Joe de Bruyn will step down as national secretary of the Shop, Distributive, and Allied Employees Association (SDA) in October, after more than 35 years in the role.

According to The Australian, De Bruyn will be replaced by New South Wales SDA secretary, Gerard Dwyer, in October.

De Bruyn is also a member of the governing national executive of the ALP and will not seek re-election at its national conference next year, the newspaper reports.