STRUCTURE  
 
The Union is organised across three levels: the National Office, State and Territory-based Divisions and workplace-based Branches in each of the nation’s 38 universities, as well as Branches covering members in ACE (Vic), TAFE (Vic), Research Institutes, Navitas, RACGP and College of Law.  

Branches

Our permanently staffed workplace-based local Branches in universities are a feature unique to NTEU in the Australian trade union movement.  
NTEU is a highly democratic member-driven union with elected Branch Committees, Division Councils, and a National Council comprising representatives elected by members on a two-year cycle. Council meets annually in October.  At each Branch, the highest decision-making body is a general meeting of members. A Branch Committee comprising elected representatives of members governs the affairs of each Branch in between general meetings of members. Each Branch also elects National Councillors, who also have the role of Division Councillors. This mechanism ensures that each Branch is represented on the relevant State or Territory-based Division Council. 

National Council 
National Council consists of members directly elected from Branches (in proportion to the number of members at each Branch), three full time National Officers, the eight State and Territory-based Division Secretaries plus three Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander National Councillors and members of the Executive. National Council has a total membership of about 130 delegates. 
National Council is the supreme decision-making body of the NTEU and has the critical task of setting the Union’s budget for the forthcoming year. 

National Executive 
The National Executive is composed of the three full time National Officers, eight Division Secretaries, the Chair of the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Policy Committee and ten ordinary members elected from the floor of the National Council (elected for a two-year term). 
National Executive meets six times per year and is responsible for running the Union between meetings of National Council. 
A ballot is held at National Council every two years to elect ten ordinary members of the National Executive. From these, National Council elects a Vice-President (Academic) and Vice-President (General Staff).