The Queensland Public Sector Union is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n trade union

Australian labour movement

The Australian labour movement has its origins in the early 19th century and includes both trade unions and political activity. At its broadest, the movement can be defined as encompassing the industrial wing, the unions in Australia, and the political wing, the Australian Labor Party and minor...

 for most workers employed by the Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

 state government

Government of Queensland

The Government of Queensland is commonly known as the "Queensland Government".The form of the Government of Queensland is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1859, although it has been amended many times since then...

. The QPSU operates on an organising model

Organising model

The organising model, as the term refers to trade unions , is a broad conception of how those organisations should recruit, operate and advance the interests of their members...

, which entails making delegates and members more participatory in their industrial activism.

Union Council and Delegates

The Union Council is the QPSU's peak decision making body. Every two years the electoral commission holds elections for Council delegates. Each delegate represents members in their agency to ensure all members have a say in their union. In addition, regional branch presidents are also automatically members of the Union Council to ensure the views union members throughout Queensland are represented. Union Council meets five times a year to consider policies and make decisions for the best interests of union members.

Union Structure

Union Structure
Name	Responsibilities
Members	Persons eligible for membership granted by the constitution's rules of eligibility. Within this model members are the most important sector of the union, informing delegates of their concerns, ideas and strategies for improving workplace conditions. Members' active membership is essential in enterprise bargaining campaigns, wider public campaigns and for the strength of the union
Delegates	Delegates are union members who were elected to be a workplace representative, to report and represent concerns of rank and file members to the Union and respective employing authorities.
Union Council	These are delegates elected by the rank and file members of the union body to sit on council. Their role is to discuss, vote and decide on union constitutional matters and policy.
Executive	General Secretary and Assistant General Secretary elected by council and members
Delegate Support Unit	Specialist staff who liaise with delegates within their allocated departments. The DSU organise collective industrial action and are industrial officers for concerns which concern more than one member.
Bargaining Team	A team of specialist industrial staff who negotiate enterprise bargaining agreements and other arbitration matters between members and the relevant departments of the Queensland Government.
Organising Team	Organisers delegate encourage active membership, organise collective action and recruit new members though workplace meetings and inductions.
Membership Services Centre	The area which industrial officers manage the toll free inbound call centre which manage member's individual industrial grievances. The officers undertake caseloads of members who have continuing industrial issues, who need industrial representation. This section of staff can enter workplaces to represent members.
Information Support Unit - Creative/Communication Team	This unit also includes communications officers for media releases and media related inquiries, Union newsletter, Umail (emailed updates)and campaign material.
Information Support Unit	Clerical staff which handle correspondence, administrative membership issues and financial membership issues.
Organising Call Centre	An outbound call centre of non specialist casually employed staff whose role is surveying members on industrial issues and policy. This call centre is often subcontracted by other trade unions to perform similar tasks for their respective membership.

Organising Call Centre

The Queensland Public Sector Union was the first trade union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

 in Australia to have an organising call centre (OCC) in 2003. The OCC contacts members after business hours to survey members on union matters. The call centre consists of 10 - 15 activists and university students, who have been trained to collect confidential survey information vital for Union activity.

ALP affiliation

The QPSU is not affiliated to the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 and therefore does not partake in state conferences with the ALP to maintain political neutrality. However, the QPSU typically supports the ALP due to labour policies which would benefit union members.

Campaigns

The QPSU has been involved in the Your Rights at Work campaign. The QPSU has also had campaigns specifically targeting departments under the Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

State Government including; Queensland Department of Health, Queensland Department of Child Safety and Department of Disability Services Queensland.