The Victorian Operative Bricklayers' Society was established on 8 April 1856 at the Belvidere Hotel, Brunswick Street in Collingwood 'for the purpose of mutual support of the Members in case of accident, and for the Burial of Members and Members' Wives'. Apart from the central Melbourne (No. 1) Lodge, lodges were also formed at Bendigo, Prahran and Richmond. It was an early party to eight-hours agreements but remained unregistered until 1969. In 1988 it joined the two Victorian plaster industry unions to form the Victorian State Building Trades Union.

The Newcastle Coal Trimmers' Friendly Accident Society was registered as a trade union in 1882 but went out of existence in the 1890s. The union was resuscitated and registered in 1901 as the Newcastle Coal Trimmers' Federal Union, after coal trimmers stopped work out of respect for the death of Queen Victoria and were penalised by employers. Coal trimmers were the waterside workers who loaded coal as cargo and into bunkers on steam ships. The union became the Newcastle Coal Trimmers Branch of the Waterside Workers' Federation in 1921.

The Fremantle Lumpers' Union was the first known union of unskilled labour in Western Australia. It was formed after a recruiting mission to the west by the Adelaide Lumpers' Union in 1889 and was inspired, perhaps, by the solidarity shown in the Great Dock Strike workers in Britain of that year. It joined the Waterside Workers' Federation in 1910 but broke away in 1933 after a dispute with the Federal Executive of the Waterside Workers' Federation over the method of collection of union dues. It reaffiliated in 1946.

The Union of Australian College Academics was registered in February 1987 to represent mainly academic staff in the Colleges of Advanced Education, following that membership base into the university sector as institutions amalgamated or changed their status. It ran concurrently with its predecessor the Federated Council of Academics until 1993. It merged with the Federated Australian University Staff Association, the Australian Colleges and Universities Staff Association, the University of Adelaide General Staff Association and the Australian National University Administrative and Allied Officers' Association to form the National Tertiary Education Industry Union in 1993.

The Federated Australian University Staff Association was originally formed in 1962 as the Australian Association of University Staff as the successor to the Federal Council of University Staff Associations of Australia. It was registered as a trade union in December 1986 and was renamed two years later to FAUSA. It represented mainly academic staff in the traditional university sector. By 1993, however, FAUSA recognised the need to form a single, stronger union for the whole tertiary education industry. Merging with the Union of Australian College Academics, the Australian Colleges and Universities Staff Association, the University of Adelaide General Staff Association and the Australian National University Administrative and Allied Officers' Association, FAUSA helped form the National Tertiary Education Industry Union. The NTEU provided a united voice for tertiary education workers, without the arbitrary divisions between different parts of the industry or different categories of workers.

The Merchant Service Radio Telegraphists' Association of Australasia was founded on 2 November 1912. In 1917 it was wound up in favour of the Radio Telegraphists' (Marine) Institute of Australasia. In 1920 the Institute changed its name to the Radio Telegraphists' Institute of of Australasia and in 1934 it became the Professional Radio Employees' Institute of Australasia.

The Professional Radio Employees' Institute of Australasia was a renaming of the earlier Radio-Telegraphists Institute of Australasia which had started as the Radio-Telegraphists (Marine) Institute of Australasia in 1916. In 1975 the name changed to the Professional Radio and Electronics Institute of Australasia, and then in 1992 it amalgamated with other public sector unions to eventually form part of the Community and Public Sector Union in 1994.

The New South Wales Public Service Professional Officers' Association was formed in 1915 to represent professional staff employed by the NSW Public Service. It amalgamated with the Public Service Association of New South Wales prior to 1999.

The Advertiser Chapel reformed on 27 March 1863 and it is likely that it was first formed in 1858 when the South Australian Advertiser newspaper started publication. After the South Australian Typographical Society was established in 1874, members of the Chapel were required to be members of the Society, and of its successors the Printing Industry Employees' Union and the Printing and Kindred Industries Union, South Australian Branch.

