One year of the ACF

From Anarchist Communist Forum

On the 18th of January 2025, an ‘Anarchist Communist Forum’ was held at Kathleen Syme library in inner city Melbourne. Anarchists hosted workshops on various topics; industrial struggle, imperialism, sexism and political organisation. Drawing well over a hundred people through the doors, the forum demonstrated a rebirth of anarchism in Australia. 

At a private conference the following day, roughly 40 members of three anarchist groups based in Melbourne, Brisbane and Geelong voted to found the Anarchist Communist Federation (ACF). While the organisation first declared itself to the public on May Day 2025, the work of establishing committees, adopting shared documents and procedures and integrating organisational work began that weekend.

The ACF is the first anarchist organisation founded in Australia based on such a high degree of shared politics, vision, and purpose. We believed that deliberate unity and purpose in our approach to organising could only make anarchism stronger. With the ACF’s inaugural ‘Anarchism’ conference approaching in March, let’s see what the federation has achieved in its first year.

Industrial struggle

Though the ACF has its critiques of syndicalism, the federation places a high degree of importance on industrial organisation. Unions are the baseline of working class power, and have the potential to be utilised as practical schools of socialism. As such, the ACF pursues a ‘rank and file’ strategy, intervening where possible to fight for more democratic structures and to mobilise at the grassroots of the union. 

Branches have been developing public events where we can collectively develop our knowledge and skills. In Brisbane and Melbourne these have taken the shape of ‘how to organise your workplace’ workshops, where dozens of people have learnt practical skills about mapping, growing collective organisation and taking the fight to the bosses. In Geelong, ‘workplace organising workshops’ have achieved a similar goal. These have involved collectively analysing case studies of workplace struggles and periodically discussing participants’ workplaces to develop and review plans of action.

Members of the ACF don’t just talk about the theory of organising, they practice it. Though the work of our members may not always be immediately visible, this is because we take the long term development of workers power seriously. Shop floor organising is a priority and members have been instrumental in a number of industrial and EBA campaigns this year. 

Our members have been active as elected union delegates and health and safety representatives in numerous industries. These include construction, disability care, hospitals, schools, universities, libraries, renewable energy, the sciences, the public service, private sector, finance, call centers and retail. Of course, workplace organising isn’t just done by people in elected positions and other members have also led organising in landscaping, hospitality and factories. 

To back up our interventions in these industries, the ACF has initiated broader grassroots union efforts. The most prominent of these is ‘Hardhat’, a very successful rank and file bulletin for construction workers. Hardhat has gained quite a following, seen all across construction sites in Queensland. Members from a variety of unions and political backgrounds contribute, helping to rebuild a democratic and active culture that seriously questions the status quo and challenges the problems of bureaucratic leadership. Now Hardhat is expanding into other states, helping develop the potential for a rank and file revival in an industry where unions are beleaguered by state and employer led repression.

photograph of 14 participates of a workplace organising workshop in melbourne
A workplace organising workshop in Melbourne.

Palestine and anti-imperialist solidarity

Needless to say, Palestine solidarity was a big focus for the ACF. 

Each branch’s approach to campaign involvement reflected local conditions. In Melbourne, Brisbane and Warrnambool comrades regularly attended demonstrations and attempted to develop solidarity with campaigns through their unions. Despite the decline of the national Unionists for Palestine campaign, members in certain sectors, such as nursing, managed a degree of success. 

In Geelong, activists were deeply involved in local organising, speaking at and calling rallies and snap actions. A protest on a national day of action, initiated alongside other socialist groups and the local mosque, was the largest rally held in the city for many years. This was linked with developing campaigns against local weapons manufacturing, with Geelong rapidly becoming a hub for military investment.

Anti-imperialist politics aren’t just limited to solidarity with Palestine. ACF members participated in solidarity actions with comrades in Indonesia, speaking out in defence of the anarchists and protestors facing state repression. Similarly, members mobilised in solidarity with Sudan and against US intervention in Venezuela.

photograph of a rally, there are acf members in it and a banner that reads "FREE PALESTINE / END THE OCCUPATION"
ACF members making noise at a Palestine rally in Brisbane.

Anti-fascism

The last year saw a public resurgence of the far-right, including open neo-Nazis, fascists, populists and conspiracy theorists. The “March for Australia” (M4A) produced the biggest street mobilisations of the far-right in more than a decade, with numbers even larger than Reclaim Australia. The successful far-right rally was immediately followed by fascist attacks on the indigenous Camp Sovereignty in Melbourne, and violence targeting people of colour in Brisbane.

But this rebirth of the far right was not without resistance. In Brisbane, ACF members helped rebuild Campaign Against Racism and Fascism and organised counter-demonstrations to M4A. In Melbourne, members were an integral part of trying to rebuild an anti-fascist movement and mobilising mass counter-rallies. Together with members from the Geelong branch and our comrades in Arc Up, a significant anarchist block was mobilised for anti-fascist work. Across every city, our members have played an active role in rebuilding a mass anti-fascist resistance rooted in working class politics. 

photograph of red flags over a crowd
Anarchist block at an anti-fascist rally in Melbourne.

Picket Line

A highlight amongst the achievements of the ACF this year has been the release of our publication, Picket Line. The four issues we have released have featured articles on internationalism, working class organisation, radical history, communism and anti-fascism. Articles addressing relevant political issues of today include the genocide in Palestine, the Australian war industry, the housing crisis, and more. 

Thanks to the efforts of our editorial collective, Picket Line has managed to maintain an accessible approach to writing and a paper that also looks exceptional. The paper has become a regular feature at protests, ensuring that anarchist politics has a voice.

