{{Short description|Australian trade union leader}} {{Similar names|Katherine Jackson (disambiguation)}} {{Use Australian English|date=March 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2026}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Kathy Jackson | honorific_suffix = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = <!-- just the name, without the File: or Image: prefix or enclosing brackets --> | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Katherine Koukouvaos<ref name="Fife-Yeomans-2011">{{cite news |author=Fife-Yeomans, Janet |url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/kathy-jackson-the-woman-at-centre-of-the-storm/story-e6freuy9-1226123176996 |title=Kathy Jackson – the woman at centre of the storm |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=27 August 2011 }}</ref> | birth_date = | birth_place = | nationality = | other_names = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = | occupation = Union officer | years_active = | employer = Health Services Union | organization = | known_for = | title = National Secretary of the Health Services Union of Australia | term = 22 January 2008{{Spaced ndash}}February 2015 | predecessor = Craig Thomson | successor = | party = | movement = | opponents = | boards = {{bulleted list|HESTA {{small|(2008{{endash}}2011)}}|Australian Council of Trade Unions {{small|(Vice President)}} }} | partner = Michael Lawler<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/michael-lawler-could-face-big-fines-and-even-prison-for-secretly-taping-phone-calls-20151019-gkd9v3.html|title = Michael Lawler could face big fines and even prison for secretly taping phone calls|date = 20 October 2015}}</ref> | children = Three | website = <!-- {{URL|Example.com}} --> | footnotes = }}
'''Kathy Jackson''' (born c. 1967)<ref name="Fife-Yeomans-2011"/> was the national secretary of the Health Services Union of Australia (HSU) between January 2008 and February 2015. In August 2015, Jackson was found by the Australian federal court to have misappropriated union funds and was ordered to repay $1.4 million in compensation, with a criminal investigation pending.
==Career== Jackson was an official of the Health Services Union's Number Three branch which represents highly skilled health professionals like radiographers, physiotherapists, radiation therapists, speech pathologists, occupational therapists and psychologists from 1992, and was the Secretary of that branch until its merger with HSUeast. In 2008 she was appointed to the position of national secretary, the first female to hold that post.<ref name="HSU-2008">{{cite press release |url=http://www.hsu.net.au/news/1201953372_15505.html |title=Health Services Union First Female National Secretary |publisher=Health Services Union of Australia |date=22 January 2008 |access-date=26 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318032222/http://hsu.net.au/news/1201953372_15505.html |archive-date=18 March 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Jackson is also a member of the Victorian Branch of the Australian Labor Party, as part of its Labor Unity faction, aligned with former Senator David Feeney.
She has taken high-profile positions on a range of issues including corporate and union donations to political campaigns. She told ''The Australian'': "Without restrictions on donations and public funding... we'll end up like the United States with two parties owned by the corporations divided only on lifestyle issues like gay marriage."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/politics/union-donations-to-labor-face-ban/story-e6frgczf-1111116485433 |title=Union donations to Labor face ban |author=Wallace, Rick |work=The Australian |date=30 May 2008 |access-date=26 April 2012 }}</ref>
Jackson was occasionally critical of the Brumby Labor government in Victoria. During 2007 and 2008, the HSU was embroiled in an enterprise bargaining dispute with the government, during which the Health Minister Daniel Andrews used legal mechanisms under federal law to restrict the union's industrial action.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} Jackson said at the time: "It's also time that Mr Brumby wakes up and realises that Victorians did not endorse the use of WorkChoices for use against anyone, let alone their health workers. We will bargain lawfully, but we will not lie down."<ref name="HSU-2008"/>
===Health Services Union corruption=== {{main|Health Services Union expenses affair}} Succeeding Craig Thomson as general secretary of the HSU in January 2008, Jackson was ordered by the National Executive to engage external auditors to investigate Thomson. Reporting in May 2008, the audit raised "concerns about evidence of misuse of union funds by Mr Thomson."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/the-craig-thomson-case/story-fndo48ca-1226502036282 |agency=AAP |date=31 December 2013 |title=Timeline of HSU credit card affair |work=Herald Sun |access-date=20 February 2014 }}</ref> In December 2008, the union engaged tax specialists BDO Kendall to "conduct an investigation" over the alleged improper use of Thomson's union-issued corporate credit card. ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' revealed the allegations in April 2009. Thomson denied any wrongdoing and stated that an independent audit had not identified any inappropriate use of the card. He noted that other people would have been able to incur charges on the account, and said the accusations had been fabricated by rivals within the HSU.<ref name="Davis-2009">{{cite news |author=Davis, Mark |title=Labor MP accused of credit card rort |url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/labor-mp-accused-of-credit-card-rort-20090407-9zl7.html |date=6 April 2009 |access-date=2 March 2014 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald }}</ref>
