Members will likely be aware by now of several major staff changes within ANMF (Vic Branch) leadership in 2025, either already in place or planned in the next few months. To summarise:
Already in place
- Long-serving Assistant Secretary Paul Gilbert retired in February
- Replacing Paul as Assistant Secretary is Samantha Casey
Upcoming
- In the second half of 2025, Branch Secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick will retire
- Assistant Secretary Madeleine Harradence has been appointed by Branch council to the position of Branch Secretary
- Maternity Services Officer Nicole Allan will become an Assistant Secretary along with Sam
There have also been other staff changes at the Branch that may be of interest to members. These are summarised below.
Industrial officers and organisers
As reported in the January 2025 issue of The Handover magazine posted to all members, to accommodate the Branch’s membership growth we have introduced a new Industrial Professional team. Some members therefore may have recently met a new organiser at your workplace. For full details of the changes, take a look at pages 8 and 9 of the January issue of The Handover.
Other changes among industrial staff
Senior Industrial Officer Leigh Hubbard and Industrial Officer Barry Megennis have both announced that they will retire in August. Leigh and Barry are long-serving members of the Branch industrial officer team – Leigh for 17 years, and Barry for 23 years!
Later this month, Nicole Brown – organiser for workplaces including Maroondah Hospital, Angliss Hospital and Healesville and District Hospital, among others – will take on the role of fixed term full time professional officer, backfilling Rachel Halse’s upcoming parental leave until mid-2026.
Backfilling Nicole during this time will be Camilla Ablitt-Collins, who comes to the Branch from Mercy Hospital for Women where she was a clinical support nurse/midwife. A former Anna Stewart Memorial Program participant, Camilla has been an active ANMF Job Rep and ANMF HSR.
On 24 March, Amy McNaughtan commenced at the Branch in fixed-term industrial relations organiser role to backfill Apoorva Arul’s parental leave. Amy was a clinical support midwife, also from Mercy; she is also a qualified paramedic and has worked with Ambulance Victoria for a number of years.
In February Amberley Ashmore commenced at the Branch in a fixed term full-time industrial relations organiser, backfilling Nicky Semmler in the West Gippsland region. Amberely comes to the Branch from Neerim Health where she was a clinical nurse educator.
In February, Allan Townsend retired. Allan was the industrial relations organiser for the Ballarat region for 15 years. Cassia Drever-Smith has taken over Allan’s patch, ensuring members continue to receive seamless support and advice.
After retiring in February, Richard Joske will be returning to the Branch for a fixed-term relieving industrial relations organiser role from 11 April to 28 November 2025. Members who have worked with Richard will know what great news this is! Richard will be backfilling Mim Harrison, who will be taking on the Branch’s Maternity Services Officer role in a fixed-term capacity from 14 April to 20 November 2025.
Professional officers and other teams
Mim will, off course, be taking on the Maternity Services Officer role when Nicole Allan commences in the Assistant Secretary role.
Julie Reeves has taken on the fixed term professional officer role, backfilling Sam Casey (while Sam is filling the Assistant Secretary casual vacancy). Julie joins us from the ANMF Federal Office where she was working as the Strategic Lead – Aged Care, providing advice and direction on professional and workforce matters related to aged care and digital health. Julie is a registered nurse with extensive experience in nursing and midwifery professional and industrial policy – spanning clinical practice, education, research and regulation – and over 15 years of nursing and midwifery advocacy.
The Job Rep training team has welcomed Bec Barro and Ashleigh Wilson, who are job sharing a training officer role. If they haven’t already, Job Reps will meet either or both Bec and Ashleigh at upcoming training sessions.
While Student and Graduate Support Officer Alice Pemberton is on parental leave in 2025, the role is being capably filled by Michelle Wynne.
