Originally formed as the Australian Socialist League in 1887, it had members such as George Black, New South Wales Premier William Holman and Prime Minister Billy Hughes.

The Australian Socialist League, a multi-tendency organisation similar to the British Socialist League, was founded on 4 May 1887, and publicly launched several months later on 26 August at 533 George Street, Sydney, New South Wales Colony.

[6] During the 1891 New South Wales election, in some regions nearly half of all the Labor candidates were League members.

[6] The League's list of parliamentarians included Billy Hughes, William Holman, George Black, and Arthur Hill Griffith.

[11] The Socialist Labor Party is credited with introducing the Industrial Workers of the World to Australia and establishing its first branch in 1908.

[19] The party was re-established at a significantly smaller size in 1961,[20][21] and maintained writing its newspaper The People until the 1970s.