Fitness First entered the Australian market in 2000 after buying assets from the collapsed Healthland chain[2] and acquiring a number of Living Well Lady locations owned by the Hilton Group in 2006.

Initiatives in 2009 have included the launch of Strictly Fit in conjunction with BBC Worldwide, intended to be a low-impact aerobics group class.

In 2014, Fitness First launched their Global Rebrand and opened ‘BEAT’; a heart rate based training micro gym in London, and their Australia club in Melbourne the same year.

[16] In August 2008, Fitness First took a club member to the Australian New South Wales (NSW) Supreme Court to recover a $200 cancellation fee.

The court ruled in favour of Fitness First, although she could not afford to pay and was no longer able to use the gym on medical grounds.

[18] Fitness First's victory on appeal overturned a prior decision against the company by the NSW Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal, which had found that a contract required a "meeting of the minds, in that they each fully know and understand the terms and conditions of the agreement".

In March 2009, a Sydney Fitness First trainer allegedly attacked a member after a dispute about closing times, pushing him down a flight of stairs.

[21] In 2023 members of the United Workers Union launched a campaign against underpayment, wage cuts, and poor work conditions at over 150 Fitness First and Goodlife Health Clubs.