New staff

The IEU’s new journalist Lucy Meyer is keen to communicate her passion for social justice through the union’s publications.

Before joining the IEU in September, Lucy worked as a freelance journalist, researcher, and editor. She’s written for publications in Australia and the US including the Guardian US, the Sydney Morning Herald, High Country News, and The Week magazine.

Last year, Lucy won three awards for a long-form investigative story for Guardian US, covering an epidemic of violence against Indigenous people in the United States.

When she was an undergraduate at the University of Sydney, Lucy went on study abroad at the University of California, Berkeley. She loved both the university and town so much that she returned for further studies, coming back to Australia only when COVID broke out.

Lucy finished her studies remotely, and was awarded a fellowship at the Human Rights Center (HRC) at the University of California, Berkeley. She then took on some consultancy work for the HRC.

Lucy was attracted to her role at the IEU because she is interested in equity issues. She believes in unions and the role they play in helping working people.

“Having done human rights work for a little while, the appeal of working in social justice was strong,” she said.

She now works for the IEU three days a week on our various publications and communications. On other days, she freelances as a journalist, and also works for the School News Project, which helps primary students hone their journalism skills.

“We help kids write news stories and become little mini-journalists and create their own newspapers,” Lucy said. Facilitating an interview with former AFL star Adam Goodes was a recent highlight.

Lucy has experience in education, having volunteered for Amnesty International’s Schools Network Outreach Program, as well as the Sydney Story Factory, which helps run creative writing workshops for young people in under-resourced communities. She was a camp counsellor during her undergraduate days, and has also led historical walking tours of Sydney for large schools groups.

Lucy is enjoying her work at the IEU and looks forward to telling compelling stories that will resonate with members.

As the union’s new receptionist, Max Furby is on the frontline triaging members who call the union for help, finding the right officer to provide industrial or professional advice.

Max has previously worked on reception at a quarantine hotel during the height of COVID-19 pandemic, equipping him to deal with calls from people who are experiencing difficulties.

While he was studying for a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Sydney, Max worked part time at the Adina Apartment Hotel in Sydney.

“It started as a regular hotel reception job and then in no time, we had Australian Defence Force and police stationed in the lobby, and busloads of people coming from the airport and going straight into their rooms,” Max said.

“You felt bad for people because everyone was confused. They were forced to stay in their room for two weeks and I was the only one they could talk to.”

After graduation, Max travelled the world, backpacking around Europe, Africa and Asia, and working in hospitality until his finances ran out.

Max joined the IEU because he wants to be part of an ethical organisation that helps people.

On reception, Max sometimes hears stories of injustice and bullying from the members who call in. “You definitely hear people in very vulnerable moments,” he said.

“I’m glad to be working alongside a team of people constantly fighting to make things better.

“Dad was in the Communist Party at one stage, so I always wanted to work in a place with a Labor ideology and with laid back, down-to-earth people.”

Max’s studies at university also gave him an interest in the union movement. “I majored in history and political economy. History is something I’ve always been passionate about.”

Max is considering whether he would like to be a history teacher or a union organiser in the future.

And being an ex-St Mary’s Cathedral College student, Max sometimes runs into his former teachers during the working day.