{{quotation|In 2007 Craig Thomson left the national office. The financial reports had not been put in. I then attempted to put those reports in, but not under my signature because I could not sign off on them because we'd found allegations of corruption in our union. So therefore, I wrote to Fair Work Australia seeking their advice about how to handle this issue and I followed their advice. I followed other professionals' advice, including the auditors and the union solicitors. And for them to come out now and to say that I didn't put the report in<!--not a mistake--> in time when I actually followed their process is totally outrageous and scandalous on their part.|Kathy Jackson, as general secretary of the Health Services Union of Australia, 7 May 2012.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-03/the-hsu-anatomy-of-a-labor-nightmare/3986558 |title=The HSU: anatomy of a Labor nightmare |date=26 April 2013 |work=ABC News |location=Australia |access-date=27 February 2014 }}</ref> }}
Investigations by Fair Work Australia, the Australian Federal Police, NSW Police, and Victorian Police led to Thomson being charged with 140 offences relating to theft and fraud. He was tried in the Melbourne Magistrates Court and on 18 February 2014 he was found guilty of theft from the HSU and of defrauding the HSU. It was found that Thomson had misused his union credit card to pay for prostitutes, travel expenses and cigarettes, and for accommodation and dinners even after he'd left the union to run for Parliament.<ref>{{cite news|last=Akerman|first=Pia|title=Craig Thomson found guilty of defrauding HSU |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/craig-thomson-found-guilty-of-defrauding-hsu/story-e6frg6nf-1226830337709 |access-date=18 February 2014 |newspaper=The Australian}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/comment/how-craig-thomson-came-undone-20140218-32xzv.html |title=How Craig Thomson came undone |author=Davies, Anne |date=18 February 2014 |newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=18 February 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/craig-thomson-found-guilty-of-fraud-theft-charges-20140218-32xay.html?rand=1392700646386 |title=Craig Thomson found guilty of fraud, theft charges |author=Cooper, Adam |date=18 February 2014 |newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=18 February 2014 |agency=AAP }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2013/s3947384.htm |author=Donovan, Samantha |title=Thomson found guilty on fraud/theft charges |date=18 February 2014 |work=PM |publisher=ABC Radio |access-date=18 February 2014 }}</ref>
Allegations of improprieties in the HSU East branch (HSUeast) involving Craig Thomson and Michael Williamson, a former national president of the HSU, a former general secretary of HSUeast, and a former union and Labor right-wing factional power broker,<ref name="Davis-2009"/> were publicly revealed by ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' on 9 September 2011. On 4 October 2012, Williamson was charged with more than 50 offences relating to fraud and obstruction of justice, and was suspended as director of United Edge.<ref>{{cite news |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |title=Former union boss Michael Williamson charged |url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/former-union-boss-michael-williamson-charged-20121004-270fo.html |date=4 October 2012 |last=McClymont |first=Kate }}</ref> Appearing before the Sydney Magistrates Court on 15 October 2013, Williamson entered a guilty plea to four major charges related to cheating and defrauding HSUeast, creating false documents with the intention to deceive and the recruiting of others to hinder a police investigation. All other charges were dropped.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/former-hsu-boss-michael-williamson-pleads-guilty-to-fraud-20131015-2vjjk.html#ixzz2tll5b3Jx |title=Former HSU boss Michael Williamson pleads guilty to fraud |date=15 October 2013 |author=McClymont, Kate |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=19 February 2014 }}</ref>
In June 2012, during proceedings that related to the appointment of an administrator to HSUeast, Federal Court Justice Geoffery Flick criticised attempts by Jackson, through her solicitors, to directly contact him while proceedings were under way.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-05/hsu-case-judge-critical-of-jackson-emails/4053366 |title=HSU case judge critical of Jackson emails |work=ABC News |location=Australia |date=5 June 2012 |access-date=11 June 2012 }}</ref> Jackson subsequently responded by sacking her legal representatives and asking the judge to disqualify himself from the proceedings.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/kathy-jackson-sacks-lawyers-asks-judge-to-quit-20120608-200oq.html |title=Kathy Jackson sacks lawyers, asks judge to quit |work=The Age |author=Davies, Lisa |date=8 June 2012 |access-date=11 June 2012 }}</ref> At the end of June 2012, Justice Flick ordered that former judge Michael Moore be appointed administrator of HSUeast, that all federal and state branch office holders lose their positions and the branch be demerged to become separate NSW and Victorian-based unions.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-national/ineffective-hsu-now-in-administration-20120621-20ptd.html |title=Ineffective' HSU now in administration |work=The Age |author=Scheikowski, Margaret |date=21 June 2012 |access-date=21 June 2012 |agency=AAP}}</ref> Justice Flick found that Jackson should not keep her position in the HSUeast because "she is very much at the epicentre of the dispute".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/union-boss-kathy-jackson-sacked-20120621-20qwk.html |title=Union boss Kathy Jackson sacked |author=Hall, Louise |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=22 June 2012 |access-date=22 June 2012 }}</ref>
Jackson retained her position as national secretary.
