The Federated Felt Hatting and Allied Trade Employees' Union of Australia re-registered in 1950. Its predecessor, the Federated Felt Hatting Employees' Union of Australasia, registered in 1912 and its predecessors flourished from the nineteenth century up until midway through the twentieth century in what was a protected domestic industry. After 1950 the industry, and consequently, the union began to wane before the multiple onslaught of mechanisation, imports, and fashion. In 1984, it amalgamated with the Australian Textile Workers' Union and in 1987 became the Amalgamated Footwear and Textile Workers' Union of Australia after another amalgamation, this time with the Australian Boot Trade Employees' Federation. By 1992 this union had merged with the Clothing and Allied Trades Union of Australia to form the Textile Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia.

Registered in 1912, the Federated Felt Hatting Employees' Union of Australasia and its predecessors flourished from the nineteenth century up until midway through the twentieth century in what was a protected domestic industry. It re-registered as the Federated Felt Hatting & Allied Trade Employees' Union of Australia in 1950. The industry, and consequently, the union began to wane before the multiple onslaught of mechanisation, imports, and fashion. In 1984 it amalgamated with the Australian Textile Workers' Union and in 1987 became the Amalgamated Footwear and Textile Workers' Union of Australia after another amalgamation, this time with the Australian Boot Trade Employees' Federation. By 1992, this union had merged with the Clothing and Allied Trades Union of Australia to form the Textile Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia.

The Victorian Association of Journeymen Felt Hatters was established in 1878. In 1912 it officially joined with a number of other unions, including the Australasian Association of Felt Hatters established in 1892, the South Australian Association of Journeymen Felt Hatters, established in 1887, the Victorian Felt Hat Trimmers and Binders’ Society, established in 1891, the New South Wales Society of Journeymen Felt Hatters and Trimmers and Binders, established in 1902, and the Victorian Felt Hatters Assistants’ to form the Federated Felt Hatting Employees’ Union of Australasia. The union was registered under the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act on 29 June 1912 although the amalgamation had established it in 1911.

The name of the Union was changed to the Federated Felt Hatting & Allied Trade Employees Union of Australia in March 1950. It amalgamated with the Australian Textile Workers Union in 1984, which in 1987 amalgamated with the Australian Boot Trade Employees Federation to form the Amalgamated Footwear and Textile Workers Union of Australia. A further amalgamation was completed in 1992 with the Clothing and Allied Trades Union of Australia which formed the Textile Clothing & Footwear Union of Australia.