The Merchant Service Guild of Australia was first known as the Mercantile Marine Officers' Association. A General Meeting of members held on 12 February 1904 agreed to adopt the name Merchant Service Guild of Australasia. The Guild was registered under the Commonwealth Conciliation & Arbitration Act of 1904 on 5 May 1905 and the Victorian Branch was the first to be established in 1905. On 3 September 1957 the name of the union was changed slightly to the Merchant Service Guild of Australia and in 1992 it merged with the Australian Stevedoring Supervisors' Association to form the Australian Maritime Officers' Union

Formed originally in 1918 as the Meat Inspectors' Association, Commonwealth Public Service and renamed the Meat Inspectors' Association, Australian Public Service in 1974, the Union operated until 1991 when it became part of the Australian Public Sector and Broadcasting Union, Australian Government Employment.

Federally registered in 1920 as the Australian Insurance Staffs' Federation, this union has had a strongly active tradition in the white collar sphere. Boosted in membership by the deregistration of the New South Wales Insurance Officers' Association in 1948, the Australian Insurance Staffs' Federation changed its name in 1976 to the Australian Insurance Employees' Union. It amalgamated with other unions in the finance industry in 1991 to form the Finance Sector Union of Australia, which was reregistered in 1994 following the amalgamation with the Commonwealth Bank Officers' Association.

Federally registered in 1920 as the Australian Insurance Staffs' Federation, this union has had a strongly active tradition in the white collar sphere. Boosted in membership by the deregistration of the New South Wales Insurance Officers' Association in 1948, the Australian Insurance Staffs' Federation changed its name in 1976 to the Australian Insurance Employees' Union. It amalgamated with other unions in the finance industry in 1991 to form the Finance Sector Union of Australia, which was reregistered in 1994 following the amalgamation with the Commonwealth Bank Officers' Association.

The Australian Bank Officials' Association changed its name to the Australian Bank Employees' Union in 1978. In July 1991 it amalgamated with the other major player in the banking and insurance industries, the Australian Insurance Employees' Union to create the Finance Sector Union of Australia. Three smaller unions also amalgamated: the AMP Society Staff Association, Trustee Companies Officers' Association and Wool Brokers' Staff Association. In March 1994 the FSU was further strengthened with the amalgamation of the Commonwealth Bank Officers' Association.

E.C. Peverill from the National Bank of Australasia in Victoria was instrumental in establishing the Bank Officials' Association in 1919. The union also covered Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia. In Sydney the United Bank Officers' Association was formed in the same year. By 1921 the separate state unions known as the Bank Officials' Association of South Australia and the Bank Officials' Association of Western Australia had also been formed. In 1919 K.H. Laidlaw formed the United Bank Officers' Association of Queensland. While the Bank Officials' Association in Victoria was registered federally the other unions were registered in various state courts. In 1921 the Bank Officials' Association in Victoria proposed an amalgamation of all banking unions, to be organised with a federal council and state branches. However, the UBOA of New South Wales and Queensland both rejected this proposal, partly due to Sydney Smith's (the New South Wales Secretary) fears that amalgamation would mean the loss of state autonomy. Smith planned to register federally a union of bank officers from the fast growing Commonwealth Bank and to expedite this he formed the Commonwealth Bank Branch of the UBOA of NSW. This was registered in 1921 and in 1930 the Commonwealth Bank Branch of the UBOA became a separate association, the Commonwealth Bank Officers' Association. The Bank Officials' Association in Victoria was renamed the Australian Bank Officials' Association in 1938. In 1954 it again proposed amalgamation at an interstate conference, and the UBOA again refused. The turning point came in 1958 when the NSW Industrial Court handed down a new award. Amalgamation talks began at an interstate conference in April 1960. In June 1963 Western Australia became a member followed shortly by South Australia. It was not until 1966 that the UBOA of New South Wales joined the Australian Bank Officials' Association as a Division to complete the amalgamation. The ABOA changed its name to the Australian Bank Employees' Union in 1978.

