The new ANMF (Vic Branch) Council – elected in October 2025 – is up and running, with councillors holding their first meeting in December 2025.
Branch Council is ANMF’s highest policy and decision-making body. It comprises a president, vice-president, four executive members and 14 councillors. All must be practising registered or enrolled nurses, midwives or personal care workers and financial members of the ANMF.
Elections are held every two years for the council and executive positions, which are 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.
President
Emma Foreman
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Emma Foreman
Emma is a clinical nurse specialist in theatre at Western Health. 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
Vice President
Natalie Berniard
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Natalie Berniard
A CCRN, Natalie is an associate nurse manager in operating theatres at Monash Health. 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.
Executive members
Damien Hurrell
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Damien Hurrell
Damien is an RN working as a nurse informatician at Bendigo Health, 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
Kate Reid
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Kate Reid
Kate is a registered nurse with over 20 years of experience, and is currently an ANUM in the medical unit at Goulburn Valley Health. 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
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Marie Jones
Marie is a midwife and nurse practitioner who works at Royal Women’s 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
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Mel Carron
Mel is an enrolled nurse at Austin Health. 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.
Councillors
Adrian Spinelli
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Adrian Spinelli
An RN with a background in emergency nursing, Adrian is currently the NUM of general medicine at Austin Health, 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
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Allington Gono
A clinical nurse specialist at Grampians Health, 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
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Anna Kenny
RIPRN Anna is a NUM in an oncology and haematology integrated care unit at Bass Coast Health. 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
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Audrey Molinari
Audrey is a maternal and child health nurse working with Latrobe City 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.
Being a nurse was always Audrey’s path, and she wasn’t going to let anyone stop her.
Brittany (Britt) Smith
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Britt Smith
Britt is an EN working on a neuroscience ward at St Vincent’s Private Hospital. Britt became a nurse in 2020 after being inspired by the nurses caring for a family member before they passed away. Prior to becoming a nurse, Britt did her Cert III in Health Services Assistance and worked agency in aged care while finishing her diploma. She is now studying her bachelor. Britt became a Job Rep during the 2024 St Vincent’s Private EBA campaign so she could get more involved in her workplace EBA for better wages and staffing levels. She is a first-time Branch Councillor. She was elected to Branch Council in October 2025.
Catherine Williams
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Catherine Williams
Catherine is an RN working as a clinical nurse specialist at the Royal Children’s 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.
Jemima Busasa
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Jemima Busasa
Jemima is a graduate RN working in mental health at Austin Health. She was the Branch’s first RUSON (Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing) Councillor when she joined Council on a casual vacancy in 2025, and is now the first graduate councillor. As a RUSON, Jemima worked in acute aged care, mental health and cardiology/cardiothoracic settings. She also has several years’ experience as a personal care worker. Jemima was elected in October 2025.
Judy Foord
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Judy Foord
An experienced mental health nurse for more than 30 years and a nurse practitioner for a decade, Judy works for Barwon Mental Health’s 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
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Kate Mason
A clinical midwife specialist at Box Hill 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.
Kudakwashe (Kuda) Gorah
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Kuda Gorah
Kuda is an RN with more than two decades of experience in perioperative nursing, in public and private hospitals. Now working as a community nurse with Bolton Clarke’s Homeless Persons Program, Kuda became an ANMF Job Rep in 2023 in order to take an active role in the Bolton Clarke EBA campaign that ultimately featured 64 days of protected industrial action. She was elected to Branch Council in October 2025.
Melinda Connan
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Melinda Connan
Melinda is an RN working as a clinical nurse specialist in palliative care at Monash Health. 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.
Roxane Ingleton
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Roxane Ingleton
Roxane is a clinical midwife specialist at Royal 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
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Ruth Bloom
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 Royal Melbourne Hospital emergency department, 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.
State Secretary
Maddy Harradence
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ANMF (Vic Branch) Secretary Maddy Harradence
Maddy 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, and Branch Secretary in October 2025.
Nicole Allan
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ANMF (Vic Branch) Assistant Secretary Nicole Allan.
Nicole began her hospital training at St Vincent’s in 1987. She has worked as a nurse in the private and public sector, in medical nursing, oncology and palliative care. After having her own family, she completed postgraduate midwifery studies in 2002 and worked as a midwife at Dandenong and Casey Hospitals. Nicole joined the Branch as an industrial organiser in 2009 and became the Maternity Services Officer in 2019. Branch Council appointed Nicole to the role of Assistant Secretary from July 2025. She was elected Assistant Secretary in October 2025.
Sam Casey
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ANMF (Vic Branch) Assistant Secretary Sam Casey
Sam, an ICU nurse, undertook her graduate nursing program in 2013 and has held clinical nurse specialist, quality and education roles. She became an ANMF Job Rep in 2016 and joined the Branch as an Organiser in 2018, predominantly covering public and private acute hospitals and private aged care. Branch Council appointed Sam to the role of Assistant Secretary from February 2025. She was elected Assistant Secretary in October 2025.
