The Australian Journalists Association (AJA) was an Australian

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

for

journalists A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

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 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 area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by John Smedle ...

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 referred to as 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 ...

and the

Australian Theatrical and Amusement Employees' Association The Australian Theatrical and Amusement Employees' Association was an Australian trade union which existed between 1910 and 1993. It represented a wide range of workers employed in the entertainment industry in Australia. Coverage The ATAEA ...

to create the

Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA), also sometimes referred to as the Alliance, is the Australian trade union and professional organisation which covers the media, entertainment, sports and arts industries. Its Musicians section c ...

. 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 Kennedy Awards, also known as the NRMA Kennedy Awards, are Australian awards for journalism based in Sydney, New South Wales, run by the Kennedy Foundation, and named in honour of Indigenous Australian journalist Les Kennedy, who died in ...

, the richest media awards program in Australia. However this organisation was dubbed a "fake union", with ties to TNT Radio (an

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

outlet whose focus is fringe topics and conspiracy theories, including

anti-vaccination Vaccine hesitancy is a delay in acceptance, or refusal, of vaccines despite the availability of vaccine services and supporting evidence. The term covers refusals to vaccinate, delaying vaccines, accepting vaccines but remaining uncertain abou ...

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 ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. It was one of a group of

Red Union Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

s (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 tribunal Employment tribunals are tribunal public bodies in England and Wales and Scotland which have statutory jurisdiction to hear many kinds of disputes between employers and employees. The most common disputes are concerned with unfair dismissal, red ...

s. 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