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.