Formed from the Australian Association of Social Workers, which had been in existence since 1955, the Australian Social Welfare Union came into being in 1976. In 1992, it amalgamated into the Australian Municipal Transport Energy Water Ports Community and Information Services Union, known as the Australian Services Union. Members of the Australian Social Welfare Union now form the Social and Community Services Sector Industry Division at a Branch and National level. The addition of the SACS area into the ASU provided a vital link into the private sector, bringing together workers within local government with their colleagues employed by non-government agencies.

The union known as the Australian Services Union began in 1991 as an amalgamation of the Technical Service Guild of Australia, the Municipal Officers' Association of Australia and the Australian Transport Officers' Federation and took the name the Australian Municipal Transport Energy Water Ports Community and Information Services Union. It retained this name after amalgamation with the Australian Social Welfare Union and the Western Australian Railway Officers' Association in 1992 and with the Australian Shipping and Travel Officers' Association in 1993, but changed its name to the Australian Municipal Administrative Clerical and Services Union later in 1993 after amalgamation with the Federated Clerks' Union of Australia and the Federated Municipal and Shire Council Employees' Union of Australia. In 1994, the Totalisator Employees' Association of Victoria was incorporated in the union.

Formed originally in 1942 as the Australian Shipping Officers' Association, the union changed names in 1988 to the Australian Shipping and Travel Officers' Association. In 1993 it amalgamated with the Australian Municipal Transport Energy Water Ports Community and Information Service Union, which after further amalgamations later that year became the Australian Municipal Administrative Clerical and Services Union, known as the Australian Services Union.

The Municipal Officers' Association of Australia was formed in 1920 and was registered in 1921. It grew from a small and politically conservative union into a large and more vocal organisation. In 1991 it amalgamated with the Australian Transport Officers' Federation and the Technical Service Guild of Australia to form the Australian Municipal Transport Energy Water Ports Community and Information Services Union. After amalgamations with other unions in 1993, it changed its name to the Australian Municipal Administrative Clerical and Services Union, known as the Australian Services Union.

The Technical Service Guild was formerly the National Service Guild, an in-house state-registered staff organisation within the company NCR. Registration of a union to represent employees in the business equipment, electronics and newly developing computer industry came about in 1970 as a result of the deterioration of conditions in the industry in the late 1960s. In its early years, the Technical Service Guild worked to establish a Federal Award which it gained in 1971, amid the fiercely anti-union sentiment of large employer groups in the industry. Over the next few years the Guild established branches in most states, and despite its scarce resources continued to organise and protect workers in what has now become the information technology field. The union finally merged with the Municipal Officers' Association of Australia and the Australian Transport Officers' Federation to form the Australian Municipal Transport Energy Water Ports Community and Information Services Union in 1991. After further amalgamations in 1992 and 1993, it became the Australian Municipal Administrative Clerical and Services Union, known as the Australian Services Union.

The Actors’ Federation of Australasia was formed in 1919 and changed its name to Actors' Equity of Australia on 25 February 1936. The union, however, was ineffective and had close links with its supposed adversaries, the Theatre Proprietors and Managers' Association of Australasia. In 1939 Management of Equity was taken over by Hal Alexander and other trade union activists.
On 5 May 1945 the union's name was changed once more, this time to Actors and Announcers' Equity of Australia and was largely due to the inclusion of members from the recently defunct Announcers' Association of Australia. A closed shop ruling was announced in 1949, with members prohibited from working with non-members. Taking the often-casual nature of a performer's employment into account, members were only required to be financial when in work.
Almost since its inception the union was based and most active in Sydney. In 1980 Equity underwent major structural changes with NSW ceasing to be 'The Council State.' A Federal Council was set up in order to be more representative of Equity members around Australia, together with a NSW Division similar to the other state Divisional Committees and Executives. On 14 July 1982 the union assumed its previous title, Actors' Equity of Australia. An unsuccessful attempt was made in 1983 to establish a breakaway union.
In 1993 the Actors Equity of Australia amalgamated with the Australian Theatrical & Amusement Employees' Association and the Australian Journalists' Association to form the Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance.

An Actors' Association existed in Australia during the early 1910s. Although this Association was registered in July 1919 as the Actors' Federation of Australasia, members quickly lost confidence in it, leading to it deregistering just two months later, in September 1919. On 6 March 1920 a new union, again named the Actors' Federation of Australasia was registered under the Conciliation and Arbitration Act. It was renamed Actors' Equity of Australia on 25 February 1936.

The Amalgamated Footwear & Textile Workers' Union of Australia was formed in 1987, following an amalgamation between the Australian Boot Trade Employees' Federation and the Australian Textile Workers' Union. The Union can be traced to about 1886 with the formation of the Victorian Silk Hatters' Society, which evolved in 1912, as the Federated Felt Hatting Employees' Union of Australasia. Shortly before this, in 1908, the Australian Boot Trade Employees' Federation was formed. In 1919, the third branch of the Amalgamated Footwear & Textile Workers' Union of Australia family tree was established with the formation and federal registration of the Australian Textile Workers' Union.

In 1984, The Australian Textile Workers' Union (i) and the Federated Felt Hatting & Allied Trade Employees' Union of Australia (the successor of the Federated Felt Hatting Employees' Union of Australasia) merged to form the Australian Textile Workers' Union (ii).

Operating until 1992 the Amalgamated Footwear & Textile Workers' Union of Australia eventually merged with the Clothing & Allied Trades Union of Australia to become the Textile Clothing & Footwear Union of Australia.

In 1924 the Railway and Tramway Officers' Association (registered in New South Wales in 1913) amalgamated with the first federally registered organisation of salaried officers, the Victorian Railways Administrative Officers' and Clerks' Association (formed in 1921) to become the Australasian Transport Officers' Federation. It changed its name in 1978 to the Australian Transport Officers' Federation. The Airlines Division held its inaugural meeting on 22 November 1980. By 1991 the union had merged with the Technical Service Guild of Australia and the Municipal Officers' Association of Australia to form the Australian Municipal Transport Energy Water Ports Community and Information Services Union. Further amalgamations in 1992 and 1993 with the Australian Social Welfare Union, the Australian Shipping and Travel Officers' Association, the Federated Clerks' Union and the Federated Municipal and Shire Council Employees' Union formed the Australian Municipal Administrative Clerical and Services Union, known as the Australian Services Union.

