senator Tony Sheldon Contact information

Born on 26 August 1961 in Caringbah, New South Wales, Anthony Vincent Sheldon is an Australian trade unionist and politician affiliated with the Australian Labor Party (ALP). Since 2019, he has represented New South Wales in the Australian Senate. Prior to his political career, Sheldon was a prominent member of the Transport Workers Union (TWU), serving as the state secretary from 1999 to 2008 and as the national secretary from 2006 to 2019.

Before entering the world of professional unionism, Sheldon held various jobs, including working as a cleaner, bartender, and garbage collector. He attended De La Salle College in Cronulla, and he pursued postgraduate studies in industrial law at the University of New South Wales. He also completed the Harvard Trade Union Program.

As the TWU National Secretary, Sheldon was instrumental in leading the union’s ‘Safe Rates’ campaign, which aimed to improve safety and working conditions in the road transport industry. His negotiating skills and leadership in the campaign were praised for helping to gain political and community support for the landmark Road Safety Remuneration Act 2012. In October 2015, Sheldon led a delegation to the International Labour Organization to advocate for a global plan based on Australia’s Safe Rates model to address unfair and dangerous remuneration practices that contribute to the high death toll in the trucking industry worldwide.

Sheldon’s influential role in the union movement earned him recognition, including being named one of Australia’s most powerful union leaders in 2012 by the Power Index. In 2014, he was elected as the chairperson of the International Transport Workers’ Federation Road Transport Sector.

In June 2018, Sheldon won ALP preselection for the Senate with the support of the Centre Unity (Labor Right) faction. He was elected to a six-year term in the Senate starting on 1 July 2019. Sheldon has been known as a strong supporter of Bill Shorten, the former leader of the ALP. If the party had won the government, he was speculated to be promoted to the ministry.

In July 2022, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appointed Sheldon as Special Envoy for Disaster Recovery. Sheldon has also served as a vice president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, a member of the administrative committee of the Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch), and a board member of TWU Super.