Our History

The first recorded mention of the Hospital and Asylum Attendants and Employees' Union - The Age, Victoria, 10th September 1910

Reporting on the discussions of registering under the Arbitration Act - The Age, Victoria, 2nd December 1910

Early Beginnings

1910 - 1921

What we know as HACSU and our parent union the HSU today began with the creation of two union bodies sometime in the middle of 1910, the first of which was the Hospital and Asylum Attendants and Employees' Union in Melbourne, Victoria.

The intention of the movement was to apply to create an award for the sector through federally uniting all of the health workers across Australia. The first Secretary was a man by the name of P.J. McCarthy.

Enthusiasm among health workers at the time was so high that, in October, there was a push by New South Welshman to form their own equivalent to stand with their Victorian brothers and sisters.

The Hospital and Asylum Employees' Union (HAEU), resulting from this push, was created on Boxing Day that same year.

The union was officially registered under the Commonwealth Arbitration Act on Wednesday, 12th April 1911.

The first President of the union was Walter E. Petersen, and the first Secretary was George James Pitt.

On its first day of its new found authority, the Victorian division handed a petition to then Premier John Murray underlining the poor pay and working conditions that employees were forced to endure.

At the time, workers in the health sector were paid according to an award that largely covered charities, owing to the nature of the vast majority of the nation's health providers being run by religious institutions.

Many of these complaints were longstanding, with some dating as far back as the late 1800's.

Gradually, the union was able to gain a lot of ground, with entitlements and conditions slowly improving. In 1913, the Public Service Board of NSW agreed to back pay many workers across the state, whilst considerations of the time such as lodging and quarters were also improved.

Inclusiveness was a bedrock of the union since its formation.

The New South Wales body chose the term employees as they felt it encompassed all workers of the health sector, and in 1914 the Victorian body changed its name to the Hospital Dispensary and Asylum Employees' Union of Australia (HDAEA) to incorporate the wider health sector.

Despite these efforts, and owing to the times, the bedrock of the membership of these two fledgling unions at the time was very much comprised of hospital staff and psychiatric care.

In 1917, the Wages Board was finally granted to health workers across the country after 6 years of tireless and hard campaigning - our first big win of many.

A call to arms from the south! - The Daily Telegraph, New South Wales, 6th October 1910

Enthusiasm abounds as workers in both Victoria and NSW join the newly formed union - The Worker, New South Wales, 24th November 1910

HEA quickly becomes a vital force for the common good - The Herald, Victoria, 11th November 1922

Rivalry in Victoria

1922 - 1929

1922 saw the formation and federal registration of a new union, the Hospital Employees' Association (HEA), which represented workers in mental asylums. The first meeting was held right here in Tasmania at the Hobart Trades Hall.

Such was the initial success of this body to garner membership, they quickly became an equal amongst the other health union bodies, whilst also having eaten up smaller groups dedicated to representing the rights of employees in the mental health sector at the time.

One notable difference of this new union was that the HEA, unlike their comrades in the HAEU and the HDAEA, sought to represent both states as opposed to the intrastate organising that had been largely practiced by their contemporaries.

In Victoria, this caused a stir, and the new union was met with rivalry by the now long established and formidable HDAEA, who saw a new kid on their patch as diluting the overall efforts of the broader union movement.

Competing for the same membership base, as well as general and accidental misunderstandings between the two groups often led to both organisations not seeing eye to eye on a lot of issues.

Tensions flared in the middle of the 1920's when the HDAEA solely opposed the application of the HEA into the Trades Hall Council.

The grounds for opposition were that, in the HDAEA's view, the HDAEA alone was the better fit to fight for working rights for health sector employees - as one can imagine, the HEA disagreed vehemently.

Despite the rising temperature in relations, concerned members from both unions sought to reach out to one another, suggesting amalgamation over expedition.

Announcing the merger between the two branches - The Herald, Victoria, 10th January 1933

Amalgamations and progress

1933 - 1958

1933 saw the negotiation and amalgamation of the HEA and the HDAEA into a new entity called the Hospital, Dispensary and Asylum Employees' and Allied Government Officers' Federation of Australia.

After half a decade of negotiation, both bodies found common ground, dividing up their greater efforts into two distinct branches.

