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.

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.

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.

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.