[2] However, ex-servicemen returning from the trenches of World War I were in no mood to be dealt with in the same way, and it was the self-belief which they had developed on the battlefields of France and the Middle East which gave them the confidence to form their own, independent staff association.

Recruits were drawn almost exclusively from rural and semi-rural areas, and especially from conservative middle-class families where the father was a lawyer, doctor, or member of some other respected profession.

Employment in the finance sector at this time attached to itself a high degree of prestige; but the actual work – especially in the lower echelons – was tedious, repetitive, heavily supervised, and poorly paid.

Moreover, an employee's cadetship (which could last for up to two years) was entirely unpaid, requiring that they be supported by their family; this helped justify the practice of drawing recruits from the middle classes.

This division of membership naturally ensured that the overall coverage of the ABOA and AISF remained relatively small for many years; and those who did join frequently continued in the habits of difference and subservience into which they had been inculcated by the prevailing industry culture.

[6] These improvements, and the formation of the staff organisations themselves, were fiercely resented by banking and insurance employers, who accordingly adopted a number of aggressive tactics ranging from preferential treatment of non-unionists to outright intimidation to blunt the AISF's and the ABOA's effectiveness.

The drastically declining national economy created an atmosphere of fear and apprehension, in which the thought of industrial action was abhorrent and the terror of unemployment conspired to produce a subservient workforce.

In 1942, a mass meeting of 600 female insurance employees called for the implementation of the equal pay principle;[9] and in 1948, the AISF and other unions actively campaigned on this issue.

By the late 1960s, however, women formed the majority of the workforce in both banking and insurance, and though under-represented in the decision-making organs of both unions, successfully pressed the case for an equal wages campaign.

The first step occurred when the ABOA instituted a policy of supporting women members who undertook claims for back pay for having performed "additional duties" – that is, work classified as "male".

The 1970s also saw the ABOA and AISF launch two more successful campaigns: firstly, for the implementation of four weeks' annual leave; and, secondly, the establishment of minimum entitlements for employees who lose their jobs through retrenchment due to organisational or technological change.

The deregulation of the Australian finance sector during the 1980s resulted in a highly volatile, fluid industry in which the old certainties were cast aside and the impact of neo-liberal economic policies became more apparent.

The rapidly changing face of banking and insurance required a coherent response that was not to be anchored in a specific industry, but which instead could cover the entire field of finance and finance-related services.