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. The membership of the union includes doctors, 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. Radi ...

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. 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 - 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 employees were first formed in Australia. 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 Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psy ...

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 call ...

, community health,

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, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, ...

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 health and drug and alcohol 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 Escort may refer to: Protection *Bodyguard, a security operative who accompanies clients for their personal protection *Police escort, a feature offered by law enforcement agencies to assist in transporting individuals *Safety escort service, a s ...

and other financial improprieties with the card. Amid the allegations, the

Australian Council of Trade Unions The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), originally the Australasian Council of Trade Unions, is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated unions and eight trades and l ...

(ACTU) suspended the HSU's membership. Thomson maintains his innocence, but in May 2012, a report by

Fair Work Australia The Fair Work Commission (FWC), until 2013 known as Fair Work Australia (FWA), is the Australian industrial relations tribunal created by the ''Fair Work Act 2009'' as part of the Rudd Government's reforms to industrial relations in Australi ...

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, on 15 December 2014, Thomson, a former

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

politician, was found

guilty Guilty or The Guilty may refer to: * Guilt (emotion), an experience that occurs when a person believes they have violated a moral standard Law *Culpability, the degree to which an agent can be held responsible for action or inaction *Guilt (law) ...

in the Victorian County Court of thirteen charges of

theft Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for som ...

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 on 18 February 2014 against Thomson of

defrauding In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compensa ...

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

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countrie ...

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