The Pyrmont Sugar Works Employees' Union was also known as the Sugar Works Employees' Union and was registered as such under the New South Wales Trade Union Act on 9 July 1901.

Registered in 1980, the CSIRO Officers' Association had its origins in the Association of Officers of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (the CSIR Officers' Association) which was formed in 1945 but was renamed in 1949 as the Association of Officers of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization. By 1992 this Association had amalgamated with the CSIRO Technical Association to form the CSIRO Staff Association, but was soon after merged into the Public Sector Union then the Community and Public Sector Union in 1994.

Formed as the CSIRO Technical Association in 1988, the union was originally known as the Association of Assistants of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization which was itself formed in 1952. In 1992 the CSIRO Technical Association merged with the CSIRO Officers' Association to form the CSIRO Staff Association which then shortly after merged into the Public Sector Union then the Community and Public Sector Union in 1994.

The CSIRO Staff Association was formed in 1992 when the CSIRO Officers' Association (which had first formed in 1945) and the CSIRO Technical Association (formed in 1952) amalgamated. It was soon after merged into the Public Sector Union then into the Community and Public Sector Union in 1994.

The United Bank Officers' Association was formed in Sydney in 1919; the same year E.C. Peverill from the National Bank of Australasia in Victoria was instrumental in establishing the Bank Officials' Association which also covered Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia. By 1921 the separate state unions known as the Bank Officials' Association of South Australia and the Bank Officials' Association of Western Australia had also been formed. In 1919 K.H. Laidlaw formed the United Bank Officers' Association of Queensland. While the Bank Officials' Association in Victoria was registered federally the other unions were registered in various state courts. In 1921 the Bank Officials' Association in Victoria proposed an amalgamation of all banking unions, to be organised with a federal council and state branches. However, the UBOA of New South Wales and Queensland both rejected this proposal, partly due to Sydney Smith's (the UBOA of New South Wales Secretary) fears that amalgamation would mean the loss of state autonomy. Smith planned to register federally a union of bank officers from the fast growing Commonwealth Bank and to expedite this he formed the Commonwealth Bank Branch of the UBOA of NSW. This was registered in 1921 as the United Bank Officers' Association, Commonwealth Branch. In 1924 this branch changed its name to become the United Bank Officers' Association, Commonwealth Bank Branch. In 1930 the Commonwealth Bank Branch of the UBOA became a separate association altogether and was renamed the Commonwealth Bank Officers' Association. In March 1994 the Commonwealth Bank Officers' Association was reunited with its old parent union, the United Bank Officers' Association now in the form of the much stronger Finance Sector Union.

The Australian Rail, Tram and Bus Industry Union was formed in March 1993 from the amalgamation of the three rail unions - the Australian Railways Union (ARU), the Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen (AFULE), the National Union of Railway Workers (NURWA) - and the Amalgamated Tramways and Motor Omnbibus Employees Association (ATMOEA). It was originally called the Public Transport Union and changed its name to the Australian Rail, Tram and Bus Industry Union (commonly known as the RTBU) in 1998.

The Australian Public Service Association (Fourth Division Officers) had its origins in the Federated Public Service Assistants' Association of Australia which was registered in 1914. The union became known as the Commonwealth Public Service Association (Fourth Division Officers) in 1967 and then eventually in 1974 became known as the Australian Public Service Association (Fourth Division Officers). By the end of 1986 the name was shortened to the Australian Public Service Association and in 1989 this union amalgamated with the Administrative & Clerical Officers' Association, Australian Government Employment and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Staff Union to form the Australian Public Sector and Broadcasting Union.

Pressers' Union, founded in the 1880s (possibly in 1884), joined with the Cutters' and Joiners' Union to form the Victorian Clothing Operatives' Union in 1902.

