The Gas Stokers' Protective Association registered in New South Wales in 1885 with the first branch being formed in Mortlake in Sydney. It changed its name to the Gas Employees' Union in 1902. The Lamplighters' Union which had formed in 1903 became a branch of the union in 1908. In 1910 the Gas Fitters' Assistants' Union also became a branch as did the Australian Gas Light and Meter Readers' Union in 1911. The union became part of the Federated Gas Employees' Industrial Union in 1918.