[5] De Bruyn, himself a Catholic, is a leading figure in the right wing faction of the trade union movement and the Australian Labor Party.
[6] De Bruyn has come under scrutiny for voicing his socially conservative views while being secretary of a trade union and holding a position on the National Executive of Labor, a centre-left political party.
Speaking at an AWU event in 2003, former Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam quipped that "Joe de Bruyn is a Dutchman who hates dykes.
[4] During a graduation ceremony speech at the Australian Catholic University in October 2024, de Bruyn espoused anti-abortion and anti-same-sex marriage views leading to what was described by the ABC as a mass walkout.
[10] In 2022, de Bruyn was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours for "distinguished service to industrial relations, particularly the trade union sector, for superannuation reform, and to higher education".