Victorian Clothing Operatives' Union was formed in 1902 when the Pressers' Union amalgamated with the Cutters' and Joiners' Union. In 1907 it became the Victorian Branch of the Federated Clothing Trades Union of the Commonwealth of Australia.

The association was first registered in Victoria in 1913 under the name the Australian Commonwealth Public Service Clerical Association. The name was changed in 1919 to the Commonwealth Public Service Clerical Association and in 1956 to the Administrative & Clerical Officers' Association, Commonwealth Public Service. After a further change of name in 1982, this time to the Administrative & Clerical Officers' Association, Australian Government Employment, the union merged with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Staff Union and the Australian Public Service Association so that, in 1989, it eventually became known as the Australian Public Sector & Broadcasting Union, Australian Government Employment.

Operative Bootmakers Union of South Australia was formed in 1882 and subsequently participated in the conference to establish a federal body. This was achieved in 1907-1908, when the Operative Bootmakers Union of South Australia became the South Australian Branch of the Federation

The National Union of Railwaymen of Australia was first registered under the Commonwealth's industrial relations legislation in March 1933. It was soon de-registered in July 1933 and many members of this original union were eventually covered by a second union of the same name, which registered on 7 December 1938. The NUR amalgamated with the Government Railways Transport Staff Association in 1938, with the Department of Main Roads Employees' Union in 1942 and the Government Tramway Electrical Branch Workers' Association around 1944-45. The Union continued under this name until 1982 when it changed to the National Union of Rail Workers of Australia. In 1993 the union amalgamated with the Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen, the Australian Tramway & Motor Omnibus Employees' Association and the Australian Railways Union to form the Australian Rail Tram & Bus Industry Union.

The Railway Service Association formed in 1930 from the amalgamation of the New South Wales Government Railways Permanent Way Association and the Association of Employees (Mechanical Branch) of the NSW Railways (unions registered since 1918). In 1933 the RSA as a State Industrial Union was renamed and registered in New South Wales as the National Union of Railwaymen, NSW Branch - a predecessor to the Commonwealth registered National Union of Railwaymen of Australia.

The association amalgamated with the National Union of Railwaymen of Australia around 1945.

The Amalgamated Railway & Tramway Service Association was formed on 15 March 1886 as an all-grades union for New South Wales railway and tramway workers. The Association became the NSW Branch of the the Australian Railways Union following formation of the federal organisation in August 1920.

The Victorian Teachers Union (VTU), Victorian Secondary Teachers Association (VSTA) and Technical Teachers Union of Victoria (TTUV) (as the Technical Teachers Association of Victoria (TTAV) became) co-operated on campaigns from 1979 to 1990, particularly around state elections, and in 1984 formed the Teachers Federation of Victoria (TFV), to streamline and co-ordinate industrial representation. It was abolished in 1990 when the VTU and TTUV merged to form the Federated Teachers Union of Victoria (FTUV).

This body represented members in primary and technical schools, TAFE teachers, instructors in disability services and teachers in Adult Multicultural Education Services.

The Australian Railways Union formed in September 1920 with the amalgamation of the Queensland Railways Union, the New South Wales Amalgamated Railway and Tramway Service Association, the Victorian Railway Union, the Railway and Tramway Employees Association of South Australia and the Tasmanian Railway Union. It was the first Australian all-grades organisation of railway workers and was federally registered on 8 February 1921. In 1993 the ARU merged with other unions to form the Rail Tram & Bus Industry Union.

The union already in existence in Queensland in 1891. It applied for deregistration on 6 July 1921 in order to register as the Queensland Division of the federated body, the Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen.

The union was formed prior to 1883 as the Tramway Drivers, Firemen and Cleaners' Association of NSW, and registered in May 1884 as the NSW Engine Drivers' and Firemen's Association. From about 1888 it was known as the NSW Locomotive Engine Drivers, Firemen and Cleaners Association. It continued to function as a New South Wales-based association, with no national affiliation, until 1900 when the Australian Federation of Locomotive Enginemen was formed.

