# Australian Labor Party National Executive

The Australian Labor Party National Executive, often referred to as the National Executive, is the executive governing body of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), charged with directly overseeing the general organisation and strategy of the party. Twenty members of the National Executive are elected by the party's National Conference, which is the highest representative body of the party's state and territory branches. The other eight members are party ex-officio members.
Members on the Executive may be officials of trade unions affiliated to the party, members of federal or state Parliaments, or rank-and-file ALP members. The ex-officio members are the National President, the National Secretary and two National Vice-Presidents (who are directly elected by Labor members), and the Leader of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party, but of these only the party Leader has a vote.
The National Executive is concerned mainly with organisational matters. It does not decide party policy, which is determined by the National Conference. The National Executive does not elect the party's parliamentary leaders, which is done by a ballot of both the Parliamentary Caucus and by the Labor Party's rank-and-file members. The National President or Vice-President are elected by party members. Its most public role is to act as the final arbiter of disputes about parliamentary candidacies (preselections). On these matters the National Executive usually votes on factional lines. The Labor Right faction holds a majority on the National Executive, though it did not hold a majority at the 2015 National Conference.
The power of the National Executive extends to the reorganisation of a State Branch. For example, in 1970 to improve the party's chances of electoral success, the National Executive intervened in the Socialist Left controlled Victorian Branch, involving the sacking of State officers and dissolution of the Branch. Less drastic forms of intervention are more common, such as the final arbiter of preselection disputes. The executive has authority over policy as it can interpret the party’s constitution, platform and conference decisions.

## Members of the National Executive

As of September 2024, the current members of the National Executive are:
| Member type | Member name | Position | Faction | State/territory | Voting member |
| Ex-officio members | Wayne Swan | National President | Right | Queensland | No |
| Ex-officio members | Paul Erickson | National Secretary | Left | Victoria | No |
| Ex-officio members | Susan Close MP | Vice-President | Left | South Australia | No |
| Ex-officio members | Mich-Elle Myers | Vice-President | Left | New South Wales | No |
| Ex-officio members | Manu Risoldi | National President of Young Labor | Right | New South Wales | No |
| Ex-officio members | | National Labor Women's Network Co-Convenor | | | No |
| Ex-officio members | | National Labor Women's Network Co-Convenor | | | No |
| Ex-officio members | Anthony Albanese MP | Leader of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party | Left | New South Wales | Yes |
| Elected members | Senator Tim Ayres | Senator for NSW | Left | New South Wales | Yes |
| Elected members | Gary Bullock | Queensland State Secretary, National Director of Politics and Vice President, National Executive Committee for United Workers Union | Left | Queensland | Yes |
| Elected members | Senator Raff Ciccone | Senator for Victoria | Right | Victoria | Yes |
| Elected members | Melissa Donnelly | National Secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union | Left | Queensland | Yes |
| Elected members | Sandra Doumit | National Vice-president at The Australian Workers' Union | Right | New South Wales | Yes |
| Elected members | Kate Doust MLC | Member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia | Right | Western Australia | Yes |
| Elected members | Gerard Dwyer | National Secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association | Right | New South Wales | Yes |
| Elected members | Senator Karen Grogan | Senator for SA | Left | South Australia | Yes |
| Elected members | Gerard Hayes | National President of the HSU | Right | New South Wales | Yes |
| Elected members | Julian Hill MP | Member of the Australian House of Representatives for Bruce | Left | Victoria | Yes |
| Elected members | Graeme Kelly | General Secretary USU | Right | New South Wales | Yes |
| Elected members | Michelle O'Byrne | Member of Tasmanian House of Assembly | Left | Tasmania | Yes |
| Elected members | Josh Peak | Secretary of the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees’ Association South Australian Branch | Right | South Australia | Yes |
| Elected members | Sam Rae MP | Member of the Australian House of Representatives for Hawke | Right | Victoria | Yes |
| Elected members | Zach Smith | National Secretary & ACT Branch Secretary at CFMEU | Left | Australian Capital Territory | Yes |
| Elected members | Stacey Schinnerl | QLD Branch Secretary of the AWU | Right | Queensland | Yes |
| Elected members | Carolyn Smith | Former WA Branch Secretary of the United Workers Union | Left | Western Australia | Yes |
| Elected members | Wendy Streets | Queensland State Secretary of the Finance Sector Union | Left | Queensland | Yes |
| Elected members | Shannon Threlfall-Clarke | Victorian State Vice President of the Australian Workers Union | Right | Victoria | Yes |
| Elected members | Dylan Wight | Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for Tarneit | Left | Victoria | Yes |

