The Health Services Union (HSU) is a specialist health

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

with around 90,000 members working in the healthcare and social assistance industries across

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The membership of the union includes

doctors Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

, and allied health professionals such as

physiotherapists Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...

and

radiographers Radiographers, also known as radiologic technologists, diagnostic radiographers and medical radiation technologists are healthcare professionals who specialize in the imaging of human anatomy for the diagnosis and treatment of pathology. Radiog ...

ambulance An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...

officers, clerical and administrative staff, managers and support staff. The HSU National Office is located in

Melbourne, Victoria Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung–Taungurung language, Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the St ...

. Its current National Secretary is Lloyd Williams.

Branch structure

The HSU is a federated union, with branches in every state and territory of Australia. Each branch of the HSU covers different workers depending on the state they reside, their workplace and their occupation. Below is a list of the nine branches of the HSU. * HSU NSW/ACT/QLD * HSU SA/NT * HSU TAS (trading as the Health and Community Services Union - HACSU) * HSU VIC No. 1 (trading as the Health Workers Union - HWU) * HSU VIC No. 2 (trading as the Health and Community Services Union - HACSU) * HSU VIC No. 3 (trading as the

Victorian Allied Health Professionals Association The Victorian Allied Health Professionals Association (VAHPA) is the trading name for a trade union in the state of Victoria, Australia. VAHPA forms Branch No. 3 of Health Services Union Victoria (HSU Vic). VAHPA has around 5,000 members coverin ...

- VAHPA) * HSU VIC No. 4 (trading as the Medical Scientists Association of Victoria; Victorian Psychologists Association and; Association of Hospital Pharmacists) * HSU WA

History

The union officially came into existence in 1991 with the amalgamation of two existing unions, the Hospital Employees' Federation (HEF) and The Health and Research Employees Association (HREA). But its origins date back to the early years of the twentieth century when organisations of

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

employees were first formed in

. Over the years the membership of the unions that eventually came together to form the HSU has been based around a nucleus of hospital staff and psychiatric care staff. But it has gone much further to include ambulance,

aged care Elderly care, or simply eldercare (also known in parts of the English-speaking world as aged care), serves the needs and requirements of senior citizens. It encompasses assisted living, adult daycare, long-term care, nursing homes (often called re ...

community health Community health refers to simple health services that are delivered by laymen outside hospitals and clinics. Community health is also the subset of public health that is taught to and practiced by clinicians. Community health volunteers and communi ...

disability Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be Cognitive disability, cognitive, Developmental disability, dev ...

sector, hospital

scientists A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophica ...

mental Mental may refer to: * of or relating to the mind Films * ''Mental'' (2012 film), an Australian comedy-drama * ''Mental'' (2016 film), a Bangladeshi romantic-action movie * ''Mental'', a 2008 documentary by Kazuhiro Soda * ''Mental'', a 2014 O ...

health and

drug A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

and

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

workers.

Financial controversy

A former HSU national Secretary, Craig Thomson, faced allegations from 2008"Embattled Thomson suspended from Labor Party"
''ABC News''

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

, 29 April 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012 (updated) that he used an HSU union credit card to pay for escorts and other financial improprieties with the card. Amid the allegations, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) suspended the HSU's membership. Thomson maintains his innocence, but in May 2012, a report by Fair Work Australia recommended that civil court action be taken against Thomson for what the report says was a "substantial misuse of members' funds". On 31 January 2013, Thomson was arrested and was expected to face 150 fraud charges in Wyong Local Court. Following regulatory and administrative investigations, criminal trials and a subsequent

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

, on 15 December 2014, Thomson, a former Labor politician, was found guilty in the Victorian County Court of thirteen charges of theft and convicted and fined A$25,000. Forty-nine charges of obtaining financial advantage by deception were dismissed following an earlier finding in the

Melbourne Magistrates Court The Melbourne Magistrates' Court is the largest venue at which the Magistrates' Court of Victoria sits. It is a court in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia that deals with, and dispenses of, a range of criminal and civil matters, including crimin ...

on 18 February 2014 against Thomson of defrauding the HSU in order to pay for personal expenses. On 25 March 2014, Thomson was convicted on 65 charges of fraud and theft for using Health Services Union funds for personal benefit and

sentenced Sentenced was a Finnish gothic metal band that played melodic death metal in their early years. The band formed in 1989 in the town of Muhos and broke up in 2005. History Early years (1988–1991) Sentenced started in 1988 as Deformity and c ...

to twelve months

imprisonment Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessari ...

, with nine months suspended over two years. Thomson's legal team immediately lodged an appeal against the conviction and sentence and was granted bail.

References

External links

Official websiteOfficial website - NSW BranchAustralian Council of Trade Unions
* {{Authority control Healthcare trade unions in Australia Trade unions established in 1991 1991 establishments in Australia Australian Public Sector Trade Unions