While we’ve held many conferences in the past, this will be our very first Congress and the first time we are coming together since our recent rules change.
FSU Delegates will represent our members from across all facets of the finance industry at Congress, where we will work together to set the direction of our union for the next four years.
We’ll be discussing the issues that are important to our members, and Delegates will also elect the National Officers of our union.
This Congress is particularly important due to our recent rules change, which further amplifies the democratic nature of our union. The new structure encourages greater participation of members in our union’s day-to-day work and governance, and more clearly reflects workers across the sector and the issues we care most about.
This provides powerful opportunities for members (through their Delegates) to have a say in our union’s direction and to build strategies to grow our union to be a stronger, more powerful force for all workers across the sector.
Each FSU member is allocated to an electorate based on their enterprise/sector employment and geographical location. However, members can also elect to be allocated to an occupational committee (where eligible) or any specialist electorate they identify with (ie, Young adult, LGBTQIA+, etc)
Delegates represent the interests of our members at Congress and beyond.
Our rules help provide quotas for these electorates when determining the composition of our Delegates in attending Congress every four years. In addition to this calculation, the rules provide for affirmative action for all positions in the union.
For this term, the composition of Delegates for Congress was 93 people to represent the entire union with the breakdown as follows.
These quotas help ensure National Congress is a cross section of members that best reflect our membership – a diverse group of Delegates with a wide range of views and experiences. It also means no group is unrepresented or left behind.
A key difference between our past Conferences and this National Congress is that once elected, Delegates are one group that represents the entire membership and not just the electorate they were elected into.
Every Congress Delegate, regardless of where you are from, has one vote at Congress.
Our members have told us that they want to get involved in their union on issues that go beyond their workplace. Our new committee structure means that you can get involved in campaigns that run across your enterprise or sector as well as engaging on matters that you care about or in the way that you identify.
Our new committees give us the capacity to identify ourselves, make connections with other members and create activism around issues that matter to us. This also helps drive passion and activism among our members and supports their growth.
Importantly, our committees will be pivotal in driving the work of our union around these key issues.
The committees will implement our strategic plans and see us take actions across our priority areas and on issues that matter most to our members.
Delegates will come together in their respective committees at Congress to consider the key issues that impact on your workplaces and discuss what our priorities are over the next four years.
There are a few things you will need to do in preparation for this, including accessing some pre-reading to arm you with the information you’ll need to get involved.