Barry Megennis and Leigh Hubbard in 2012, during the 'Respect our Work ' public sector EBA campaign. Photo: Les O’Rourke
ANMF (Vic Branch) senior industrial officer Leigh Hubbard and industrial officer Barry Megennis have retired. For both, their last day working day was 1 August 2025.
Leigh Hubbard
Leigh has been with the Branch since 2008, and has been an invaluable colleague and defender of nurses’, midwives’ and carers’ rights. Tenacious and determined, his refusal to back down from a fight has been instrumental in some of the union’s biggest wins.
A union man through and through, Leigh completed his law degree at the University of Melbourne, and was secretary of the Victorian Trades Hall Council (VTHC) for a decade before joining ANMF.
During his time at VTHC, Leigh led – and won – campaigns against the Kennett government’s plan to remove common law rights for injured workers, and rights for Victorians ‘left in the lurch’ by the transfer of Industrial Relations powers to the Commonwealth in 1996.
He was a heavily involved in the 1998 Australian waterfront dispute, fighting against Patrick Stevedores’ union-busting plans to sack their unionised workforce – with the support of the Howard Government – and replace them with non-unionised workers.
Leigh was also a key player in the James Hardie campaign for compensation for victims of asbestos diseases, and for a time was the executive officer of the Asbestos Diseases Society of Victoria.
As senior industrial officer at ANMF (Vic Branch), Leigh has negotiated hundreds of enterprise agreements for members, most recently leading the negotiations for the St Vincent’s Private and Bolton Clarke agreements, both of which achieved significant gains for members.
He was also a leading figure in the ANMF’s Aged Care Gender Equity wins at the Fair Work Commission, and particularly in ensuring that employers passed on those significant wage increases to staff.
This achievement cannot be overstated, and Leigh has been in the driving seat from day one. He led the Branch in proactively chasing every aged care provider in Victoria to ensure uplifts were passed on, during the stage 2 uplifts and again for the stage 3 uplift tranches.
Humble and generous, Leigh is well known for his encyclopaedic knowledge of topics of interest, including private aged care bargaining – wages and conditions, in particular.
From time to time, Leigh talks of his union heroes from when he was growing up. To many at ANMF, and in the Vic Branch especially, Leigh Hubbard is a union hero.
He will be greatly missed by ANMF staff and members but as he enjoys his well-earned retirement, you can be assured that his legacy of industrial grit and determination lives on at the Branch.
Barry Megennis
Barry joined the Branch in 2002 as an industrial officer with a wealth of health industry knowledge having previously worked at the Health Services Union – so much so that his nursing colleagues refer to him as the pseudo nurse! He also previously worked at the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union.
He has for many years been a critical resource and font of knowledge around local government as the Branch’s industrial lead for Maternal Child Health nurse bargaining.
In recent years he has worked in the very busy Western Health patch and been indefatigable in advocating for members, all the while maintaining an unflappable and calm presence and an ability to put people at ease.
Barry is like a dog with a bone when he takes up an issue for a member or group of members and has had some great wins in the Fair Work Commission and in courts. His breadth of experience in industrial roles and deep knowledge on the origins of enterprise agreements and award clauses has been invaluable to the Branch.
Barry will be sorely missed by colleagues and members alike, but his hard work leaves a lasting legacy and we wish him all the best for his very well-earned retirement.
