Editorial: Good governance and winning for members
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 131 No 2, 2 April 2026, page no 5.
At the beginning of 2026, as Acting General Secretary I undertook a review to strengthen the internal governance processes here at the QTU, to ensure that you can be confident that your Union is in the best position to support you when it counts.
This year, the QTU will implement a 2026 Operational Plan to align our internal governance structures, budget and associated controls, and human and physical resources directly to achieving the QTU’s Strategic Objectives 2024-2028 and our 2026 Priorities.
As part of this review, I am also making sure that members receive services and support from the QTU in a structured and consistent way. Knowing you have the backing of your Union when you need it gives individual members peace of mind, confident that the professional, industrial, and legal support we offer is second to none.
To compliment this review, the QTU is undertaking a survey seeking feedback from members about the QTU services that they value the most and the issues they believe their Union should be focused on. This survey has been sent to more than 10,000 members, divided into two groups: new members who have been welcomed in the past six months and a control group of existing members from across the state. If you or a colleague receive this survey, please take part — the five minutes it will take you to complete will provide significant insights that will assist your Union strategically.
Striving to make the services QTU members have access to the best they can be also sets a platform for strong membership satisfaction, retention, and growth, which are the foundations of the power unions possess when campaigning collectively.
The QTU is also undertaking a review of end-to-end experience members have when accessing our services. This will inform our efforts to improve our internal systems of work to make each member experience as consistent as possible.
One of our strengths as a Union is our people. The employees of the QTU, along with the honorary officials who make our democratic structures function and our Workplace Representatives, create a network of support for all members right across the state. They are dedicated to supporting members professionally.
Reviewing our service delivery models and, in particular, analysing the cases and issues members are engaged in, will also assist the QTU in being more strategic when addressing these issues centrally through negotiations, disputation, and campaigning, ensuring that many of the pitfalls QTU members currently face can be avoided in the future.
With more than 50,000 members, this is not easy work. But it is important if we are to continue to win with and for our members, while upholding our values and achieving our strategic objectives.
I look forward to continuing this work, so we can improve the services members expect from their Union and enhance our campaigning for the industrial and professional changes members want to see, making state schools and TAFEs in Queensland great places to work and great places to learn.