Media Release and alert: Unions Tasmania hosts International Workers’ Memorial Day service, opens completed Workers’ Commemorative Park
Unions, workers, families, community members, and political leaders will gather early tomorrow morning to mark International Workers’ Memorial Day, a day of remembrance observed across the globe on the 28th of April each year.
Unions lead services, vigils, and other observances to remember those workers killed or injured because of their work, and to renew our commitment to fight for healthy and safe workplaces.
Monday’s service will take place at the Workers’ Commemorative Park (often referred to as the Workers’ Memorial Park) in Launceston. This years’ service will be particularly meaningful with the park having recently undergone significant works to complete it to its original design. After many years of campaigning for government funding, Unions Tasmania was proud to finally secure funding from the Federal and State Governments to allow this development to occur.
“IWMD is deeply important to unions because it is a day that reflects the very heart of what we stand for: protecting workers so they can make it home safely. The day is a solemn reminder that for every safety campaign we run, there is a worker who did not make it home,” said Unions Tasmania Secretary, Jessica Munday.
“This year, we are pleased to be holding the service in the Workers Commemorative Park which sees most elements of the original design complete. Alongside Guy and Karen Hudson, who conceived of this park after their son Matthew’s tragic death at work, we have worked together to see this park made into an important space for reflection, remembrance, and as a powerful reminder to the broader community to put safety at work first.”
Tragically, over the last five years Australia has recorded on average 191 workers killed each year on the job.
When it comes to progress, Ms Munday said, “We have come a long way in improving safety on the job, including winning industrial manslaughter in Tasmania last year. But we’ve not come far enough. In Tasmania, serious workplace injuries are rising – especially from psychological injury and body strain. Behind every statistic is a person, a family, a community affected. Today is an important day to not just remember workers, but to act for safer workplaces.”
Memorial service details
When: 8:00AM Monday 28 April 2025
Where: Workers’ Commemorative Park, Elizabeth Gardens Invermay (near UTAS Stadium)
Speakers: Jessica Munday, Secretary, Unions Tasmania
Guy Hudson, Workers’ Commemorative Park founder
Senator Helen Polley
The Honourable Felix Ellis MP