A Tailors' Society was formed in Melbourne in 1866 but eventually collapsed in 1869 due to financial difficulties. It was refounded in 1870 as the Tailors' Trade Protection Society and began meeting with the Tailoresses' Society in 1905. The Pressers' Union, which had formed in 1884, amalgamated with the Cutters' & Joiners' Union in 1902 to form the Victorian Clothing Operatives' Union. In 1907 these groups combined to form the Victorian Branch of the Federated Clothing Trades Union of the Commonwealth of Australia. As elements of the trade incorporated into the union, it changed names to the Federated Clothing & Allied Trades Union in 1922, the Amalgamated Clothing & Allied Trades Union in 1924 and the Clothing & Allied Trades Union of Australia in 1947. In 1992 another change of name was effected, this time to the Textile Clothing & Footwear Union of Australia.

Although based on a plethora of smaller state based unions that had been operating from at least the mid nineteenth century, the Federated Clothing Trades of the Commonwealth of Australia was not formed and registered until 1907. As elements of the trade, such as the Victorian Clothing Operatives' Union and the Federated Straw Hatters' Association of Australia incorporated themselves into the union, members sought a change of name to the Federated Clothing & Allied Trades Union, which they achieved in 1922. By 1924 it had become the Amalgamated Clothing and Allied Trades Union and in 1947 the Clothing and Allied Trades Union of Australia. The union's first amalgamation occurred in 1992, when it merged with the Amalgamated Footwear & Textile Workers' Union of Australia to become the Textile Clothing & Footwear Union of Australia.

The New South Wales Plumbers and Gasfitters Employees' Union operated independently to the Plumbers and Gasfitters Employees' Union of Australia in the period 1979 to 1985. The Federal Council intervened by establishing a separate office in Sydney and a court case in 1981 upheld the Federal union's right to organise in New South Wales. The struggle for members and for recognition by the NSW Labor Council continued until the resignation of the State union's Secretary in 1985.

Although based on a plethora of smaller state based unions that had been operating from at least the mid nineteenth century, the Federated Clothing Trades of the Commonwealth of Australia was not formed and registered until 1907. As elements of the trade, such as the Victorian Clothing Operatives' Union and the Federated Straw Hatters' Association of Australia incorporated themselves into the union, members sought a change of name to the Federated Clothing & Allied Trades Union, which they achieved in 1922. By 1924 it had become the Amalgamated Clothing and Allied Trades Union and in 1947 the Clothing and Allied Trades Union of Australia. The union's first amalgamation occurred in 1992, when it merged with the Amalgamated Footwear & Textile Workers' Union of Australia to become the Textile Clothing & Footwear Union of Australia.

The Operative Plumbers' Society of New South Wales was in existence by May 1900 and amalgamated with the Australian Plumbers and Gasfitters Employees' Union in 1916.

The Textile Workers' Union was established in the aftermath of World War One, reflecting the diversification of the industry during the preceding years and its decentralisation during the 1920s. It amalgamated with the Federated Felt Hatting and Allied Trade Employees' Union of Australia in 1984, and with the Boot and Clothing trade unions thereafter to form the Amalgamated Footwear & Textile Workers Union of Australia in 1987. In 1992 the union amalgamated with the Clothing & Allied Trades Union of Australia to become the Textile Clothing & Footwear Union of Australia.

The Australian Boot Trade Employees' Federation was registered federally in 1908 following the earlier registration of the Adelaide, New South Wales, Queensland and Victorian state-based unions. The Union existed independently until the 1980s when imports began to affect the footwear and clothing industries. In 1987 it amalgamated with the Australian Textile Workers' Union to become the Amalgamated Footwear and Textile Workers' Union of Australia, and in 1992, a further amalgamation with the Federated Clothing and Allied Trades Union created the Textile Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia.

The United Operative Plumbers' and Gasfitters' Society of Victoria amalgamated with the plumbers' societies in South Australia and Queensland to form the Australian Plumbers and Gasfitters Employees' Union in 1911. The federated union was registered in March 1912 but the state societies operated autonomously for some time.

The Queensland Teachers Union was formed in 1889 when seven teachers' unions met for a conference at the School of Art in Brisbane. In 1917 the QTU was granted industrial registration, giving it exclusive coverage of the state school system. Later that year, the first teachers’ award in Australia was registered in Queensland. The QTU celebrated its 12oth anniversary in 2009.

This union started as the Commonwealth teachers' Federation (ACT) in 1972 and brought together the ACT Preschool Teachers Association, the ACT Secondary Teachers' Association and the ACT Primary Teachers' Association. On 25 November 1972 the name of the organisation changed to the ACT Commonwealth Teachers' Federation and on 14 April 1976 to the ACT Teachers' Federation.

The ACT Teachers' Federation, The Northern Territory Teachers' Federation and the Australian Teachers' Union merged in 1991.

The Plumbers and Gasfitters Employees' Union was formed in 1911, at a conference held at the Trades Hall in Victoria. Plumbers' unions in Queensland, South Australia and Victoria united to create the foundation branches of the federal union. In 1912 the union was federally registered under the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act as the Australian Plumbers and Gasfitters Employees' Union. The new union covered workers in plumbing, gasfitting, pipefitting and domestic engineering work. NSW, Tasmania and Western Australia joined the union in 1916, 1918 and 1973 respectively. In 1928 it changed its name to the Plumbers and Gasfitters Employees' Union of Australia. Initially, the union was a loose federation of state Branches with substantial differences in pay and conditions. From the 1970s onwards however, it was transformed into a union operating on a strong national basis with national awards and common rates of pay and conditions. In March 1993 it amalgamated with the Electrical Trades' Union to become the Electrical, Electronic, Plumbing and Allied Workers Union of Australia (EPU), with separate electrical and plumbing divisions. In 1994 the EPU joined with the Communications Workers' Union of Australia to form the Communications Electrical Electronic Energy Information Postal Plumbing and Allied Services' Union of Australia, known as the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU).

