Australian Unity is an Australian

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

having its origins in the friendly societies movement. It was formed as the

Manchester Unity Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

(MUIOOF) in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

, Victoria, on 7 December 1840 by eight men including Thomas Strode, publisher of the

Port Phillip Gazette There were two Australian periodicals called The ''Port Phillip Gazette.'' The first was the second newspaper published in Melbourne, in the then Port Phillip District and what is now Victoria, Australia. It was first published by Thomas Strod ...

and Augustus Greeves, inspired by Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity. In 1993, Manchester Unity merged with the Australian Natives' Association 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 Big Sky Credit Union (BSCU) was an Australian based credit union formed by the current or ex-employees, contractors or service providers of BHP, BP and the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria and their subsidiaries, affiliated or divested compani ...

in 2012. Australian Unity has about 8,500 employees across

healthcare Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health pro ...

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 hedge ...

and

banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts 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 markets. Because ...

(in the guise of

) divisions. In 2012, Big Sky was 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. The

Manchester Unity Building The Manchester Unity Building is an Art Deco Gothic inspired office and retail building in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, constructed in 1931–32 for the Manchester Unity Independent Order of Oddfellows. The soaring stepped corner tower on a p ...

is a neo-Gothic

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

skyscraper in Melbourne, Australia, constructed in 1932. Another Melbourne building formerly owned by Manchester Unity Oddfellows, at 335-347 Swanston Street, constructed in 1940-41, 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 ...

, was compulsorily acquired by the

Commonwealth government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...

in 1947.

History

;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