===Royal Commission=== {{main|Royal Commission into trade union governance and corruption}}
Partly as a consequence of Jackson's "whistle-blowing", a royal commission into the broader union movement was established after a change of government at the 2013 federal elections. During the royal commission it came to light that Jackson had spent HSU money on her own personal expenses, including paying Jeff Jackson (her ex-husband) $50,000 of union money.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/national/kathy-jackson-admits-paying-exhusband-50000-from-union-slush-fund-20140730-zyg7n.html |title=Kathy Jackson admits paying ex-husband $50,000 from union slush fund |work=The Age |author=Patty, Anna |date=30 July 2014 |access-date=31 July 2014}}</ref> She claimed to have had authorisation to do so, but no records of such authorisation exist.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/hsus-kathy-jackson-forced-to-confront-serious-corruption-claims-against-her-20140730-zyjxl.html |title=HSU's Kathy Jackson forced to confront serious corruption claims against her |work=The Age |author=Schneiders, Ben |date=30 July 2014 |access-date=31 July 2014}}</ref>
In August 2015 the Federal Court ruled in a civil case brought against Jackson by the HSU that she had misappropriated union funds. The court found that she had used HSU funds to buy personal items for herself, including through cash withdrawals, misusing three credit cards, as well as funds from a payment made by a cancer hospital in Melbourne to settle a back-pay dispute. She was ordered to pay approximately $1.4 million in compensation. She was also reported to be the subject of a criminal investigation,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Toscano|first1=Nick|last2=Schneiders|first2=Ben|title=Health Services Union former leader Kathy Jackson ordered to repay $1.4m|url=http://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/health-services-union-former-leader-kathy-jackson-ordered-to-repay-14m-20150819-gj2js7.html|access-date=19 August 2015|work=The Canberra Times|date=19 August 2015}}</ref> and had declared herself bankrupt in an attempt to avoid paying compensation.<ref>{{cite news|title=Kathy Jackson, former Health Services Union national secretary, declares bankruptcy|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-29/union-figure-kathy-jackson-declares-bankruptcy/6580218|access-date=3 February 2017|work=ABC|date=29 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Kathy Jackson 'may face second bankruptcy'|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/industrial-relations/kathy-jackson-may-face-second-bankruptcy/news-story/909e1c8f9b81755f8458d0e6aa3db8ae|access-date=3 February 2017|work=The Australian|date=24 December 2015}}</ref> On 7 October 2015, New South Wales police conducted a raid on Jackson's home, removing items from the house as well as from a shipping container in the yard.<ref>{{cite news|last1=McILWAIN|first1=Kate|last2=Pearson|first2=Andrew|title=Federal and Victorian police raid ex-union official Kathy Jacksons Wombarra home|url=http://www.southcoastregister.com.au/story/3408358/police-raid-kathy-jacksons-home-photos/?cs=4158|access-date=20 October 2015|work=The South Coast Register|date=7 October 2015}}</ref> Jackson was subsequently charged with 70 counts of obtaining property by deception and other fraud-related offences.<ref>{{cite news|title=Kathy Jackson charged with criminal misconduct|url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/kathy-jackson-set-to-be-charged-over-misconduct-20160831-gr5hqv.html|access-date=3 February 2017|work=Sydney Morning Herald|date=31 August 2016}}</ref> In October 2020, following a plea deal, she was convicted of two counts of fraud relating to the theft of $100,000 of HSU funds.<ref>{{cite news|title=Kathy Jackson found guilty of swindling Health Services Union of $100K|url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/kathy-jackson-found-guilty-of-swindling-health-services-union-of-100k/news-story/5b592e81922d297717ec67e48c33191d?net_sub_id=%40%40%40%40%40%40%40%40%40%40&type=curated&position=1&overallPos=1|access-date=5 October 2020|work=The Australian|url-access=subscription |date=5 October 2020}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist|30em}}
== External links == *{{cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/the-premier-is-forgetting-who-his-friends-are/2008/03/26/1206207203907.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1 |title=The Premier is forgetting who his friends are |work=The Age |date=27 March 2008 |author=Jackson, Kathy }} *{{cite news |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/unions-unhappy-with-actu-boss/story-e6frg6nf-1111116978756 |title=Unions unhappy with ACTU boss Sharan Burrow |work=The Australian |date=22 July 2008 |author=Wallace, Rick }}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Kathy}} Category:Australian people of Greek descent Category:Australian trade unionists Category:Trade unionists from Melbourne Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people)