ANMF (Vic Branch) members have elected a new Branch Council – the organisation’s highest policy and decision-making body.
The council comprises a president, a vice-president, four executive members and 14 ordinary councillors, who must be practising registered or enrolled nurses, midwives or personal care workers; as well as financial members of the ANMF. They are commonly also ANMF Job Reps and/or Health and Safety Reps.
Elections are held every two years for the council and executive committee positions, which are all unpaid and honorary. Councillors are tasked with overseeing the financial administration, governance and legal compliance of the union under the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009, as well as determining sometimes difficult and contentious Branch policy decisions. To assist in fulfilling this requirement, each councillor must undergo specific approved training as well as a comprehensive orientation to the role.
Maree Burgess
Branch President
Maree has been nursing, working as a midwife and then a MCHN, for more than 40 years. Maree became an ANMF Job Rep in 2007, joined the Branch Council in 2008 and was elected Branch President in 2010. She also spent two years as the Federal ANMF Vice President between 2015 and 2017. She has played an active role in EBA negotiations on behalf of ANMF members at her council and is well known to our delegates as she chairs the Branch’s annual delegates conference.
Emma Foreman
Vice President
Emma is a clinical nurse specialist in theatre at a metropolitan hospital. She has worked in primary healthcare, day procedure and ICU on secondment as part of the stage 4 COVID-19 response, during which she discovered her love of intensive care nursing. Emma has been an active ANMF Job Rep since 2020 and joined Branch Council in 2023. She was elected as Vice President later the same year.
‘I realised all my assumptions were incorrect’ – more about Emma’s time in ICU
Kate Reid
Executive member
Kate is a registered nurse with over 20 years of experience, and is currently an ANUM in the medical unit of a regional hospital. She became a Job Rep during the 2011–12 Respect Our Work EBA campaign. She joined the Branch Council in 2018, and the Executive Committee in 2020.
Marie Jones
Executive member
Marie is a midwife and nurse practitioner who works at a public hospital in the women’s health specialty outpatient clinics. She coordinates the clinic’s caring for the needs of women affected by female genital mutilation. In this nurse/midwife-led clinic, patients are able to receive the complex care they require as well as deinfibulation. Marie has been an ANMF member for over 40 years and a Job Rep for 18 years.
Mel Carron
Executive member
Mel is an enrolled nurse at a metropolitan public hospital. They have been nursing for 40 years, having worked across a variety of clinical settings, and becoming a Job Rep in 2005. Mel has been active in many EBAs including the 2011–12 Respect Our Work campaign. They joined Branch Council in 2017 and Executive in 2020. Mel is particularly passionate about improving access to healthcare where barriers exist due to discrimination or disempowerment, particularly for Trans and Gender Diverse folk, and is a co-convenor of the newly formed ANMF-recognised LGBTIQA+ Reference Group.
Stephen McKenzie
Executive member
Stephen is a clinical nurse specialist in the emergency department of a major regional hospital. He completed his EN training in 1988, has been an RN since 1994, and an ANMF Job Rep since 2004. In addition to his day jobs in ICU and ED, he has previously volunteered for the SES and worked in emergency medical response in Timor-Leste, Samoa, Fiji and the Howard Springs quarantine centre. Stephen was first elected to Branch Council in 2010 and to Executive in 2011.
Adrian Spinelli
Branch councillor
An RN with a background in emergency nursing, Adrian is currently the NUM of general medicine at a metropolitan hospital, where he has worked since his graduate year in 2010. In 2021, he managed the hospital’s COVID-19 community vaccination delivery program. An ANMF member since 2007 and a Job Rep since 2012, Adrian was elected to Branch Council in 2023 on a platform of advocating for member safety, professional development, and securing the future of the workforces.
Allington Gono
Branch councillor
A clinical nurse specialist at a regional hospital, Allington began his career with the UK’s National Health Service in Sheffield in 2003. He initially worked in a cardiology medical ward before transferring to the cath lab, where he’s worked since 2005. He moved to Australia in 2010, and joined ANMF that year. He’s been a Job Rep since 2015 – putting his formidable knowledge of EBA clauses to good use – and participated in the Belinda Morieson Program in 2022. Allington was elected to Branch Council in 2023.
EBA clauses, advocating for colleagues and vegetable gardens: learn more about Allington
Anna Kenny
Branch councillor
RIPRN Anna is a NUM in the oncology and haematology integrated care unit of a regional hospital. She has worked in emergency, oncology and surgical nursing, has been a Job Rep since 2018 and received the Hannah Sellers Job Rep of the Year award in 2019. A Branch Councillor since 2020, Anna is passionate about representing the interests of regional nurses and midwives, and advocating for students – our future workforce.
Audrey Molinari
Branch councillor
Audrey is a maternal and child health nurse working with a regional local council. She has been an ANMF member since 2000, a Job Rep since 2008 and was elected to Branch Council in 2023. Audrey was also seconded to the Branch as an organiser and is well known to those members she represented during that time. As a councillor, Audrey will advocate for regional members and aims to empower them to speak up and resolve issues.
Catherine Morales
Branch councillor
Catherine is a mental health nurse working in forensic mental health. She began her career as a PCA in aged care and, after switching to nursing, was one of the early cohorts of RUSONs (registered undergraduate students of nursing). She has been a very active and committed HSR and ANMF Job Rep since 2021 and was elected to Branch Council in 2022.
