Home > Who We Are > Our History
ACCI's Story
History of Business
Advocacy In Australia
Our Story
At a Glance
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has been the voice of Australian
business for more than 170 years.
ACCI is the living legacy of Australia's earliest business movements - Chambers of Commerce,
Chambers of Manufacturers and Employer Federations.
Founded in the nineteenth century, as advocates for the rights of business in Australia's
nascent states, these organisations were ahead of their time and provided a positive example
for our Founding Fathers by establishing national, federally structured business associations,
in the lead-up to Federation.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce (ACC), the Associated Chambers of Manufacturers
(ACMA) and the Australian Council of Employers Federations (ACEF) were founded in the
1890's.
In 1977, ACMA joined with the ACEF to form the Confederation of Australian Industry (CAI).
In 1992, the three historic branches of the employer and business movement in Australia were
united when the merger of the ACC and the CAI to establish the Australian Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (ACCI) as the largest and most representive business association
in Australia.
First Australians
Prior to British colonisation, Indigenous Australians lived a subsistence life that responded,
in part, to the universal laws of supply and demand.
Trade played a vital role in Aboriginal society. Domestic exchange systems saw the distribution
of goods for utilitarian, cultural/spiritual and consumer purposes. Trade between groups spanned
the continent, particularly for red ochre and plant products.
Indigenous groups also traded with visiting Asian and Oceanic peoples from the Asia Pacific
region.
Since colonisation, many Aboriginal people have participated in the broader economy using their
skills and entrepreneurship. They have played a vital role in some industries in some regions.
Today, Indigenous business organisations such as the Australian Indigenous Chamber of
Commerce advocate policies which support private sector entrepreneurship, a strong economy
and a better standard of living.
European Settlement
(1788-1851)
Thirty eight years after the First Fleet landed at Sydney Cove and established Australia's first permanent white settlements, the Sydney Chamber
of Commerce was established in 1826.
The Adelaide Chamber of Commerce was founded thirteen years later in 1839.
Business people were central to Australia's development from the beginning, with a growing population driving the establishment of enterprises to feed the colony. Figures such as John Macarthur established successful export driven agri-businesses which laid the foundation for our iconic wool industry.
These early business success stories helped cement international trade, trade policy and
global engagement as issues of vital importance in our nation's public policy conversation.
The Rush - Gold, Prosperity & Political Reform
(1851-1890s)
In 1851 gold was discovered, first in New South Wales and then in Victoria. Eureka moments
followed at regular intervals throughout Australia including in Western Australia and Tasmania.
These Rushes transformed the developing national economy and helped foster growing national
identity.
The period saw the establishment of the Hobart and Launceston Chambers of Commerce as well
as the first moves to establish the Victorian Chamber of Commerce in the early 1850s. They were
followed by Brisbane Chamber of Commerce in 1868 and the Perth Chamber of Commerce in 1890.
.jpg.aspx?width=330&height=230)
This period also witnessed the establishment of early Industry Associations. The first to be established was the Master Builders Association in 1870.
The Gold Rush also coincided with the end of an almost global economic crisis. The result was
large scale economic migration from many parts
of the world which was a key driver of the mining
boom.
Economic growth led to social progress. The
steady employment and prosperity created by
the Rush helped create an environment where civic values, political rights and democratic ideals could
flourish.
Business, Taxation & Democracy
(The Eureka Rebellion)
In 1854 the small miners who formed the Ballarat Reform League, in response to the stifling red-
tape and corrupt administration on the gold-
fields, demanded the abolition of the license
tax (which they paid whether they struck gold
or not), democratic elections and resolved that:
"It is the inalienable right of every citizen to have
a voice in the laws he is called on to obey and
that taxation without representation is tyranny."
When the miner's demands were rejected, the Southern Cross flag was unfurled, mining licenses were burned and the Eureka Stockade constructed. The rebellion was put down in a surprise night attack by British.jpg.aspx?width=190&height=260)
troops and the small miners were put on trial.
The refusal of juries to convict any of them, and the subsequent Royal Commission's sweeping reforms, including the abolition of the unfair
license tax and effectively granting the miners the right to vote,
established that in Australia 'capitalism was not without promise.'
Building A Nation - Federation & Nationhood
(1880s-1900s)
The Rush led not only to greater employment, it also drove up wages and resulted in a skills shortage which was filled by skilled migrants from
overseas including, many Chinese.
The aspiration to improve their living standards fired the common imagination of the racially diverse immigrant miners and there was relative racial harmony on the goldfields. Many Chinese prospectors, who made a significant contribution in this crucial period of Australian history, used their new
wealth to establish successful businesses, particularly in the retail sector..jpg.aspx?width=210&height=149)
The boom also stimulated manufacturing, influencing the establishment of Chambers of Manufacturer including in Victoria (1865), South Australia (1869), NSW (1885), Western Australia (1890) and in Queensland (1911).
Employer unions (later employer federations), also sprang up around Australia between 1885-1890 including the Victorian Employers' Union (1865), the NSW Employers' Union (1888), South Australian Employers' Federation (1889) and the Queensland Employers' Federation (1886).
