Melissa Donnelly

Melissa Donnelly is the Australian Council of Trade Unions Secretary, having formally being the National Secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), an Australian trade union with coverage of more than 198,000 Commonwealth Public Servants, as well as those in the Northern Territory Public Service and the ACT Public Service. is the CPSU's youngest ever national secretary, as well as the third woman and the first working mother to hold the role. Donnelly is also a member of the National Executive of the Australian Labor Party.

Donnelly was first elevated to the role, following tenure in the union's legal and industrial relations team and its Executive Committee, when former National Secretary Nadine Flood resigned for health reasons in 2019. Donnelly was most recently reelected to the position in December 2023.

Under Donnelly's leadership of the union, its membership declined by more than 9% between 2019 and 2022 . Between 2022 and 2025 Australian Public Service employee numbers grew by more than 16%, leading to the absolute number of CPSU members increasing to be about 4% higher in 2025 than when Donnelly assumed leadership . However CPSU density continues to decline, in line with broader trends in the Australian trade union movement since the 1980s . +CPSU (PSU Group) membership and APS staff numbers between 2013 and 2025. Date CSPU (PSU) membership APS employee numbers Approximate APS union density (%)* 30 June 2018 46,778 150,258 150,363 29.6 30 June 2021 43,039 153,571 28.0 30 June 2022 40,654

Donnelly will become the next secretary of the ACTU following the resignation of Sally McManus from the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) on 31 August 2026.