NOTICE OF EOI’s RECEIVED | NTEU UniMelb Branch Committee Vacancies

The branch committee received the following expressions of interest to fill vacancies on NTEU UniMelb branch committee. There are enough open positions for the committee to appoint all the expressions. The term for these appointments will be through October 2026. If you have any feedback that you’d like the branch committee to consider about any of these EOI’s, please send a message to unimelb@nteu.org.au by midday on Monday 27 April 2026.

Martin Clark

I am Martin Clark, an academic at Melbourne Law School, and a delegate, HSR and bargaining team member. I first joined NTEU as an MPhil student in 2014, and after studying overseas became active at both the UTas and then La Trobe branches as a delegate and in bargaining negotiations and campaigns. I joined LTU BC in (if I remember right!) late 2022. Before moving to UoM I took up the Branch Presidency at La Trobe in late 2024, where we quickly built a strong collective action campaign against major staff and course cuts. This campaign, still ongoing, reigned in a rampant VC and Council, built member power, and helped save important parts of La Trobe.

While at LTU I was ever in awe of the staunch actions, power and achievements of the UOM branch that you all helped build in the last bargaining round. I was very eager to become involved in union work at UOM. What I wanted to do, however, was avoid any higher branch work and instead focus on being part of delegate level organising in MLS, and in particular aiming to close the shop here. Bargaining has brought me back into the higher level branch processes. I know there is a lot of use in a close connection between BC and the bargaining team membership, and so I want to nominate to join the BC for the duration of the campaign. I hope that I can be of some use to the branch and our campaign.

Raushaan Seychell

My name is Raushaan Seychell, and I'd like to enter an expression of interest for the positions of Branch Secretary and Committee Ordinary Member.

I'm a Research Assistant in Melbourne University's MDHS, in the Centre for Youth Mental Health, and have been a member of the Union since July of 2022. 

Since joining, I have been extremely passionate about advocating for the rights of workers and employees, especially emphasising the need for collective bargaining to provide real, material benefit for workers in what have been challenging times with the cost of living. I am most proud of having encouraged my entire team of Research Assistants to join the NTEU, which on multiple occasions, has provided us with real support around disputes involving Work From Home arrangements, among many others.

Outside of my work at the University, I am the Head and Founder of Toilet Paper Australia, the largest explicitly pro-union media organisation in Australia. With over 140,000 followers across social media, I have created a platform for workers to not only stand up to power, but also to openly encourage hundreds of people to join their union. Moreover, it has given me great insight into the inner functions of a Union, through a productive media partnership with the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU).

Mathew Taft

I am a causal academic tutor in the School of Culture and Communication. This is my fifth semester at the University of Melbourne, three of these on casual contracts and two on part-time fixed term contracts. As such, I am familiar with both the difficulties confronting casual staff and the dedication to our work for which we deserve so much more. 

I am passionate about eliminating the conditions of insecure work that plague casual staff, and am committed to confronting the politically repressive climate currently engendered by the university administration. During my PhD, I was the branch co-president of the Duke University union and have been a member of the NTEU since 2023 (at acu, la trobe, and now unimelb). I look for to organising with and advocating for all University of Melbourne colleagues. 

George Wood

I’m George Wood, a PhD student and staff member in SHAPS. I am in my second year as a GRAA, having worked as a casual tutor at Unimelb over the six years prior. I am interested in becoming a Branch Committee Ordinary Member.

My motivation for wanting to be involved in the union in this capacity comes from my experiences over the last two years on campus, organising around Palestine and against the repression of staff and students. I have seen the importance of building a sustainable movement from both sides—as a student organiser at the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, and as a staff member over the past year with BDS Unimelb. I saw the importance of mobilising staff and students together firsthand in the staff picket lines around Mahmoud’s Hall in 2024.

For the current EBA period, I see the task to be getting staff organised to fight for better working conditions and against the attacks on academic freedom on our campus. I know the slow work involved in recruiting people to the struggle, and what we can achieve when we work collectively. I am keen to advocate on behalf of staff as a member of the branch committee, ultimately to strengthen workers' power at our university—so that we can collectively make our university a place for working, teaching, and learning that upholds the values it claims.