Health Workers Union put into administration as secretary Diana Asmar stands down

Health Workers Union (HWU) secretary Diana Asmar will step down from the embattled Victorian branch, which will be put into administration after a deal was struck with the national organisation to avoid a protracted court battle.

The national executive of the Health Services Union reached the deal with Asmar on Friday after spending months in court seeking to take control of the HWU, one of its four Victorian branches.

Health Workers Union and its secretary Diana Asmar.Credit: Luis Asqui

The Fair Work Commission has taken civil action against Asmar, alleging that a printing business connected to her received $2.7 million in HWU member funds for no service, with the money instead going into private accounts, and that more than $120,000 in reimbursements was claimed without evidence of relevant business expenses.

The Health Services Union itself is not accused of any wrongdoing, and has since September sought to put the HWU into administration over the allegations. Asmar privately denied the accusations and had previously fought against giving up control of the HWU.

On Friday, the Health Services Union’s national executive announced it had reached an in-principle agreement that would put the Victorian branch into full administration, avoiding months of court hearings that were scheduled to begin in May.

Asmar has agreed to support this process and will be automatically removed from her position, ending her time in office, which was not due to expire until November 2026.

The agreement does not affect the Fair Work Commission’s prosecution against Asmar and other senior HWU leaders.

Health Services Union national secretary Lloyd Williams said the union would continue to support the commission as it seeks to prosecute Asmar and recover compensation for any losses from alleged financial misconduct.

“This agreement prioritises the interests of our members by avoiding hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal and wage costs, as well as lengthy delays in implementing necessary reforms,” said Williams.

“The branch will now move swiftly into full administration, allowing us to restore proper governance and financial management.”

Under the deal, an administrator will be given full powers to clean up the HWU and will oversee the union until the next election in 2026. It is expected to be approved by May 12.

“This agreement achieves what we set out to do. It accelerates the reform process in the HWU branch and the ability to recover alleged misappropriated union funds remains unabated,” said Williams.

Asmar was contacted for comment.

The Fair Work Commission has accused Asmar of stitching up a multimillion-dollar “ghost printing” arrangement with her husband.

Court documents obtained by this masthead show investigators traced 170 transactions between 2016 and 2021, in which $2.7 million of HWU funds were paid to a printing company named Southern Publishing.

After the transactions were made, the documents allege, bank records showed money would be withdrawn from the company’s account. Later, “unexplained” deposits worth thousands of dollars were allegedly made into joint or individual Asmar accounts.

The Asmars are accused of ultimately receiving more than $1.2 million from the business “in circumstances where she [Diana Asmar] knew that the money had been paid to Southern Publishing from the HSU as fees for no service”, the documents say.

As part of the court battle over putting the Victorian branch into administration, Asmar was also accused in court documents of threatening to kill a key whistleblower and seeking to victimise assistant secretary David Eden.

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