“My favourite union memory is working together at the IEU with my mum, planning and organising campaigns and rallies bringing together thousands of staff in Catholic education to fight for improvements to their entitlements. She was my mother, my best friend, my colleague and my mentor.”
Those two generations made a huge contribution, but the union link went even further back in the Prichard family.
Maurice Boyce Duffy: a legacy of service and solidarity
Maurice Boyce Duffy
Lou’s great-grandfather, Maurice Boyce Duffy, was a prominent union leader and public advocate, remembered for his unwavering commitment to justice, fairness, and social progress. Born in Bendigo in 1886, the second of eight children, he left school early to support his family but self-educated while working as a tally clerk at the Echuca wharves ̶ mastering business subjects so well he soon taught them.
He went on to become assistant secretary of the Strathfieldsaye Shire and principal of a Bendigo business college, beginning his family’s enduring connection to education.
By 1913, Maurice was President of the West Bendigo Political Labor Council, and in 1919 Vice President of the Australian Clerical Association. His granddaughter, Mauricette Hamilton (née Duffy), noted that he “pleaded the case of workers in court and spoke eloquently about just wages in the face of rising living costs”.
Elected Vice President of the Victorian Trades Hall Council in 1920 and President in 1922, Maurice laid the final foundation stone of the Carlton Trades Hall. The trowel he used is now held in the Melbourne Trades Hall Museum.
As a member of the Royal Commission on Taxation, he co-authored a Dissenters' Report calling for fairer tax policies, including greater exemptions for low-income earners with children.
From 1924 to 1926, Maurice served as Victorian Labor Party President and Trades Hall Assistant Secretary, advocating for better wages and working conditions, particularly on the Melbourne waterfront. In 1925, he became Financial Secretary of the Eight Hours and Labor Day Committee and chaired the ALP Annual Conference, where he criticised the Bruce-Page government for favouring the wealthy and privileged.
His financial expertise led to further roles, including a 1927 Royal Commission on constitutional reform and responsibility for Trades Hall’s unemployment and finance departments. In 1930, he was appointed to the Board of the Commonwealth Bank – an exceptional honour for a unionist – where he resisted wage cuts and promoted fair economic policy during the Great Depression.
In one of his final speeches as Trades Hall Secretary, Maurice addressed the unemployed in Bendigo, opposing debt repudiation and calling for interest rate reductions to ease hardship. He urged that the Commonwealth Bank “serve all Australians – not just the elite” and promoted work-sharing over mass unemployment.
He continued this advocacy throughout the Depression, commuting to Sydney for weekly bank board meetings until 1945, and remained active in public roles until his death in 1958. The Bank praised his “deep understanding of human nature and his interest in industrial relations”.
A passionate advocate for education and global representation, Maurice also served on the Council of Public Education, was a councillor of both the Working Men’s College (now RMIT) and the University of Melbourne, and represented Australia at the 1932 Ottawa Conference, where he defended the rights of Australian workers.
Reflecting on his legacy, Mauricette wrote that although Maurice “held many prestigious positions, he never pursued wealth or power for its own sake”.
Duffy Family, 1951
“Instead, he devoted his life to ensuring every Australian had a fair chance, championing the value of a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work, and the belief that institutions must serve all the people.”
Considering her family’s long union and IEU involvement, Lou Prichard says, “With the increasing divide between the “haves” and “have nots”, and far-right political views becoming mainstream, unions are more important than ever, not just for workplaces but for our whole community, to ensure a fair and just way of life. For if it is not us to take a stand to make things better, then who?”
The upcoming edition of your professional journal IE will feature a story on IEU ‘union families’.