The Union was originally known as the Federated Railway Locomotive Enginemen's Association of Australasia after the amalgamation of the Locomotive Engine Drivers' & Firemens' Association from Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland. In February 1921, it was renamed the Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen and gained federal registration with the Federal Arbitration Court. By 1926 the union had changed its name to the Australian Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, but reverted back to Australian Federated Union of Enginemen in 1927. In 1993 the AFULE merged with the Australian Tramway & Motor Omnibus Employees' Association, the National Union of Rail Workers of Australia and the Australian Railways Union to form the Australian Rail Tram & Bus Industry Union.

Victorian Operative Boot Trade Union was formed in the early 1880s. In 1907-1908 it became the Victorian Branch of the Australian Boot Trade Employees Federation.

Queensland Amalgamated Operative Boot Trade Union was formed in the 1880s in 1907 it became part of the Australian Boot Trade Employees' Federation.

The New South Wales Boot Operators and Rough Stuff Cutters' Union was formed in 1902. In 1907 the Federal Council of the Australian Boot Trade Employees' Federation pressured the Boot Operators & Rough Stuff Cutters' to amalgamate with the Boot Trade Union and the New South Wales Clickers' Association to form the New South Wales Branch of that Federation. Consequently, the New South Wales Branch of the Australian Boot Trade Employees' Federation was registered under the Commonwealth's Conciliation and Arbitration Act in that year. By 1908, the federal branch had registered separately.

Although the New South Wales Branch was deregistered in 1950, the federal branch continued to operate until 1987 when 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 Boot Trade Union of New South Wales was formed in 1900. In 1907 the Federal Council of the Australian Boot Trade Employees' Federation pressured the Boot Trade Union to amalgamate with the New South Wales Boot Operators & Rough Stuff Cutters' Union and the New South Wales Clickers' Association to form the New South Wales Branch of that Federation. Consequently, the New South Wales Branch of the Australian Boot Trade Employees' Federation was registered under the Commonwealth's Conciliation and Arbitration Act in that year. By 1908, the federal branch had registered separately.

Although the New South Wales Branch was deregistered in 1950, the federal branch continued to operate until 1987 when 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.

New South Wales Clickers' Association was formed in the early 1900s. In 1907 the Federal Council of the Australian Boot Trade Employees' Federation pressured the New South Wales Clickers' Association and the Boot Trade Union to amalgamate with the New South Wales Boot Operators & Rough Stuff Cutters' Union to form the New South Wales Branch of that Federation. Consequently, the New South Wales Branch of the Australian Boot Trade Employees' Federation was registered under the Commonwealth's Conciliation and Arbitration Act in that year. By 1908, the federal branch had registered separately.

Although the New South Wales Branch was deregistered in 1950, the federal branch continued to operate until 1987 when 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 Australian Teachers' Federation was formed in 1937 but originated as the Australian Teachers' Union in 1930. Its member base expanded greatly when members of the defunct Federated State School Teachers' Association of Australia migrated across in 1950. By 1987 the union had, once again, adopted the name Australian Teachers' Union, which it retained until 1993, despite an amalgamation in 1991 with the ACT Teachers' Federation and the Northern Territory Teachers' Federation. From 1993, the Union has been known as the Australian Education Union.

The Victorian Printers Operatives' Union was first known as the Printing Trade General Workers' Union in operation since 1910. In July 1913 the name was changed to the Victorian Printers Operatives' Union. It was registered federally in 1987 and in 1992 the the Union merged with the Printing & Kindred Industries Union.

The union was formed in December 1920 under the name of Amalgamated Printing Trade Employees Union of New South Wales by an amalgamation of the Australian Bookbinders' and Paper Rulers' Federated Association, New South Wales Lithographic Association, Letterpress Printers' Machinists' Industrial Union of Employees of NSW, and the Process Engravers' Union of NSW. In the late 1940s it amalgamated with the Victorian Lithographic Printers' Employees' Union to form the Amalgamated Printing Trade Employees' Union of Australia. The union amalgamated with the Printing Industry Employees Union of Australia in 1966 to form the Printing and Kindred Industries Union of Australia.