From postgrad member to HSR to Branch Councillor: Catherine’s journey
Catherine Williams
Branch councillor
Catherine is an RN working as a clinical nurse specialist at a metropolitan hospital. She has over 20 years of experience with stints in the ED, surgical and adolescent wards as well as in school nursing. She became a Job Rep in 2019 and was elected to Branch Council later that year. She has a particular interest in environmentally sustainable healthcare, paediatrics, and protecting and expanding ratios.
Being part of Branch Council is, in a way, a family legacy for Catherine Williams.
Damien Hurrell
Branch councillor
Damien is an RN working as a nurse informatician at a regional hospital, with a background in intensive care and as a nurse donation specialist. He’s been an active Job Rep for nearly 20 years, is an ANMF delegate to his regional Trades and Labour Council, and was the 2016 recipient of the Hannah Sellers Job Representative of the Year award. Damien became a Branch Councillor in 2021 and is committed to improving and extending ratios, improving night shift entitlements, and supporting initiatives to reduce mental injury.
Damien is on a mission to improve the system through unionism, politics, and data
Judy Foord
Branch councillor
An experienced mental health nurse for more than 30 years and a nurse practitioner for a decade, Judy works for an award-winning adult mental health hospital-in-the-home service, and also teaches mental health subjects in undergraduate nursing degrees. She has been an ANMF member for more than two decades, a Job Rep since 2004 and a member of the ANMF Mental Health Royal Commission Working Group since 2021. Judy was elected to Council in 2023.
Read more about why Judy loves being a mental health nurse
Kate Mason
Branch councillor
A clinical midwife specialist at a metropolitan hospital, Kate began her midwifery career in 2014. She joined ANMF as a student. In 2017 she became a Job Rep, and in 2019 she participated in the Anna Stewart Memorial Program and was elected to Branch Council. She has been an HSR since 2021. Kate’s key focus as a councillor is on recognition and action to relieve the pressures experienced by maternity services across Victoria.
Kylie Somerville
Branch councillor
Kylie is a maternal and child health nurse for a local government service. She’s been working as a nurse, midwife and MCHN since the mid-90s, an ANMF member since 1999, a Job Rep since 2001 and was elected to Branch Council in 2022, with a keen interest in advocating for MCHNs. Kylie has been the vice president of the Victorian Association of Maternal and Child Health Nurses since 2020.
Melinda Connan
Branch councillor
Melinda is an RN working as a clinical nurse specialist in the palliative care unit at a metropolitan hospital. She began her career at Prince Henry’s Hospital in 1989 and has since worked in several medical and surgical specialities. These include cardiothoracic, ICU, acute stroke, gastrosurgical and gen med. She’s been an ANMF member since 1989, an active Job Rep since 2011 and was elected to Branch Council in 2019.
Natalie Berniard
Branch councillor
A CCRN, Natalie is an associate nurse manager in the operating theatre at a major metropolitan hospital. She started her nursing career in Adelaide specialising in ICU nursing before moving to Melbourne in 2004. A perioperative nurse since 2007, she has also worked in ED and been a surgical and anaesthetic liaison nurse. Natalie has been an ANMF member since 1999, a Job Rep since 2018 and an HSR and Branch Councillor since 2022.
Roxane Ingleton
Branch councillor
Roxane is a clinical midwife specialist at a metropolitan women’s hospital. She became an Endorsed Midwife in 2022 and also works in private practice. She has been a Job Rep since 2016, was an Anna Stewart Memorial Program participant in 2020 and was elected to Branch Council in 2022. In addition to representing midwives, Roxane is interested in utilising the union’s strength to influence governments on social justice issues such as climate justice and refugee advocacy.
The perfect Venn diagram: how Roxi’s professional and her personal lives meet in the union
Ruth Bloom
Branch councillor
An ANMF Job Rep since 2005 and a Branch Councillor since 2017, Ruth Bloom is an enrolled nurse committed to standing up for Medicare, safe staffing levels and fair pay. She works in the emergency department of a major metropolitan hospital, and has a particular interest in ensuring the inclusivity of the union.
Branch Secretary and Assistant Secretaries
In addition to the ordinary councillors and executive committee, the Branch Council also includes the Branch Secretary and two Assistant Secretaries. These are paid, full-time positions, elections for which are held every four years. They initiate and co-ordinate the day-to-day activities work, and management of the Branch, and all its staff.
Lisa Fitzpatrick
State Secretary
A registered nurse, Lisa trained at Prince Henry’s Hospital in 1980 and became a Job Rep in 1982. She has completed further studies and was Branch President from 1990 to 1996 while working as a diabetes educator. Lisa joined the Branch as projects/recruitment officer in 1997 and became an organiser in 1998. She has been Branch Secretary since 2001.
Paul Gilbert
Assistant Secretary
Paul is an enrolled nurse who undertook his education in the mid-1980s and has nursed in Bendigo and Queensland. He became a Job Rep in 1989 and joined the Branch as an organiser in 1991. In 2000 Paul became an industrial officer and in 2005 he was appointed to senior industrial officer. Paul was elected Assistant Secretary in 2009.
Madeleine Harradence
Assistant Secretary
Madeleine is a registered nurse who completed her education in NSW and came to Victoria to undertake her grad year and work under ratios. She worked at St Vincent’s ED, where she was a committed and enthusiastic Job Rep from 2012: Maddy was awarded the Hannah Sellars Job Rep of the Year Award in 2015. From 2013–17 she was a Branch Councillor before becoming an organiser in 2017. Maddy was elected Assistant Secretary in 2021. She is currently on parental leave, following the birth of her second child.