This union was succeeded by the Federated Mining Mechanics' Association of Australasia which was formed in 1929 and continued till 1990.

The union merged with the Australasian Coal and Shale Employees' Federation in 1990 to become the United Mineworkers' Federation of Australia.

The United Mineworkers' Federation of Australia was formed by an amalgamation of the Australasian Coal and Shale Employees' Federation (which had existed since 1916) and the Federated Mining Mechanics' Association of Australasia (which had been formed in 1929). In 1992 it amalgamated with the Australian Timber and Allied Industries Union and the Building Workers' Industrial Union of Australia (which had amalgamated in 1991) to eventual form the Mining and Energy Division of the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union.

The Australian Education Union was formed in 1993 from the Australian Teachers Union. Members of the union work in public schools, colleges, early childhood and vocational settings in all states and territories of Australia. Members include teachers and allied educational staff, principals and administrators mainly in government school and TAFE systems.

The Line Inspectors' Association, Commonwealth of Australia was established in 1916 and registered under the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act in May 1918. It was renamed the External Plant Officers' Association in February 1980 reflecting a change of membership from employees engaged in the Postmaster-General's Department of Civil Aviation as line inspectors, inspectors, and technical officers to employees engaged by the Australian Telecommunications Commission as senior line officers, principal line officers, external plant managers, and technical officers.

The External Plant Officers' Association was previously the Line Inspectors' Association which changed name in February 1980 to define the membership more clearly: employees engaged by the Australian Telecommunications Commission as senior line officers, principal line officers, external plant managers, and technical officers. In August 1991 the EPOA amalgamated with the Telecommunications Technical Officers' Association to form the Telecommunications Officers' Association which then amalgamated with the Communication Workers' Union of Australia in November 1992, eventually becoming the Communication Electrical Electronic Energy Information Postal Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia (CEPU) in August 1994.

Annie Rose Scott Cowen was born on 24 April 1879 and spent the years 1879 to 1900 on Tambo Station, Queensland. She was the eldest daughter of Terrick Alfred Hamilton and Alice Scott Hamilton (sister of Rose Scott, the feminist) of Tambo Station. On 5 May 1900 she married William Leonard Cowen at Tambo Station and then lived on Longford Station, south of Jundah, Queensland from 1907 to 1919. She published 'Crossing Dry Creeks' about her life on Tambo and Longford Stations. She died in July 1971.

The Barrier Typographical Society registered under the New South Wales Trade Union Act (1881) on 5 November 1888. The union became a sub-branch of the Printing Industry Employees' Union of Australia in 1916.

The union was established in 1909 and in 1920 union amalgamated with the Australian Bookbinders' and Paper Rulers' Federated Association, New South Wales Lithographic Association, Letterpress Printers' Machinists' Industrial Union of NSW to form the Amalgamated Printing Trade Employees Union of NSW, a predecessor of the Amalgamated Printing Trades Employees Union of Australia.

The Printing Trades Federation Council was established in February 1896 after a series of meetings with the aim of bringing about a federation of every worker in the printing and kindred trades. The Council, made up of unions of bookbinders, lithographers, photo-engravers, and letterpress machinists, was succeeded by the Amalgamated Printing Trades Employees' Union in December 1920.

The New South Wales Lithographic Association was originally called the Lithographic and Copperplate Printers' Society and then the Sydney Lithographic Society which was registered under the New South Wales Trade Union Act (1881) on 30 July 1887. In 1920 it amalgamated with the Australian Bookbinders' and Paper Rulers' Federated Association, the Letterpress Printers' and Machinists' Industrial Union of Employees' of NSW to become the Amalgamated Printing Trade Employees Union of NSW.

The Ballarat Typographical Society was formed in 1857. On 10 December 1867, the society merged with the Melbourne and Geelong typographical societies into the Victorian Typographical Union and operated as a district of this union until the separation of the districts on 30 September 1871. The Ballarat Typographical Society eventually merged with the Victorian Typographical Society and the Australian Bookbinders & Paper Rulers' Association to become the Ballarat Sub-Branch of the Printing Industry Employees' Union of Australia in 1921.

The Union, which operated since 1909, was registered federally as the Federated Process Engravers Photo-Lithographers & Photogravure Employees' Association of Australia in 1942. It was deregistered in 1943 and reinstated under the same name later that same year. Its name changed to the Federated Photo Engravers Photo Lithographers & Photogravure Employees' Association of Australia in 1952, and in 1986 amalgamated with the Printing and Kindred Industries Union.

The Western Australian Typographical Industrial Union of Workers was originally formed as the Western Australian Typographical Society in 1888. It was reorganised in 1889 and the name changed to the Western Australian Typographical Industrial Union of Workers. In 1916, the union became a branch of the federated Printing Industry Employees' Union of Australia, though retaining its former name until June 1921 when it merged with the Goldfields Typographical Union, the Bookbinders' and Paper Rulers' Union and the Metropolitan Female Printing Employees' Union of Workers, Western Australia. On 26 October 1930 the Western Australian branch left the federal body and became the Printing Industry Employees' Union of Western Australia until it re-affiliated in September 1935.

The Newspaper Industry Union of Workers was formed in September 1931 by a section of newspaper employees in Perth. This union amalgamated with the Western Australian branch of the Printing Industry Employees' Union of Australia on 28 November 1938.

The union was established in November 1874 as the South Australian Typographical Society. It became known as Branch No. 3 of the Australasian Typographical Society when the federal body was formed in 1880. In December 1916 the union became the South Australian Branch of the Printing Industry Employees' Union of Australia.

The Letterpress Printers', Machinists' and Stereotypers' Association of South Australia was formed in September 1907. In October 1910 it became a section of the South Australian Typographical Society following amendment of the rules of membership of the Typographical Society.

The Iron Founders' Trade Union of Victoria was formed in 1858. By 1899 the Union federated with several other state unions including New South Wales and Queensland to form the Federated Iron Brass & Steel Moulders' Union of Australasia, a predecessor of the Federated Moulders' (Metals) Union of Australia.