## Executive leaders
### National Presidents

| Name | State | Term start | Term end |
| Thomas Givens | Queensland | 1915 | 1916 |
| Jack Holloway | Victoria | 1916 | 1922 |
| Richard Sumner | Queensland | 1922 | 30 April 1924 |
| Joseph Hannan | Victoria | 30 April 1924 | 1928 |
| James Kenneally | Western Australia | 1928 | 1936 |
| Norman Makin | South Australia | 1936 | 1938 |
| Clarrie Fallon | Queensland | 1938 | June 1944 |
| Fred Walsh | South Australia | 14 February 1945 | 29 November 1946 |
| Abner McAlpine | New South Wales | 29 November 1946 | 1950 |
| John Ferguson | New South Wales | 1950 | 1953 |
| Denis Lovegrove | Victoria | 1953 | 1 May 1955 |
| Joe Chamberlain | Western Australia | 1 May 1955 | 1961 |
| James Stout | Victoria | 1961 | July 1962 |
| Jim Keeffe | Queensland | July 1962 | August 1970 |
| Tom Burns | Queensland | August 1970 | 7 June 1973 |
| Bob Hawke | Victoria | 7 June 1973 | 2 August 1978 |
| Neil Batt | Tasmania | 2 August 1978 | 8 September 1980 |
| Neville Wran | New South Wales | 8 September 1980 | 3 July 1986 |
| Mick Young | South Australia | 3 July 1986 | 7 April 1988 |
| John Bannon | South Australia | 7 April 1988 | 25 June 1991 |
| Stephen Loosley | New South Wales | 25 June 1991 | 6 June 1992 |
| Barry Jones | Victoria | 6 June 1992 | 31 July 2000 |
| Greg Sword | Victoria | 31 July 2000 | 1 January 2004 |
| Carmen Lawrence | Western Australia | 1 January 2004 | 1 January 2005 |
| Barry Jones | Victoria | 1 January 2005 | 28 January 2006 |
| Warren Mundine | New South Wales | 28 January 2006 | 10 January 2007 |
| John Faulkner | New South Wales | 10 January 2007 | 27 February 2008 |
| Mike Rann | South Australia | 27 February 2008 | 27 December 2008 |
| Linda Burney | New South Wales | 27 December 2008 | 30 July 2009 |
| Michael Williamson | New South Wales | 30 July 2009 | August 2010 |
| Anna Bligh | Queensland | August 2010 | 1 July 2011 |
| Jenny McAllister | New South Wales | 1 July 2011 | 17 June 2015 |
| Mark Butler | South Australia | 17 June 2015 | 18 June 2018 |
| Wayne Swan | Queensland | 18 June 2018 | present |

### National Secretaries

| National Secretary | Period |
| Cyril Wyndham | 1963–1969 |
| Mick Young | 1969–1973 |
| David Combe | 1973–1981 |
| Bob McMullan | 1981–1988 |
| Bob Hogg | 1988–1993 |
| Gary Gray | 1993–2000 |
| Geoff Walsh | 2000–2003 |
| Tim Gartrell | 2 September 2003 – 20 September 2008 |
| Karl Bitar | 17 October 2008 – 16 March 2011 |
| George Wright | 19 April 2011 – 30 August 2016 |
| Noah Carroll | 26 September 2016 – 26 July 2019 |
| Paul Erickson | 16 August 2019 – present |
* Cyril Wyndam was the first full time Secretary. Prior to 1963 the position was not full time