Workers should be consulted over AI and they should fear One Nation, says new ACTU boss
6 September 2026
Region.
New ACTU secretary Melissa Donnelly insists workers must be consulted over AI in their workplaces.

The new secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), Melissa Donnelly, says workers “absolutely deserve” to have a say about the use of artificial intelligence in their workplaces.

She has also warned Australians that any further embracing of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation policies will have a severe detrimental impact on their cost of living.   

The union boss gave her first major media interviews on Thursday (3 September) since assuming the ACTU’s top job after the retirement of Sally McManus.

On the ABC’s 7.30 program, the new secretary insisted workers had rights when it comes to AI.

Ms Donnelly was previously national secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU).

At 44, she is one of the youngest ever ACTU secretaries, although Bill Kelty was 35 when he assumed the role in 1983.

She called for more consultations with employees and stronger guardrails to be put in place, as uncertainty and anxiety over the new technology grows in the workplace.

“Workers absolutely deserve and should have a say on AI in their workplaces,” she said.

“That’s not necessarily a veto. But workers are really worried about what it means for their jobs, what it means for their job security, and what it means for their kids’ jobs into the future.

“We have creative workers who are having their work stolen. There has to be a broader discussion, and workers deserve to have a seat at that table and have a say on what happens.”



Unions have been at the forefront of the campaign to protect workers’ jobs and rights with the fast emergence of AI, as well as leading the call to protect copyright and the work of Australian creatives.

The Federal Government recently flagged a number of measures designed to protect jobs, copyright and the environment while also seizing the opportunity of AI data centre investments in Australia.

But not long before stepping down from the ACTU secretary role, Ms McManus clearly stated the level of community concern.

“Australians don’t trust AI because of the lack of clear benefit for working people,” she said in July.

“We have had big promises, but so far, no guarantee that any benefits will be shared with workers.   :(

“Unions don’t want to veto technology use, only to veto the harm it could cause.”



Ms Donnelly said unions would test existing laws that stipulated workers must be consulted about major impacts of changes, but if those laws were not effective in relation to AI, the ACTU would insist they be strengthened.

“There are a whole range of workplace issues, and workers’ rights issues, that arise with the advent of AI,” she said.

“There’s a broader conversation that we should be having as a nation about what AI means and how we regulate it.

“It’s not a tropical cyclone bearing down on the coast. It is technology. We’ve seen governments step in on issues like social media and set some guardrails.

“We have all sorts of commentators from Bill Gates to others saying that we’ve got to have some rules around how this works, we’ve got to have protections, because we need to protect workers into their future.

“We need to make sure there are meaningful and quality jobs going forward.”

If AI is one big priority for the new ACTU secretary, the other is wages and the cost of living.

And she made it clear that One Nation was not the answer.

“One Nation says one thing and does another,” Ms Donnelly said.

“The reality is that Pauline Hanson’s track record is voting against penalty rates, voting against rights for casual and gig workers.

“She’s opposed the minimum wage. She’s most recently suggested it should be easier to sack workers.   :o   

“If you’re worried about cost of living, Pauline Hanson is going to make it worse.”

;D ;D more scared mongers.