Ged Kearney ACTU President

Gerardine (Ged) Kearney is President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions.

She took office on 1 July 2010, and is the third woman to hold the position following the departure of Sharan Burrow to the Brussels-based position of General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation.

Prior to the ACTU, Ms Kearney was elected the Federal Secretary of the Australian Nursing Federation in April 2008.

The ANF represents more than 175,000 nurses and midwives, and is one of Australia’s fastest growing unions.

She had been an elected official with the ANF since 1997.

Ms Kearney began her working life a registered nurse in 1985, and has worked in many settings across the public and private acute sectors, predominantly in Melbourne, and has also been a nursing educator, including manager of the Clinical Nursing Education Department at Austin Health.

She has a Bachelor in Education.