The union began as the Victorian Lithographic Printers' Society and later became the Victorian Lithographic Printers Employees' Union. In the 1940s it amalgamated with the Amalgamated Printing Trade Employees' Union of New South Wales to form the Amalgamated Printing Trades Employees' Union of Australia, of which it became the Victorian Branch.

The Australasian Typographical Union was established in 1880 as a federation of the typographical association in South Australia, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania and New South Wales. It was dissolved in 1915 and was succeeded by the Printing Industry Employees' Union of Australia.

The Printing Industry Employees' Union of Australia, known as the One Big Union of Printers in 1916, was registered federally in 1917. On 31 March 1966 the Printing Industry Employees' Union of Australia and the Amalgamated Printing Trades Employees' Union of Australia signed an agreement to amalgamate to form the Printing and Kindred Industries Union.

The Printing & Kindred Industries Union was formed on 6 July 1966 after the amalgamation of the Printing Industry Employees' Union of Australia and the Amalgamated Printing Trades Employees' Union of Australia. In 1986 the PKIU amalgamated with the Federated Photo Engravers Photo-Lithographers & Photogravure Employees' Association of Australia, and in 1992 with the Victorian Printers Operatives' Union. It was re-registered and retained its name until 1995 when the PKIU amalgamated with the Automotive Food Metals and Engineering Union to form the Automotive Food Metals Engineering Printing & Kindred Industries Union, otherwise known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union.

In 1920 the union amalgamated with the New South Wales Lithographic Association, Letterpress Printers' Machinists' Industrial Union of NSW, and the Process Engravers' 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 previous name of this union was the Victorian Agricultural Implement and Machine Makers Society dating back to around 1885. The union was registered in 1908 and in 1913 changed its name to the Federated Implement Machinery and Ironworkers' Association of Australia. It reverted back to its original name in 1924 and operated until 1941 when it merged with the Federated Stovemakers & Porcelain Enamellers Association of Australia to form the Federated Agricultural Implement & Stovemakers Porcelain Enamellers & Ironworkers Association of Australia.

Originally formed in 1906 as the Stove & Piano Frame Moulders' & Stovemakers' Employees' Union, the union amalgamated with the Federated Enamellers' Union in 1935 to form the Federated Stovemakers' & Porcelain Enamellers' Association of Australia.

The Tinsmiths & Sheet Iron Workers' Trade Society formed on 20 December 1881 in Sydney and operated until 1902 before changing its name to the New South Wales Amalgamated Tinsmiths Sheet Iron Workers & Meter Makers Trade Society. In 1910 the Union again changed its name to the New South Wales Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers' Society and in 1916 became known as the New South Wales Amalgamated Tinsmiths' & Sheet Metal Workers' Society. By 1919 this Union eventually joined the federal body and became the New South Wales Branch of the Sheet Metal Working Industrial Union of Australia.

The union was originally registered as the Amalgamated Tinsmiths' Sheet Metal Workers' Cannister Makers' Gas Meter Makers' & Assistants' Union in 1911 and comprised of unions that had operated since 1881. From 1913 its name changed to the Sheet Metal Working Industrial Union of Australia. In 1945 the union changed its name to the Sheet Metal Working Agricultural Implement & Stove Making Industrial Union of Australia to reflect growing membership from members of the Federated Agricultural Implement & Stovemakers' Porcelain Enamellers' & Ironworkers' Association of Australia. It was deregistered in 1972 and joined the Amalgamated Engineering Union to form the Amalgamated Metal Workers' Union in 1973.

The union was formed in 1941 by the amalgamation of the Federated Agricultural Implement Machinery & Ironworkers' Association of Australia and the Federated Stovemakers' & Porcelain Enamellers' Association of Australia. In 1945 the union amalgamated with the Sheet Metal Working Industrial Union of Australia to form the Sheet Metal Working, Agricultural Implement & Stovemaking Industrial Union of Australia.

