Our Governance

Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA is an Australian Company Limited by Guarantee, and a charity registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC). View our Annual Reports.

It has a governing Board that meets four times a year, and its Board members are either appointed by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) or elected by its members. The Board may also appoint experts to sit on the Board in a non-voting capacity.

OUR CONSTITUTION

OUR APPROACH

OUR POLICIES

Meet our Board

Nicole Calnan – Chairperson

Nicole Calnan is the Federal Secretary of the Australian Education Union (AEU). Before working full-time for the union, Nicole taught in public primary schools in regional NSW. She served as an officer of the NSW Teachers Federation (NSWTF) from 2005 to 2020, holding roles including Organiser, Membership and Training Officer, and Deputy Secretary (Communications and Administration). She was the AEU’s Deputy Federal Secretary from 2020 to 2025.

Michele O’Neil – Vice Chairperson

Michele O’Neil, President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), has long championed the rights of low-paid workers, women, migrants, and asylum seekers. Before her election as ACTU President, she was Vice President of the CFMEU and National Secretary of the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia (TCFUA), representing workers in the industry for 28 years. Michele led campaigns for world-leading worker rights across clothing supply chains, improving pay and conditions for some of Australia’s most exploited workers. She co-founded the Fairwear Campaign and is Secretary of Ethical Clothing Australia.

Mark Lennon – Honorary Treasurer

Mark Lennon has been a leading figure in the NSW union movement for the past twenty years. He was Secretary of Unions NSW between 2008-2015 and previously held several positions including Assistant Secretary, Training Officer, Industrial Officer and Executive Officer. Mark is a Director of StatePlus as well as serving on other financial institutions, insurance and superannuation funds. Mark has degrees in Commerce and Law from the University of NSW. Mark was a member of the WorkCover NSW Board and served as President of the Australian Labor Party NSW Branch from 2014-2020.

Danae Bosler – Honorary Secretary

Danae Bosler is a lifelong union member who joined Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA ten years ago. She participated in a Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA study tour to Timor Leste and returned two years later as part of the Working Women’s Conference. Danae is a member of the Australian Services Union (ASU) and the Media Entertainment Arts Alliance (MEAA) journalist’s division. Danae is currently Assistant Secretary (Appointed) at Victorian Trades Hall Council. She has served as a councillor on the Yarra City Council, and as its mayor.

Michelle Robertson – Board Member

Michelle Robertson, an active union member for 37 years and an official for 30, has dedicated her career to dignity, respect, and human rights in the social and community service sector. Starting as a Women’s Rights Organiser in 1982, she now serves as an Industrial Officer at the Australian Services Union (ASU). A Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA member since 2011, Michelle helped revive the Brisbane Activists Group in 2012, raising over $50,000, and her experience on a study tour to the Thai-Myanmar border further fuelled her commitment.

Michael Wright – Board Member

Michael Wright is the National Assistant Secretary and Legal Officer for the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) of Australia. He has collaborated with Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA on asbestos campaigns in Southeast Asia and led ETU’s technical assistance efforts in Fiji. Previously, he worked with a human rights NGO in Uganda, supporting activists across East Africa. Michael holds degrees in Law, International Studies, and a Master’s in Peace and Conflict Studies.

Jo-anne Schofield - Board Member

Jo-anne Schofield has been the National President of the United Workers Union (UWU). Jo is a committed social justice advocate and trade unionist with over 30 years’ experience working with trade unions, not-for-profit, and public sector organisations.

Dr Linda Kelly – Appointed Expert

Dr. Linda Kelly has over 30 years of experience in international development with NGOs, DFAT, universities, UN agencies, and regional organizations in the Pacific and Asia. Currently a Director of Praxis Consultants and Adjunct Associate Professor at La Trobe University, she specializes in evaluation and program design for large, complex programs. A strong advocate for gender equality, disability, social inclusion, and locally led development, Linda has published widely and presented at industry conferences.

Annual Reports

In 1983, a young Australian nurse named Helen McCue, a committed member of the Australian Nursing Federation, was working as a nurse educator with the World Health Organisation in the Middle East.

Returning to Australia later that year, she took a proposal inspired by her experience in the refugee camps to the then ACTU President Cliff Dolan. Helen proposed the establishment of a global justice organisation in Australia.

She had been inspired while working in the Palestinian refugee camps alongside nurses from Norwegian People’s Aid, the overseas aid arm of the Norwegian trade union movement. Impressed by their focus on skills training, Helen felt that the Australian union movement could also make a difference in the lives of workers and marginalised people around the world.

With Cliff Dolan's support, Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA was established in 1984.

Its international program has developed from a rights-based approach, with a focus on solidarity, not charity. Our work aims to build self-reliance through support to educational and training projects for workers and their organisations.

Today, as the global justice organisation of the Australian union movement, Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA works to support stronger union and social movements in thirteen locations in Southeast and South Asia, the Pacific, the Middle East, and Southern Africa.

We support strong unions and social movements in 18 countries across Southeast Asia, the Pacific, the Middle East, and Southern Africa, partnering with 64 local unions and organisations on 44 Projects and Campaigns.

Financial support for these projects comes from individuals throughout Australia, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), Australian unions and workplaces, international grants, as well as from the Australian government’s overseas aid agency, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

Our Annual Reports highlight our solidarity in supporting workers and communities to build their collective power and defend their rights. You can read about our 49 partner unions and organisations in 21 countries across Southeast Asia, the Pacific, the Middle East, and Southern Africa and the projects and campaigns we undertake.

Do Global Justice. The Union Way.

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