Australian Unity is an Australian

mutual company A mutual organization, also mutual society or simply mutual, is an organization (which is often, but not always, a company (law), company or business) based on the principle of mutuality and governed by private law. Unlike a cooperative, members ...

having its origins in the friendly societies movement. In 2012, Big Sky was merged with Australian Unity to become the banking arm of the company.

History

It was formed as the Manchester Unity Independent Order of Oddfellows (MUIOOF) in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Victoria, on 7 December 1840 by eight men including Thomas Strode, publisher of the Port Phillip Gazette and Augustus Greeves, inspired by

Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity The Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity Friendly Society Limited, also called the Manchester Unity of Oddfellows; trading as ''The Oddfellows'', is a fraternal order founded in Manchester in 1810. Some of its lodges claim histo ...

. In 1993, Manchester Unity merged with the

Australian Natives' Association The Australian Natives' Association (ANA) was a mutual society founded in Melbourne, Australia in April 1871. It was founded by and for the benefit of White native-born Australians, and membership was restricted to that group. The Association's ...

to form Australian Unity. Later mergers occurred with Grand United Friendly Society in 2005, Lifeplan Australia Friendly Society in 2009, and Big Sky Credit Union in 2012. Australian Unity has about 8,500 employees across

healthcare Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...

and

banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

(in the guise of Big Sky Credit Union) divisions. In 2012, Big Sky merged with Australian Unity to become the banking arm of Australian Unity. Ownership of Big Sky Credit Union Limited was transferred to Australian Unity Limited's subsidiary Lifeplan Australia Building Society Limited and renamed Big Sky Building Society Limited. Members of Big Sky Credit Union became members of Australian Unity.

Manchester Unity Building

The company commissioned the Manchester Unity Building, a neo-Gothic

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

skyscraper, and one of the most well-known and recognisable buildings in Melbourne, Australia, in 1928. The building was constructed in 1932. Another Melbourne building, formerly owned by Manchester Unity Oddfellows, at 335–347 Swanston Street was compulsorily acquired by the Commonwealth government in 1947. The building, constructed in 1940–41, sits opposite the

State Library of Victoria State Library Victoria (SLV) is the state library of Victoria, Australia. Located in Melbourne, it was established in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library, making it Australia's oldest public library and one of the first free libraries in th ...

, adjacent to the Melbourne Central shopping centre.

Predecessors and previous incarnations

;* Manchester Unity Independent Order of Oddfellows (MUIOOF) ;* Australian Natives' Association ;* Grand United Friendly Society * Grand United Order of Oddfellows Friendly Society (GUOOFS) ;* Lifeplan Australia Friendly Society ;* Big Sky Credit Union

References

{{Banking in Australia Friendly societies Medical and health organisations based in Australia Financial services companies of Australia Insurance in Australia Health insurance in Australia Organizations established in 1840 Financial services companies established in 1993 1993 establishments in Australia Companies based in Melbourne