This union was first registered as the Technical Supervisory Officers' Association, Postmaster-General's Department, Commonwealth of Australia in 1934 and underwent several changes of name: Postal Electricians, Supervisors and Foremen's Association in 1935, Supervising Technicians' Association in 1945 and the Telecommunication Technical Officers' Association in 1971. It merged with the External Plant Operators' Association in 1991 to form the Telecommunications Officers' Association which became part of the Communication Workers' Union of Australia in 1993.

Originally formed in 1912 as the Australian Postal Electricians' Union, this union became known in 1943, as the Postal Telecommunication Technicians' Association. The union consisted of telephone engineers and maintenance workers. In 1976 the union changed its name to the Australian Telecommunications Employees' Association and, on merging with the Australian Telephone and Phonogram Officers' Association in 1988 assumed a shared title. In 1992 the union became known as the Communication Workers' Union of Australia after it amalgamated with the Australian Postal and Telecommunications Union.

The Australian Telegraph and Telephone Construction and Maintenance Union was a federation of five State associations formed in 1901 and was registered in Sydney in 1912. It was renamed the Australian Postal Linesmen's Union in 1919.

The Australian Postal Linesmen's Union was registered in 1919 as a renaming of the Australian Telegraph and Telephone Construction and Maintenance Union which had been registered in 1912. The Australian Postal Linesmen's Union amalgamated with the Australian Letter Carriers' Association (then known as the Commonwealth Public Service Fourth Division Employees' Union of Australia) and the Postal Sorters' Union of Australia to form the Amalgamated Postal Linesmen, Sorters' and Letter Carriers' Union of Australia in 1925, which was renamed the Amalgamated Postal Workers' Union of Australia in 1926.

The union was originally named the General Division Telephone Traffic Officers' Association in 1914, then the Commonwealth General Division Telephone Officers' Association in 1915, the Commonwealth Telephone Officers' Association in 1924, the Commonwealth Telephone and Phonogram Officers' Association in 1950 and then the Australian Telephone and Phonogram Officers' Association in 1975. It merged with the Australian Telecommunications Employees' Association in 1988 and this merged union then amalgamated with the Australian Postal and Telecommunications Union to become the Communication Workers' Union of Australia in 1992.

Originally formed in 1913 as the Commonwealth Postmasters' Association, it was known as the Australian Postmasters' Association from 1966. It merged into the Australian Postal and Telecommunications Union in 1991.

The Postal Sorters' Union of Australia was formed in 1912 as a federation of five State unions and registered in 1913. In 1925 it merged with the Australian Letter Carriers' Association (then known as the Commonwealth Public Service Fourth Division Employees' Union of Australia) and the Australian Postal Linesmen's Union to form the Amalgamated Postal Linesmen Sorters' and Letter Carriers' Union of Australia, renamed the Amalgamated Postal Workers' Union of Australia in 1926.

The Australian Letter Carriers' Association was registered in Victoria under the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act on 25 September 1912. The Association was an amalgamation of several unions, most notably, the Victorian Letter Carriers' Association which had been operating prior to Federation. By 1924 the Association became known as the Commonwealth Public Service Fourth Division Employees' Union of Australia and a year later amalgamated with the Australian Postal Linesmen's Union and the Postal Sorters' Union of Australia to form the Amalgamated Postal Linesmen Sorters' and Letter Carriers' Union of Australia which changed its name in 1926 to the Amalgamated Postal Workers' Union of Australia.

The Amalgamated Postal Workers' Union had its origins in the Australian Letter Carriers' Association which was registered federally in 1912. In 1924 it changed its name to the Commonwealth Public Service Fourth Division Employees' Union of Australia only to amalgamate a year later with the Postal Sorters' Union of Australia to form the Amalgamated Postal Linesmen Sorters' and Letter Carriers' Union of Australia. From 1926 it was known as the Amalgamated Postal Workers' Union and it survived until 1974 when it changed its name to the Australian Postal and Telecommunications Union.

The Third Division Telegraphists' and Postal Clerks' Union reregistered as the Union of Postal Clerks and Telegraphists in 1966 with the Fourth Division Postmasters, Postal Workers and Telegraphists' Union merging with it, effective from 19 February 1967. The Third and Fourth Divisions refer to the clerical and lowest-paid divisions of the Commonwealth Public Service respectively. By 1990 the Union had merged into the Australian Postal and Telecommunications' Union.

The Australian Third Division Telegraphists' and Postal Clerks' Union had its origins in the Australian Telegraphists' Union formed in 1920 as a breakaway group of the Australian Commonwealth Post and Telegraph Officers' Association. It deregistered just a few months later but was formed again in 1921 under the same title. By 1925 it was known as the Australian Telegraphists' and Clerical Assistants' Union. Two years later, in 1927, the Union re-emerged as the Australian Third Division Telegraphists' and Postal Clerks' Union, the term 'Third Division' referring to the clerical division of the Commonwealth Public Service. Operating until 1966, the Third Division Telegraphists' and Postal Clerks' Union reregistered as the Union of Postal Clerks and Telegraphists and the Fourth Division Postmasters, Postal Clerks and Telegraphists' Union merged with it, effective from 19 February 1967.

An association of New South Wales colliery proprietors was formed in October 1905 but it was not until June 1942 that it was registered as an industrial union under the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act as the New South Wales Combined Colliery Proprietors' Association. Its members were four separate and autonomous organisations: the Northern Colliery Proprietors' Association which dated from 1866 and operated in Sydney and Newcastle, Northern Collieries Limited representing other northern colliery proprietors, the Southern Colliery Proprietors' Association which dated from 1889 in the Burragorang Valley and the Southern Tablelands, and the Western Coal Association which was operating by 1929 in Lithgow and other western areas. The Northern, Southern and Western associations merged in 1964 under the umbrella body. The New South Wales Combined Colliery Proprietors' Association was deregistered in 1976 but continued to operate as an industry association. It was incorporated in New South Wales as the New South Wales Colliery Proprietors' Association Limited in June 1982, but was commonly known as the New South Wales Coal Association. It merged with the New South Wales Chamber of Mines in 1995 to form the NSW Minerals Council.

