The Australian Journalists Association (AJA) was an Australian

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

for

journalists A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

from 1910–1992. In 1913 the Australian Journalists' Association merged with the Australian Writers' and Artists' Union. This union had been formed in 1910, launched on 9 September of that year in the

Sydney Trades Hall The Sydney Trades Hall, also known as the Trades Hall Building and the Trade Unions Hall, is a heritage-listed trade union building located at 4-10 Goulburn Street in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government ...

by Harold Mercer (1882–1952), also known as Harold St Aubyn, a prolific writer who was involved in the creation of 28 new unions in total. On 18 May 1992 it amalgamated with

Actors' Equity The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly called Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a book or thro ...

and the Australian Theatrical and Amusement Employees' Association to create the

Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) is the Australian trade union and professional organisation which covers the media, entertainment, sports and arts industries. Its Musicians section consists of the SOMA (Symphony Orchestra Musi ...

. The AJA section is now known as MEAA Media.

New AJA

In 2022 a new Australian Journalists Association appeared, which was not part of the MEAA. It forged a sponsorship arrangement with the Kennedy Foundation to provide to acquire naming rights to the Kennedy Awards, the richest media awards program in Australia. However this organisation was dubbed a "fake union", with ties to TNT Radio (an

internet radio Internet radio, also known as online radio, web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio and IP radio, is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not ...

outlet whose focus is fringe topics and conspiracy theories, including

anti-vaccination Anti-vaccine activism, which collectively constitutes the "anti-vax" movement, is a set of organized activities expressing opposition to vaccination, and these collaborating networks have often sought to increase vaccine hesitancy by dissem ...

misinformation), which had also provided to the Kennedy Awards. This new AJA had appropriated the name, but was in fact created by Journalists First Inc., a small group of conservative political operatives based in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. It was one of a group of Red Unions (labelled "fake unions", as they were set up with political motives to divide the union movement, attracting members by their anti-vaccine mandate stance). It was not run by journalists and had no standing in industrial tribunals. In May 2022 the Kennedy Foundation cut its ties with this AJA, in a move welcomed by the MEAA.

References

{{reflist Defunct trade unions of Australia Australian journalism organisations Journalists' trade unions Trade unions established in 1910 Trade unions disestablished in 1992 1910 establishments in Australia 1992 disestablishments in Australia