The No. 1 branch would oversee the efforts to improver workers rights that the old HDAEA was covering, whilst the No. 2 branch focused on mental asylum employees - the old domain of the HEA.

Both branches subsequently applied to the Trades Council to recognise them alone as the sole entities to fight for the union movement in the health sector, aiming to not make the same mistake of the decade previous.

For both the NSW branch and the newly amalgamated Victorian entities, the afterwar period was one of progress and expansion. Shortly after World War II, the Victorian division changed its name to the Hospital Employees' Federation of Australasia (HEF).

The HEF name would become synonymous with the health sector and the union movement in general for the next three decades.

In NSW, the division had expanded their coverage rapidly, now including researchers and paramedics.

To better align themselves with their southern brothers and sisters, the NSW branch renamed to the Hospital Employee's Association (HEA) in 1947.

Both of these moves were a significant shift towards the modern union that we are today.

In the early 1950's, the two Victorian branches once again found each other on opposing opinions, this time over political affiliation, resulting in a split due to their contradictory positions.

Unlike the tensions that were present in the 1930's, however, both branches remained amicable and within the affiliation of the governing body.

The No. 1 and No. 2 branches have remained this way to this day.

Portrait of the HDAEA State Hospitals' Division, State Library Victoria, 28th March 1933

The old Hospital Employees' Federation logo

Moving towards true national federation

1959 - 1990

Moving into the second half of the century, there was a real push by union officials to consolidate the strength of the membership base by moving towards total cover of the health sector in Australia.

By this time, the way we treated health had evolved considerably from the early periods of the century, and the union had to do likewise to best serve its membership.

Subtle moves towards this goal had began with the amalgamation of the two Victorian branches into the Hospital Employees' Federation of Australasia.

In 1959, the No. 2 branch rebranded into the Hospital Employees' Federation of Australia (HEF).

Legendary advocate and tireless fighter for woman's working rights, Zelda D' Aprano, worked for the No. 2 branch briefly during this time.

Two years later in 1961, the HEF saw it's biggest expansion with the creation of two branches in Tasmania, initially covering both the north and south of the state separately.

This was the beginning of what would become the Tasmanian HACSU you see today.

The NSW branch in 1965 incorporated medical researchers into their name to become the Health and Research Employees Association (HREF) in 1965, showcasing their huge coverage across the health sector.

An application that same year was lodged for separate registration under the Arbitration Act, which was granted in early 1970.

Expansion continued, with more branches being established, most notably a No. 3 branch in Victoria to represent the professional health sectors of medical scientists, therapists and pharmacists in 1986.

During this time, talks were beginning behind the scenes to consolidate this rapid expansion by amalgamating the NSW and Victorian branches into an Australian wide national body.

A pair of old posters highlighting the importance of workplace safety - State Library Victoria, 1980's

A sticker call-to-arms to rally against IR legislative changes - HSUA Tasmania, 1992

A sticker protesting against deteriorating worker conditions - HSUA Tasmania, mid 1990's

Putting the pressure on the Rundle Government - HACSU Tasmania, late 1990's

The modern union

1991 - today

A member plebiscite was held on 4th July 1990 to decide on whether to amalgamate the HEF and the HREA into one union body, a truly national movement.

The plebiscite passed, and a year later the Health Services Union of Australia (HSUA) officially began. The first meeting of the union's national executive was held on the 7th and 8th of February, 1991.

Following this, the Victorian No. 2 branch adopted the name Health and Community Services Union (HACSU) moniker to better reflect the vast and diverse nature of health providers in the state.

Sometime later, your Tasmanian branch also became known as HACSU, and has stayed this way ever since.

The 90's saw more expansion, with the Hospital Salaried Officers Association in Western Australia affiliating with the HSUA, bringing with it their member base of health professionals working in the west in 1994.

At the same time, members of the Victorian groups the Medical Scientists Association of Victoria and the Victorian Psychologists Association also became members of the HSU, subsequently becoming the 4th branch in Victoria.

In 2003, the national body made the decision to rename simply to the Health Services Union (HSU).

After many monikers and amalgamations spanning over a century, the HSU today now counts over 100,000 Australians as part of their member base.

As it was in the beginning way back in 1910, HACSU aims to work tirelessly to protect and improve workplace rights and entitlements, and to strive for a better health system overall for all Australians.