The Port Adelaide Shipwrights' Society became the South Australian Branch of the Federated Shipwrights Ship Constructors Naval Architects Ships Draughtsmen and Boatbuilders Association of Australia in 1916.

The Port Phillip Shipwrights Society was formed in 1864 and changed its name in February 1914 to the Port Phillip Ship Constructive and Shipwrights Association. Its name changed again to the Port Phillip Constructive Shipwrights and Boatbuilders' Association before becoming the Victorian Branch of the Federated Shipwrights, Ship Constructors, Naval Architects, Ships Draughtsmen and Boatbuilders Association of Australia in September 1920. It was also known as the Melbourne Shipwrights' Society.

The union was first registered under the Queensland Trade Unions Act of 1886 as the Brisbane Shipwrights Provident Union. By early 1907 it was reconstituted as the Port Brisbane Shipwrights Union until 15 January 1918 when it became the Brisbane Branch of the Federated Shipwrights, Ship Constructors, Naval Architects, Ship Draughtsmen and Boat Builders' Association of Australia, a predecessor of the Federated Shipwrights and Ship Constructors' Association of Australia, Queensland Branch.

John (Jack) Garland was born on 8 April 1922 and joined the Daceyville Branch of the Amalgamated Engineering Union as an Apprentice Toolmaker in 1941. In December 1948 he transferred to the Bondi Junction Branch of the AEU. From June 1957 he was the AEU Federal General Secretary, and upon amalgamation with the Boilermakers' and Blacksmiths' Society became Joint National Secretary in January 1972. He resigned from the union on 23 October 1981 to take up a position as an Australian Labor Party MLC in the New South Wales parliament.

In 1949, a splinter group of senior officers in the New South Wales Fire Brigade Employees' Union formed the independent New South Wales Fire Brigade Senior Officers' Association. This was just one year after the previous New South Wales Fire Brigade Officers' Association had amalgamated with the Fire Brigades Association of New South Wales to form the New South Wales Fire Brigade Employees' Union in 1948. By 1975, the Senior Officers' Association and the Fire Brigade Employees' Union formally amalgamated.

Formed in 1910 and registered just a year later, the Fire Brigade Employees' Union of New South Wales was the first known trade union of firefighters in the world. By 1922 it had changed names to the Fire Brigades Association of New South Wales, but officers remained excluded. In 1948, the officers' and firefighters' associations formally amalgamated and were registered under the title of the New South Wales Fire Brigade Employees' Union. Officers joined firefighters on strike for the first time, over pay. Just a year later, in 1949, a splinter group of senior officers formed an independent Senior Officers' Association. By 1975, the Senior Officers' Association and the FBEU formally amalgamated. From 1990, the NSW Fire Brigade Employees' Union identified as the NSW Branch of the United Firefighters Union of Australia.

The New South Wales Fire Brigade Officers' Association was a separate organisation from the Fire Brigades Association of New South Wales representing a distinction between officers and firefighters. Its earliest minutes of meetings date from 1925. In 1948 it amalgamated with the Fire Brigades Association of New South Wales to form the New South Wales Fire Brigade Employees' Union. Officers joined firefighters on strike for the first time, over pay. Just a year later, in 1949, a splinter group of senior officers formed an independent Senior Officers' Association. By 1975, the Senior Officers' Association and the FBEU formally amalgamated.

The Association of Professional Engineers, Australia was founded in 1946 and registered in Victoria on 10 November 1948. The organisation covered all employed professional engineers or persons who had qualifications satisfying the Institute of Engineers of Australia. In 1991 the Association amalgamated with the Association of Professional Scientists of Australia to form the Association of Professional Engineers & Scientists, Australia.

The Central Council of Employers was formed in 1904 and changed its name to the Australian Council of Employers' Federations in 1922. In 1977 it amalgamated with the Associated Chambers of Manufactures of Australia to form the Confederation of Australian Industry which then amalgamated with the Australian Chamber of Commerce to form the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 1992.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce of the Commonwealth of Australia formed in 1901 bringing together the Chambers of Commerce which had earlier been established in Adelaide (1839), Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart (1851), Brisbane (1869), and Perth (1890). The name was changed to the Associated Chambers of Commerce of Australia in 1939 and a federal office established in Canberra in 1941 (previously the location had alternated between the Sydney and Melbourne Chambers). In 1972 the name changed to the Australian Chamber of Commerce and then in 1992 it merged with the Confederation of Australian Industry to form the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

In 1885, the Chamber of Manufactures of NSW was founded to lobby on behalf of its members, primarily for a better deal on tariff policies. It adopted a new constitution in 1895, maintaining a non-political stance to champion the broader interests of NSW businesses. In 1912, the Chamber of Manufactures of NSW set up the Manufacturers Mutual Insurance Company (MMI). The insurance company arm was established primarily to indemnify employers against claims that might be made by their employees who were injured at work, and was in direct response to the new Workmen's Compensation Act of 1910. The Chamber continued to expand in NSW over the following years, opening offices in Newcastle, Lismore, Wollongong and Ballina. In 1995, the Chamber of Manufactures of NSW broke its tie with MMI, selling its shares of the company and changing its name to Australian Business Limited. In 2006, Australian Business Limited merged with the State Chamber of Commerce (NSW) to become Australian Business Limited (incorporating the State Chamber of Commerce) then later ABL/State Chamber. In January 2007, ABL/State Chamber changed its name to the NSW Business Chamber.

The Confederation of Australian Industry was formed on 1 December 1977 following an amalgamation of the Associated Chambers of Manufactures of Australia and the Australian Council of Employers' Federations. On 31 August 1992 the Confederation merged with the Australian Chamber of Commerce to create the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The Federal Council of the Chambers of Manufactures of the Commonwealth of Australia was formed in August 1903 to promote protection for infant local industries, and was renamed the Associated Chambers of Manufactures of Australia in 1908. It amalgamated with the Australian Industries Protection League in 1920 retaining the same name until a further amalgamation on 1 December 1977, with the Australian Council of Employers' Federations created the Confederation of Australian Industry. In 1992 the Confederation of Australian Industry merged with the Australian Chamber of Commerce to form the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The Federation was established in 1979 as the peak national body for organisations representing Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to advocate to government, business and the broader community. It is concerned with issues of social welfare and justice, health services, immigration, citizenship, racism, and youth and women's issues.