The union was formed in 1935 by the amalgamation of the Federated Enamellers' Association of Australia and the Federated Stove & Piano Frame Makers' Association of Australia. In 1941 it amalgamated with the Federated Agricultural Implement Machinery & Ironworkers' Association of Australia.

The Automotive Metals & Engineering Union came about through the amalgamation of the Metals & Engineering Workers' Union and the Vehicle Builders Employees' Federation of Australia in 1993. In 1994 it merged with the Confectionery Workers' & Food Preservers' Union of Australia to form the Automotive Food Metals & Engineering Union.

The Association of Draughting Supervisory and Technical Employees was reformed after an amalgamation with the Australian Public Service Artisans' Association in 1986. ADSTE amalgamated again in 1991 with the Amalgamated Metal Workers' Union to form the Metals and Engineering Workers' Union.

The Boilermakers' Society originated directly from the Federated Society of Boilermakers & Iron Shipbuilders of Australia which was registered federally in 1911, and became the Federated Society of Boilermakers Iron Shipbuilders & Structural Iron & Steel Workers of Australia in 1929. By 1937 the union had become the Boilermakers' Society of Australia. In 1965 the members of the deregistered Blacksmiths' Society of Australia joined the union and it became the Boilermakers' and Blacksmiths' Society of Australia.

The Boilermakers' and Blacksmiths' Society of Australia was formed in 1965 when members of the deregistered Blacksmiths' Society of Australia joined the Boilermakers' Society of Australia. In 1973 it joined the Amalgamated Engineering Union and the Sheet Metal Workers to form the Amalgamated Metal Workers' Union.

Established in 1851, the original Amalgamated Engineering Union was a branch of the British union. It was registered with the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Court in 1905 and became known as the Amalgamated Society of Engineers. In 1920 it amalgamated with ten other engineering and allied trade unions and changed its name to the Amalgamated Engineering Union, Australian Section in 1921. In 1968 the union became autonomous from its parent body in Britain, shortening its name to the Amalgamated Engineering Union to reflect this. In mid-June 1972 the AEU began a series of amalgamations with the Sheet Metal Workers, Blacksmiths & Boilermakers and Federated Jewellers to form the Amalgamated Metal Workers' Union by 1973.

The union was formed by the amalgamation of the Amalgamated Metal Workers' Union and the Federated Shipwrights' & Ship Constructors' Association of Australia in 1976, and functioned until 1983 when it joined the Federated Moulders' (Metals) Union of Australia to become the Amalgamated Metals Foundry and Shipwrights' Union.

The Federated Enamellers' Union of Australia amalgamated with the Federated Stove & Piano Frame Makers' Association of Australia in 1935 to form the Federated Stovemakers' & Procelain Enamellers' Association of Australia.

This union operated from 1883 until 1910 when it merged into the newly federated union the Amalgamated Tinsmiths' Sheet Metal Workers' Cannister Makers' Gas Meter Makers' & Assistants' Union.

The Federated Brick, Tile and Pottery Industrial Union of Australia was formed in 1911 and operated until its amalgamation in 1995 into the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union.

The Brickmakers', Brickmakers Labourers' and Pipemakers' Union of New South Wales was registered in New South Wales in 1886. Then in 1911 the Federated Brick, Tile and Pottery Workers' Union was registered under the Commonwealth legislation and the Brickmakers' Union of New South Wales was registered in New South Wales. Rules of the Brickmakers, Clayworkers and Brickcarters Employees' Union of New South Wales were published in 1912. The exact relationship between these entities requires further research but it seems clear that a distinct New South Wales union still existed up to the late 1920s, overlapping with the federated union.

