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History of APESMA

For more than 60 years APESMA has been advancing the workplace rights of professionals like you.

Today APESMA represents professionals from a wide variety of disciplines including engineering, science, IT, pharmacy, architecture, surveying and many more. But the host' organisation - originally registered as the Association of Professional Engineers, Australia (APEA) - was established in September 1946.

APEA was the first organisation to ensure that professionals be recognised and rewarded for the high-value work they do. The Professional Engineers Case finalised in 1961 saw engineers across Australia received salary increases averaging more than 40 per cent. Even more importantly it set the precedent for work value and benchmark salaries for professionals.

When smaller unions were encouraged to amalgamate in the 1990s, many professionals said they wanted to be represented by an organisation that understood the needs of professional employees. The Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia (APESMA) is the result of mergers between the following organisations (year of merger in brackets):

  • The Association of Professional Engineers, Australia (founded 1946, registered 1948)
  • The Association of Professional Scientists, Australia (registered 1962, merged 1991)
  • The Local Government Engineers Association of New South Wales (1991)
  • Senior Managers (Telstra & Australia Post) Association (1994)
  • ABC Senior Executives Association (1994)
  • Association of Architects of Australia (1995)
  • Salaried Pharmacists Association (1997)
  • Association of Railway Professional Officers of Australia (1997)
  • Australian Collieries' Staff Association (2001)
  • Managers & Professionals Association (2004)
  • Professional Officers' Association (Victoria) (2006)
  • Ambulance Managers & Professionals (Victoria) (2010)

APESMA has been building on the precedent established by the 1961 decision ever since. It has set up and maintained a series of awards for engineers, scientists and other professionals.

The history of the first 50 years of APESMA is recorded in Status and Reward. The History of Industrial Representation of Professional Engineers in Australia 1946-1996 by Brian E Lloyd and Helen Vines, published for the 50th anniversary in 1996.