The Steam Engine Makers' Society was founded in Liverpool on 2 November 1824. The original members of the Union included fitters, turners and steam engine erectors but the Union broadened its scope in 1847 to include millwrights, steam-engine patternmakers and the makers of tools used in the manufacture of steam engines. The society finally amalgamated with the Amalgamated Society of Engineers to form the Amalgamated Engineering Union in 1920.

The Association was formed in Sydney in July 1939. Divisions were formed in South Australia and Victoria in 1940, Western Australia in 1941 and Queensland in 1942. The New South Wales Division had a branch in St Mary's and a student branch at the University of Sydney. The first meeting of the Federal Council was in Melbourne in February 1941. In September 1943 a joint committee of the Australian Association of Scientific Workers and the Federated Scientific Employees' Association proposed a new body, the Federation of Scientific and Technical Workers, and this was registered federally as a union in September 1946. The Australian Association of Scientific Workers continued as a separate organisation until a final meeting in Sydney in July 1949 dissolved the Association.

The Federated Ship Painters' and Dockers' Union of Australia was registered under the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act (1904) in 1916, and had New South Wales, Victorian and Federal branches. It was deregistered in 1993.

The Blacksmiths' Society of Australasia formed around 1912 and was registered in 1916. In 1954 the union became known as the Blacksmiths' Society of Australia until it was deregistered in 1965. Members of the union joined the Boilermakers' Society of Australia which became the Boilermakers' & Blacksmiths' Society of Australia in 1965.

Ronald Arnold was New South Wales Assistant Secretary of the Amalgamated Metal Workers Union, c. 1941-1981. As an AMWU or ALP representative Arnold was involved in international peace and disarmament conferences. Arnold died in November 1981.

The Boilermakers' Society of Australia, Adelaide Branch was originally the United Society of Boilermakers and Iron Shipbuilders of South Australia founded on 31 August 1880 at Port Adelaide (Glanville) and called the Port Lodge. Another branch was established in Adelaide on 21 December 1882. By 1911 it had become the Adelaide branches of the Federated Society of Boilermakers and Iron Shipbuilders Society of Australia, a predecessor to the Boilermakers' Society of Australia.

The Federation of Scientific and Technical Workers was formed on 16 September 1943 by a joint committee of the Australian Association of Scientific Workers and the Federated Scientific Employees' Association. The latter body sank its identity into the new Federation but the Australian Association of Scientific Workers continued as a separate organisation. For some time, the Victorian body acted virtually as the Federal body but as other branches became established, the registered office of the Federation moved to Sydney in August 1946. The Federation was registered federally as a union in September 1946 and was deregistered in 1971.

The Australian Council of Salaried and Professional Associations was formed on 17 October 1956 by an amalgamation of the Salaried Employees' Consultative Council of New South Wales and the Council of White Collar Associations, Melbourne. With divisions in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, the Association merged into the Australian Council of Trade Unions in 1979.

In 1953 several meetings of kindred organisations, including the Council of Professional and Commercial Employees' Associations which had been in operation since 1948, were held to try and establish a permanent advisory council of non-manual worker organisations. In 1954 a draft constitution of a new association was drawn up with the title: the Council of White Collar Associations. It amalgamated with the Salaried Employees' Consultative Council of New South Wales to become the Australian Council of Salaried and Professional Associations on 17 October 1956.

The Council of Professional and Commercial Employees' Associations was in operation from 1948. In 1953 several meetings of kindred organisations were held to try and establish a permanent advisory council of non-manual worker organisations, and in 1954 a draft constitution of a new association was drawn up and the title was changed to the Council of White Collar Associations.

Geoffrey Harrison worked in Melbourne as a publicist in the performing arts field including for comedy festivals and theatrical and musical performances and tours from 1983 to 1990. From 1991 he concentrated on publicity for Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) awareness programs and campaigns through print, radio, and events. He was involved in a number of advocacy and advisory groups including the Victorian AIDS Council, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations, the National People Living with AIDS Coalition and its successor the National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS (as Convenor of People Living with AIDS Victoria).

An informal council of Commonwealth staff associations was formed in Melbourne in 1915, adopting a constitution in 1919. On 26 October 1921 a revised constitution was adopted forming the High Council of Commonwealth Public Service Organisations. It dropped the High from its name in 1969 and amended its name to the Council of Australian Government Employee Organisations at its 1975 Biennial Conference. The 1981 Congress of the Australian Council of Trade Unions endorsed the proposal that CAGEO merge with the ACTU as one of its industry groups and it formally merged on 23 September 1981 becoming the Australian Government Employment Section of the ACTU.

The beginnings of the ACTU can be traced to a Trade Union Congress held in the Melbourne Trades Hall Council on 3 May 1927. The meeting was convened to 'consider the possibility of creating a representative body for the whole trade union movement in Australia'. The Congress elected a Committee of seven which produced a report including a proposed constitution for a new body named the Australasian Council of Trade Unions, which was accepted with two minor amendments on 7 May 1927. The name was changed to the Australian Council of Trade Unions at the 1947 Congress. The Australian Workers' Union joined the ACTU in 1967, and the ACTU's merger with two leading federations of white-collar unions, the Australian Council of Salaried and Professional Associations in 1979, and the Council of Australian Government Employee Organisations in 1981, gave it about 2,500,000 members, or more than three-quarters of trade union membership in Australia. The ACTU is the recognised representative of organised labour in centralised wage negotiations with business and the federal government. It has traditionally maintained a close association with the Australian Labor Party, though not actually affiliated to it. Robert Hawke, who was president of the ACTU from 1970 to 1980, went on to serve as Australian prime minister from 1983 to 1991 and later Presidents Simon Crean and Martin Ferguson became Federal ministers. The ACTU's policy-making body, a biennial congress, is made up of delegates from state branches of the federation (Trades and Labor Councils) and from affiliated trade unions.

