Brad Hattenfels

Assistant State Secretary

NSW and ACT

From an apprentice boilermaker in the steel industry in 1982 to Assistant State Secretary in 2024, Brad Hattenfels has never lost focus on the values that define him.

In 2005 he began at the AMWU as an organiser based in our Wollongong office and a lead organiser for southern NSW ACT team in 2012 holding, to this day, positions on State National Councils and State National Conferences. In September 2024, Brad was appointed to the role of NSW/ACT Assistant State Secretary.

Brad has always believed that people in roles as union officers or officials can’t do this job unless they have a really good home life as well. Their personal circumstances are important to Brad because if people don’t have a healthy work-life balance it will impact them.  

Brad worked hard for the Wollongong team instilling a leadership style based on trust – trust that he would never ask anyone to do anything he wouldn’t do himself and would never ask someone to do something he didn’t think they were capable of. “You can only earn that trust if you’re approachable and you care about people.  That’s being a good leader – someone the team can trust.”

Brad is strong family person, married for 32 years with children and grandkids and this also comes through in his approach. “I think, rightly or wrongly, I put my family first and the union comes a very close second.

That’s me. I want to be approachable to everyone that works in our union. There’s nothing hidden from me – it’s just who I am.”