The ACTU had an affirmative action policy for many years. Now, half the ACTU Executive members are women. While women's presence in unions is increasing, they remain under represented in the executive levels of the majority of unions, compared to their share of membership. The ACTU has two training organisations, TUTA and Organising Works. Conclusion Australia's Unions face many challenges.
Conservative policy is in the ascendancy and union participation rates are in decline.
Many Commentators have written unions off as increasingly irrelevant - a dinosaur relic of a rapidly diminishing industrial past. That judgement is premature. The movement has spent the last few years reforming and rebuilding itself. The shape of the movement has been entirely changed as unions consolidated to form stronger, broader organisations.