The Commonwealth Council of Federated Unions was founded as an advisory body at a Melbourne Conference of Commonwealth registered unions held in February 1923. Its functions were limited to dealing with issues that arose from the administration of the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act and other federal legislation involving wages, hours of labour and employment conditions for members of federal organisations. It was not to interfere with the affairs of the States Trades and Labor Councils and individual unions. It was based largely in Victoria with C A Crofts (Federated Gas Employees' Industrial Union) as Secretary and H G Gibson (Federated Engine Drivers and Firemen's Association of Australia) as the first President. The main issues of concern to organise opposition to attempts by employer organisations to have the Basic Wage reduced, to conduct a campaign for the restoration of the 44-hour week where it had been withdrawn, and to establish the principle as a standard in all industries. By 1926 it had about 60 affiliates that represented 300 000 unionists. However, as a result of its inefficient handling of the Basic Wage review case, and due to its rejection of the State Labor Councils' proposals to be agents of the Federal structure, it was superseded by a new Australasian body the Council of Trade Unions in 1927.

Founded in 1989, the National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS has as its members State-based organisations representing people living with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS). It provides advocacy, representation, policy, health promotion and outreach on a national level and contributes to clinical and social research into the incidence, impact and management of HIV. Originally known as the National People Living with AIDS Coalition, it has undergone several changes to its name and is now known as the National Association of People with HIV Australia.

Bill Bowtell trained as a diplomat, with postings in Portugal, Papua New Guinea and Zimbabwe before becoming an advisor to the New South Wales Attorney-General in 1981. As senior adviser to the Australian health minister Neal Blewett from 1983 to 1987, he played a significant role in the introduction of the Medicare health insurance system and was an architect of Australia's response to the Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS). He was president of the Australian Foundation of AIDS Organisations and a director of the AIDS Trust of Australia 1992-1993 and also involved in the National Advisory Committee on AIDS and its successor the Australian National Council on AIDS. He operated the consultancy firm Bill Bowtell Issues Management and worked for the Attorney-General's Department and the Office of the Minister for Justice in that capacity on AIDS-related legal issues 1993-1994. Between 1994 and 1996, he was senior political adviser to the Prime Minister Paul Keating. He became the executive director of the HIV/AIDS Project at the Lowy Institute for International Policy in 2005 and executive director of Pacific Friends of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in 2009. He was appointed an Officer on the General Division of the Order of Australia in 2012 for distinguished service to public health through the development and implementation of policy and programs supporting HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, and as a supporter of global debate on communicable diseases and their impact on human and economic development.

The AIDS Society of Asia and the Pacific emerged out of the first International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) in Canberra in August 1990. It is a non-governmental body consisting of national research and advocacy organisations and is committed to reducing the transmission and impact of Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in Asia and the Pacific Region. Its permanent Secretariat was originally in Sydney then moved to Bangkok, Thailand. The first President (1990-1996) was Professor John Dwyer AO, PhD, FRACP who organised the first four conferences in Canberra, New Delhi, Chiang Mai and Manila.

The Churches AIDS Pastoral Care and Education Program (CAPE) formed after discussions between the National Advisory Committee on AIDS's National Churches AIDS Working Group, the Victorian AIDS Council and the Haemophilia Society of Victoria about providing education programs for church people and volunteers. The churches involved were the Anglican, Catholic, Uniting, Baptist and Lutheran churches, the Salvation Army, the Churches of Christ, the New Wave Christian Fellowship and the Metropolitan Community Church. A co-ordinator was appointed in January 1989 working from the Interfaith Health Education Centre in the Melbourne suburb of Collingwood. From 1994 to 1996, Churches AIDS Pastoral Care and Education Incorporated operated from the Cape Centre in South Yarra.

Scarlet Alliance is a national organisation of state-based associations and advocacy groups for sex workers. It formed in October 1988, at the first National Sex Industry Conference, as the National Forum of Sex Worker Rights Groups. The name Scarlet Alliance was adopted in September 1989 after Australia's first sex worker rights group which had formed in Adelaide in 1977. As a member of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations it advocates for safe sex education programs to protect workers from the Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and more generally for legal reform and safe working conditions for sex workers.

The AIDS Trust of Australia was established in 1987 to raise funds and distribute them to state, regional and community organisations that deliver awareness, education, prevention, support, care and social research programs relating to Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS). The trust coordinates national awareness campaigns linking to national, state and territory fundraising initiatives and holds an annual fundraising event, the Sydney Food and Wine Fair. The company National AIDS Fundraising Limited is the sole trustee of the AIDS Trust of Australia and manages its activities and operations.

The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) is an international direct action group formed in New York in March 1987 for people with AIDS advocating for medical research and treatment and against discrimination. Its motto is Silence = Death. The Melbourne Chapter was formed in May 1990 and organised demonstrations, campaigns and events including the 1991 D-Day campaign, the Save Fairfield Hospital campaign, and the Mapping Our Enemy conference in 1993.

Magnus, Nankervis and Curl was a Sydney-based advertising agency formed in 1976 which held a contract with the Commonwealth Department of Community Services and Health to devise advertising campaigns for the National AIDS Education Program from 1987 to 1990. It was acquired by Foote, Cone and Belding Communications, Chicago in August 1994 and the three principals Chief Executive Officer Michael Magnus, Creative Director John Nankervis and Head of Art Ted Curl left the agency in 1998.

The Australian Associated Stock Exchanges (AASE) was established in 1937. Since 1903 the state stock exchanges had met on an informal basis, but in 1936 Sydney took the lead in formalising the association. Initially this involved the Exchanges in Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart and Sydney. Melbourne and Perth joined soon after. Through the AASE the Exchanges gradually brought in common listing requirements for companies and uniform brokerage and other rules for stockbroking firms. They also set the ground rules for commissions and the flotation of government and semi-government loan raisings.

The Federated Moulders' (Metals) Union of Australia was formed through the federation of several state unions in 1899 as the Federated Iron Brass & Steel Moulders' Union of Australasia. It was federally registered in 1916 as the Federated Moulders' (Metals) Union of Australasia and in 1930 changed its name slightly to the Federated Moulders' (Metals) Union of Australia. The Union operated until 1983 when it amalgamated with the Amalgamated Metal Workers' and Shipwrights' Union to form the Amalgamated Metals Foundry & Shipwrights' Union.