Most importantly, the paper has served as a means for the ACF to engage working class people with anarchist ideas. Picket Line serves a purpose, allowing us to strike up conversations with workers about issues that affect them, and helps members practice having political conversations.

photograph of a man reading Picket Line. The title is "Why is Australia still helping bomb Gaza?"
Picket Line in the park.

Anarchist Political School

One of the ACF’s early priorities was to adopt a shared framework for political education. The ‘Anarchist Political School’ (APS) was developed based on resources from the Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group. A curriculum of 12 modules introduces participants to a range of issues that underpin anarchist analysis, theory and practice. Anarchist organisation, the role of trade unions, colonialism and imperialism, and struggle around the environment, racism and sexism are some of the topics covered. Units on the Russian and Spanish revolutions round out the school.

APS classes have run all through the year in Brisbane and Geelong, and with four locations offered for classes in Melbourne alone we have brought hundreds of people through the door. On top of the locations of our existing branches, APS sessions began in Sydney and Warrnambool later into the year.

We also began running an online APS, with unintended consequences. We originally pitched the online classes as a way to bring in regional Australian contacts, and to help existing contacts catch up on sessions they missed. However, we’ve also had significant numbers of regular international participants, including as far away as Switzerland, Romania, and Kazakhstan. Solid numbers of participants from Aotearoa (New Zealand) are now working toward establishing anarchist communist groups in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) and Whanganui-a-tara (Wellington).

By making the APS materials available, groups in other cities, states, and countries are now able to run classes themselves, providing a powerful tool for the development of anarchist communist politics.

International Development

Internationalism is core to anarchist politics. This means not only standing in solidarity with international struggles, but developing active links with comrades overseas. As such we participate in the International Co-ordination of Organised Anarchism (ICOA) with groups from Brasil, Argentina, Uruguay, the USA, Switzerland, France, Germany, Spain, Turkey, and Korea. We also have close contact with anarchists in Indonesia and Sweden. 

Members of several of these organisations have translated parts of our Anarchist Political School and various articles from Picket Line. In turn, several of our members have translated works from Greek, Indonesian, French, and Italian, leading to international dialogue in the development of theory and practice.

Growing our membership

Throughout our first year the ACF has been involved in numerous other campaigns. You’ll find our members organising and participating in the struggle for Trans rights, for climate justice, in solidarity with Indigenous campaigns, and on the picket line supporting other workers. We’ve made a point to try and rebuild May Day as a symbol of working class culture and politics, forming a particularly great bloc at last year’s rally in Melbourne. Everything we have done so far has laid the basis for expansion, as we prepare to welcome a branch in Sydney.

Our organisation attempts to ensure members feel they are continually developing, in terms of their knowledge, skills, confidence, and relationships with each other. Members regularly participate in internal education, and we do our best to rotate tasks and responsibilities. While some anarchists spurn formal organisation, roles, and responsibilities (lest they lead to ‘hierarchy’), we recognise that the best way to avoid ‘problems of leadership’ is to develop everyone’s capabilities.

ACF membership requires completing the APS curriculum, committing to internal and external political work and a baseline understanding of our politics. This is limiting in the sense that we are not a paper-membership organisation, and membership requires commitment. Even with these expectations, our attitude to development and recruitment has seen consistent growth across all the branches.

a photograph of acf banners at may day, the first reads "Anarchist Communist Federation / Geelong and South West Victoria Branch / for workers power"

The second reads "Rebuild a fighting union movement"
ACF banners at the May Day march in Melbourne.

Political lessons

Of course, not everything has been smooth sailing. Building an anarchist communist organisation is something new on the continent, and it would be untrue to suggest there was much literature available in English to guide us. Therefore, almost everything the ACF has been doing is new. Principles are one thing, practice is another. Finding the balance between federal autonomy and central co-ordination is an ongoing process.

Sometimes we have been slow to respond to political issues, as we work to develop processes that facilitate discussion amongst all members – being democratic is a lot of work. Given that the ACF was formed by three already existing anarchist organisations, integration has taken time. Branches had different habits, practices, and a multitude of documents. Forming a unified federation has meant members aren’t repeating work others have already done, but it also means consultation and dialogue. The process of developing theoretical and strategic unity is an ongoing one.

We believe our ideas are being validated in practice. Our experience with federalism has proven that we can coordinate complex organisations from below. By not chasing electoral cycles, we have found that we have more time, energy, and resources for industrial and campaign work. As other socialist groups debate their parliamentary interventions, space for the revolutionary politics of the ACF is growing. 

Our branches are expanding and we have been influential in a number of social and industrial campaigns. Despite still being a small organisation, the ACF is punching above its weight.

What next?

2026 has already seen significant political developments locally and internationally. Following the Bondi attack, the Labor government has capitulated to the right wing media and the push for a royal commission. This is an unprecedented attack on civil liberties and an attempt to silence the Palestinian solidarity movement by linking it to Salafist terrorism. As climate change continues unabated, parts of the country have gone from record high temperatures to flash flooding within a week.

Imperialist conflict heightens, with the USA kidnapping the Venezuelan president and Trump suggesting he will take Greenland by force. In Iran, the regime massacres workers in the streets, to cheers from the faux anti-imperialists. Meanwhile, a new civil war threatens Syria, as conflict between the new government and Kurdish forces erupts.

As we seek to build on the achievements of the ACF over the last year, there is still a lot of work to do. We feel vindicated that our choice to form a federation was correct, and that our organisation is facilitating the rebirth of a working class, anarchist politics. 

In this light, the ACF will host ‘Anarchism 2026’ on March 7th at Balam Balam Place in Brunswick, Melbourne. There will be four streams of workshops; introductory anarchist politics, working class history, current struggles, and lessons from organising. 

If you want to be a part of rebuilding anarchist politics in Australia, then reach out. We’ll see you in the streets, and on the picket line.

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