In Victoria, Australia’s second-most populous and wealthy state, the Community and Public Sector Union–State Public Service Federation (CPSU-SPSF) Victoria represents some 14,500 workers, amounting to 18 percent of the 82,000-strong public services workforce.

The union’s leadership has held power for thirty-two years, that is, since 1993. Just last year, they signed what critics describe as a below-inflation pay deal with Victoria’s state Labor government. For many public service unionists, it was another disappointment, and typical of a union leadership blighted with complacency that has failed to resist sweeping job cuts or deliver lasting real wage growth. Indeed, for many rank-and-file CPSU-SPSF members, it was the last straw. In 2024, A Voice for Members (AVFM) formed to pressure the leadership to take a bolder approach, and today, they are contesting the union’s elections, which opened on June 10 this year and will run until July 8.

At the helm of the campaign is Jiselle Hanna, a long-time public service worker and candidate for secretary of the CSPU-SPSF Victoria. Alongside her, thirty-seven other democratically preselected union members are also standing as candidates. Their platform promises a fightback against government austerity as well as a pledge to rebuild union democracy by involving members in decision-making in order to keep union leaders accountable.