Tina Duparc. Photo: Christopher Hopkins
At the 2025 ANMF (Vic Branch) Delegates Conference in June, peri-operative nurse (scrub/scout) Tina Duparc was named the Hannah Sellers Job Rep of the Year for her extraordinary efforts during the St Vincent’s Private EBA campaign.
While Tina now works in the public system, she previously worked at St Vincent’s Private – where she was also born! – for over a decade, and she was instrumental in motivating, encouraging and organising her colleagues during the protected industrial action that ran from November 2024 to March 2025.
Tina signed up to be an ANMF Job Rep in 2016. ‘My decision was largely based on the fact that the private hospital I was working at was about to commence its next round of EBA negotiations,’ she says.
‘Theatre was under-represented at the time and when I was talking to colleagues it became clear that a number of conditions that were unique to theatre nurses needed to be addressed.’
Being a Job Rep and being actively involved was, therefore, ‘a way of ensuring our voices were being heard and a way to make positive changes to our working environment.’
For Tina, one of the key aspects of being a Job Rep involves being a contact person for her colleagues and for the union. ‘I see it as being a go-to person who is able to point people in the right direction in terms of resolving any issues that may arise in the workplace,’ she explains.
‘We are also the eyes and ears for the ANMF in terms of highlighting what is happening on ground level. Our role is pivotal in improving future workplace conditions.’
Another role of being a Job Rep, Tina says, involves ensuring that employers are adhering to EBAs by ‘escalating times when it is not to the ANMF for (hopefully) a timely resolution.’
As a Job Rep in her new workplace, Tina has noticed a few differences in the public system – primarily around how logs of claim for new EBAs are formed.
In the private system, ‘each unit/department can discuss areas for improvement amongst themselves, then Job Reps get together with the ANMF and form a log of claims to use in the next round of EBA negotiations. This is what I did as a Job Rep for private EBAs since 2016.’
In the public system, forming a log of claims is primarily done through submitting and debating motions at the annual ANMF delegates conference. Though ‘the process leading up to the conference is the same,’ Tina notes.
‘Liaise with your team and see if any issues come to light that can form a motion.’
Tina feels fortunate to have been ‘seconder to a motion that passed in this year’s conference,’ she adds.
One of the best things about being a Job Rep is seeing her hard work pay off, Tina says. ‘When we advocate for the work we do and strive to improve our working conditions, positive change can and will occur.
‘I have also learnt so much about how legislation and the union movement can empower our industry,’ she adds.
Winning the Hannah Sellers Job Rep of the Year Award has also been a personal highlight, she notes.
Tina enthusiastically recommends the role to other members. ‘Do it! There is power in numbers and sometimes the best ideas come from collaboration. The more Job Reps there are in your hospital, the more your voice as a collective will be heard.
‘We often hear employees in the tea rooms or corridors wishing for change,’ she adds. ‘Take the steps to make that change. The future of our industry relies on people who are willing to step up, speak up and fight for what we deserve.’
