The party describes its ideology as being influenced by the works of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong and Ted Hill.

Clarrie O'Shea was party Vice-President at the time of his gaoling in 1969, which led to an unprecedented general strike across Australia until his release was secured.

[17] Norm Gallagher led the Builders Labourers Federation for over a decade, a time during which he was a nationally known and controversial figure.

The party ceased publishing a hard copy version of its newspaper Vanguard on a regular basis at the end of 2014.

However, it continues to publish a special May Day edition of the paper each year, and releases various other publications periodically.