.jpg.aspx)
Separately and together, these early business associations spoke up for the rights Australia's earliest enterprises and advocated trade and economic policies to create a better business operating environment.
They provided a voice for employers in the workplace relations disputes which were somewhat a feature of this
period and provided community leadership on social issues..jpg.aspx)
Australia's early business organisations were incubators for ideas, innovations and innovators. Many of Australia's Founding Fathers were drawn from the ranks of Australian business, which was also a major supporter of the Federation Movement.
Business issues were important drivers of the Movement. Many business people and members of the broader community were victims of the absurd 'red tape', inefficiency and extra costs, which were the outcome of individual state customs bureaucracies and the unreasonable restrictions on the free movement of goods and people
between state borders which resulted.
From the beginning, Australia's business associations have provided advocacy and leadership
on the major public policy issues the day. Federation and trade policy were no exception.
When many doubted the colonies could join together as a nation, they repeatedly staged inter-
colonial meetings and formed national bodies such as the Australian Chamber of Commerce (ACC),
Associated Chamber of Manufacturers of Australia (ACMA) and the Australian Council of Employer
Federations (ACEF) to advocate national policies.
War & Peace, Guns & Money.jpg.aspx?width=129&height=200)
(1914-1950)
The Great War was a seminal event in Australian history. Hundreds of thousands of Australian business owners,operators, employers and employees fought; with the grievous loss of so many; on the battlefields of Europe and the Middle East between 1914-1918.
They did so again, just over 20 years later, in World War Two.
Australian industry, managed and staffed by those at home in Australia; including
many women whose business skills had been less recognised or who had lacked
the opportunity to gain them; supported our soldiers with vital supplies and materiel.
.jpg.aspx)
This was subsequently seen as an important step in the integration of more women in the work force, eventually on an equal footing.
In the sensitive years between the wars, and following the Allied victory in the Second World War, Australia's business associations were led by men who were heroes on the battlefield and entrepreneurs at home. They worked with both Labor and conservative governments in pursuit of a prosperous Australia.
Then as now, their advocacy on behalf of business and the community was rigorous and non-partisan.
Post-War Prosperity
(1950-1970)
Australian business went on to play a central role in the post-war boom which saw Australians enjoying unprecedented prosperity amidst a corresponding 'babyboom'.
The advocacy and influence of Australia's business associations were important in shaping the policies
that supported the thriving industries and enterprises which were engine room of Australian prosperity
in the 1950's and '60s.
Politics & Power
(1970-1990).jpg.aspx?width=330&height=253)
Dramatic political events in the 1970s changed
the power dynamic in domestically and
internationally.
Liberal gave way to Labor and vice versa; policy
challenges were increasingly taken on at a federal
level and Australian business was given a sharp
reminder of our economy's exposure to events in
global markets.
The policy and advocacy of Australian business
associations was needed more than ever and
they.jpg.aspx?width=330&height=239)
responded with a consolidation of strength
and leadership in the 1970s and 80s.
Strength through consolidation came in 1977
with the merger of ACMA and the ACEF to form
the Confederation of Australian Industry (CAI).
Leadership was also in no short supply when,
in 1987 an Australian Chamber of Commerce
meeting in Melbourne sparked a re-think of
industrial matters. The meeting was an influence
on the business leaders, business groups and
politicians - so called 'economic rationalists'
who went on to champion reform of the
Australian economy.
The advocacy of Australian business associations helped win the economic reform debate in the 1980s. The ACC and CAI worked with the Hawke and Keating Governments to implement major reforms of the
Australian economy.
Birth of ACCI
(1990-today)
.jpg.aspx?width=280&height=185)
Australia's largest and most representative business association was born in 1992 when the ACC merged with the CAI to form the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI).
In 1996 the Hawke/Keating era ended with the election of the Liberal National Coalition under John Howard, who had formerly been Treasurer of Australia under
the Fraser Government.
ACCI continued it's advocacy of economic reform and worked with the Howard Government as it continued, advanced and refined the reforms implemented by its predecessor.
.jpg.aspx?width=280&height=220)
Following the election of the Rudd Labor Government in 2007 , the independence of ACCI's advocacy continued.
While we stood with the Rudd Government in support of
economic stimulus to help buttress Australian the economy against the worst affects of the global financial crisis (GFC),
ACCI resolutely opposed policies which would have damaged
the Australia economy such as the implementation of a carbon emissions trading scheme in isolation from the world's major economies.
Enriched and informed by our history, ACCI is building on more than nearly 180 years of achievement to be one of the most influential national and international policy advocates on
behalf of Australian business today. .jpg.aspx)
Following the historically close 2010 federal election
and the formation of the minority government under the
leadership of Australia's first female Prime Minister Hon
Julia Gillard MP, ACCI continues to provide independent,
non-partisan policy advocacy.
With our national member network of Chambers of
Commerce and Industry Associations, ACCI champions
policies which will deliver productivity, jobs and growth to the benefit of business owners and managers,employers, employees, their families and the community.