The New South Wales Association of Felt Hatters was formed in 1902. In May 1912 it became the No 1 Division of the New South Wales Branch of the Federated Felt Hatting Employees’ Union of Australasia. It was registered under the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act on 29 June 1912. A separate union, consisting of Trimmers and Binders, formed in 1909, became the No 2 Division. The Assistants were organised in June 1912 to form the No 3 Division. The No 1A Division was formed in 1949. The name of the Union was changed in March 1950 to the Federated Felt Hatting and Allied Trade Employees Union of Australia. 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 and Footwear Union of Australia.

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.

The Federated Gas Employees' Industrial Union was registered in 1911. Charlie Crofts, who later became the secretary of the Commonwealth Council of Federated Unions from 1923 to 1927 and the Australian Council of Trade Unions from 1927 to 1943 was on the first executive and became Victorian then National secretary of the Union in 1914, a position he held till his death in 1950. The union had strong branches in South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. It amalgamated with the Transport Workers' Union of Australia in 1996.

The Railway and Tramway Officers' Association was registered in New South Wales in 1913 and amalgamated with the Victorian Railways Administrative Officers' and Clerks' Association to form the Australian Transport Officers' Federation in 1924.

A Trimmers' and Binders' Union [of New South Wales] was formed in 1909. In 1912 it amalgamated with The New South Wales Association of Felt Hatters, and The [Hatters] Assistants' to form The NSW Branch of the Federated Felt Hatting and Allied Trades Employees’ Union. This Union was registered under the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act on 29 June 1912 as the New South Wales Branch of the Federated Felt Hatting Employees’ Union of Australasia. The New South Wales Association of Felt Hatters which was formed in 1902, became the No 1 Division of the New South Wales Branch while the Trimmers and Binders became the No 2 Division. The Assistants were organised in June 1912 to form the No 3 Division. The No 1A Division was formed in 1949.

The name of the Union was changed in March 1950 to the Federated Felt Hatting & Allied Trade Employees Union of Australia. 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.

The origins of the Victorian Secondary Teachers' Federation can be traced to the birth of the Victorian Teachers' Union.

The Victorian Teachers' Union (VTU) was established following negotiations from 1923 until 1926 between the Victorian State School Teachers' Union, the Victorian High School Teachers' Union and the Victorian Technical Teachers' Association. These three organisations amalgamated on 13 August 1926 to form the Victorian Teachers' Union with a membership of about 5000.

In 1948, however, secondary teachers broke away from the VTU to form the Victorian Secondary Masters' Professional Association which, in 1953, became the Victorian Secondary Teachers' Association (VSTA).

Although a breakaway from the VTU, growing dissatisfaction with the Victorian Teachers' Tribunal led, in 1976, to an agreement between the VTU, Technical Teachers' Union of Victoria and the Victorian Secondary Teachers' Association to work together on the basis of joint policy, for improved industrial relations for teachers.

In August 1981 the VTU Victorian Federation subcommittee agreed that there should be a Victorian Teachers' Federation modelled on the NSW Teachers' Federation.

In July 1984 the Teacher's Federation of Victoria was established as an umbrella organisation for industrial purposes, with the three teacher unions remaining autonomous. In 1990 the Technical Teachers' Union of Victoria and the Victorian Teachers' Union amalgamated as the Federated Teachers' Union of Victoria [FTUV]. By 1995 the Victorian Secondary Teachers' Association had amalgamated with the FTUV to form the Victorian Branch of the Australian Education Union.

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.

Teachers' unions in South Australia began in 1885 with the formation of the Adelaide Teachers' Association. The Country Teachers' Association formed in 1887 and the two merged in 1887 to become the South Australian Teachers' Association. This association split in 1936 into the South Australian Public Teachers' Union and the South Australian Women Teachers' Guild. These separate organisations remained apart until 1951 when teachers voted to form a single representative body called the South Australian Institute of Teachers [SAIT]. SAIT covered all teachers and school assistants in the State's primary schools, pre-schools and secondary schools, as well as teachers in the fields of further education and non-government schools. SAIT became the South Australian branch of the Australian Education Union in 1993.

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.

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.