The Stock Exchange of Adelaide was formed to allow brokers and traders to trade stocks and bonds for companies listed in South Australia. It formed an association with the stock exchanges in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane Perth and Hobart called the Australian Associated Stock Exchanges but remained an independent body. These six stock exchanges amalgamated on 1 April 1987 to form the Australian Stock Exchange Limited (ASX).

The Stock Exchange of Hobart was formed to allow brokers and traders to trade stocks and bonds for companies listed in Tasmania. It formed an association with the stock exchanges in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane Perth and Adelaide called the Australian Associated Stock Exchanges but remained an independent body. These six stock exchanges amalgamated on 1 April 1987 to form the Australian Stock Exchange Limited (ASX)

Metals & Engineering Workers' Union was formed from the amalgamation of the Amalgamated Metal Workers' Union and the Association of Draughting Supervisory & Technical Employees in 1991. It operated until 1993 when it was amalgamated with the Vehicle Builders Employees' Federation of Australia to become part of the Automotive Metals & Engineering Union.

Charlie Fitzgibbon was born in Carrington, New South Wales, on 17 January 1922. He studied at Cook's Hill Primary and Newcastle Boys' High School. In 1938 he went to work for the Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia as a clerk in the Newcastle Office. In January 1942 he became a waterside worker in Newcastle. He was elected a Federal Councillor to the Waterside Workers' Federation (WWF) in July 1953 and became president and vigilance officer for the Newcastle Branch in 1954. He was also president of the Newcastle Trades & Labour Council 1957-1959. In 1961 he was elected General Secretary of the WWF. In the early 1950s he joined the Australian Labor Party and was member of the State Executive 1959-1971; and Administrative Committee of the ALP from 1971-1979. From September 1967 until 1979 Fitzgibbon was Transport Group representative for the ACTU. In June 1973 he was Australian advisor to the International Labour Organization (ILO) and in 1979 was appointed to a Committee of Experts to revise the ILO Code of Safety and Health in Dock Work. In 1981 he was elected Senior Vice President of the ACTU. In 1983 he retired from the WWF and was appointed to the Board of the Reserve Bank for a five year term. In 1984 he was appointed an Associate Commissioner of the Industries Assistance Commission (IAC) for the inquiry into the heavy engineering industry, and in 1985 as Commissioner of the IAC. He was awarded an Order of Australia in 1984. Fitzgibbon died on 19 February 2001, aged 79.

Edward Charles (Ted) Roach was born in Coledale in 1909 and spent his youth on the Newcastle coalfields. From 1928 to 1931 Roach travelled throughout northern New South Wales and Queensland searching for work and was active in organising the unemployed. He joined the Communist Party of Australia in Mackay in 1931 and became secretary of the local branch of the Unemployed Workers’ Movement (UWM). Roach returned to Newcastle and the coalfields area at the end of 1931 and became district secretary of the UWM and the Militant Minority Movement; and secretary of the May Day Committee from 1931-1934. In April 1934 he was admitted into the Newcastle Branch of the Waterside Workers Federation (WWF) and transferred to the South Coast Branch in 1936. In November 1938, Roach organised Port Kembla wharfies in the Dalfram dispute when wharfies refused to load a ship with cargo of pig iron destined for Japan. Roach became Assistant General Secretary of the WWF from 1942-1967. At the end of WWII Roach was involved in the WWF black ban on Dutch ships in support of Indonesian independence. In 1949 at the time of the miners’ strike Roach spent six weeks in prison along with Jim Healy, after he was found to be in contempt of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration when he withdrew union funds to pay strike pay. In 1951, during the Basic Wage Case, he was found to be in contempt again and spent 9 months and 18 days in Long Bay prison.

Richard Joseph Morris was born in England. In World War I he served in the Royal Navy. After the war Morris migrated to Australia and became a Foreman Stevedore on the Sydney waterfront. An active member of the Australian Foreman Stevedores Association, he held the position of vice-president, and from 1967 was editor of the Australian Foreman Stevedores Review. After his retirement he moved to Canberra. Morris died in January 1978.

The Association was founded in 1914 as the Sydney Foremen Stevedores' Association and registered under the New South Wales Trade Union Act of 1881 and the Industrial Arbitration Act of 1912 on 9 July 1915. The union was registered federally under the Conciliation & Arbitration Act of 1904 on 22 September 1939. The name of the Association was changed to the Australian Foremen Stevedores' Association at a Special Meeting of members held on 9 July 1941, and was registered on 20 October 1941. The Association continued to operate until 1991 when it was amalgamated into the Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia.

The Association of Architects Engineers Surveyors and Draughtsmen of Australia was formed in Brisbane in 1915 and was registered in the Industrial Court of Queensland in 1917. By 1944 there were branches in New South Wales and Victoria and the AAESDA was able to gain federal registration. It included within its scope members of the deregistered Australian Association of Draughtsmen (1948) and the Federation of Scientific and Technical Workers (1971). In 1981 a new title, Association of Draughting Supervisory and Technical Employees was adopted. The Association amalgamated with the Australian Public Service Artisans' Association in 1986.

The Union was first registered federally in January 1916 as the Federated Shipwrights of Australia. In September 1916 it changed its name to the Federated Shipwrights' Ship Constructors' & Boat Builders' Association of Australia and in 1917, the union became the Federated Shipwrights Ship Constructors Naval Architects Ships Draughtsmen and Boat Builders of Australia. In 1933 it changed its name again to the Federated Shipwrights' & Ship Constructors' Association of Australia. Operating until 1976 the Federated Shipwrights' & Ship Constructors' Association amalgamated with the Amalgamated Metal Workers' Union to form the Amalgamated Metal Workers' & Shipwrights' Union.

The Australian Society for Epidemiological Research in Community Health was formed in 1968 and added New Zealand to its name in c. 1978. For the period 1981 up to the formation of the Public Health Association in 1986, a joint title was used: Australian and New Zealand Society for Epidemiological Research in Community Health/Australian Public Health Association.