[1] It was first registered in February 1921 as the Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen, representing an estimated 15,000 locomotive enginemen across Australia.
[2][3] The union had applied in September 1920, but had its registration delayed due to a legal dispute with the Federated Engine Drivers and Firemen's Association of Australasia.
[4][5] The single national union replaced the Federated Railway Locomotive Enginemens’ Association of Australia, formed in 1899, which had linked state unions in Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland without formally coming together as one federal union.
[1] They were the first union covering "state instrumentalities" to gain federal registration after the 1920 High Court of Australia ruling in Amalgamated Society of Engineers v Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd, which had given workers in those areas access to federal jurisdiction.
[6][7] It changed its name to the Australian Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers in 1926, but reverted to its original name in 1927.