It’s 1959,

and the space race has begun. The Luna 1 becomes the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon. Followed up later in the year with the Soviet probe Luna 2, which crashes onto the Moon, becoming the first man-made object to reach it.

Other significant events in 1959 includes the debut of the Barbie doll which is still going strong today, as well as the announcement of the first Grammy Awards. William Wyler's film Ben-Hur premieres at Loew's Theater in New York City in the same year.

Closer to home in Australia, the population stands at just over 10 million people and Robert Menzies marks 10 years in office in his second term as Prime Minister. At this time construction begins on the Sydney Opera House and Australia’s first passenger diesel ferry makes its maiden voyage across the Bass Strait.

Also in 1959, Qantas Airways launches its first jet service to San Francisco and becomes the first non-US airline to introduce Boeing 707s which halves travel times on trans-Pacific services.

At this time, Qantas Airways employees form their own credit union – QSCU is born. On 1 November 1959 operations commence with our first Member, Sylvia Edgar, depositing 300 pounds into the Credit Union.

The making of our 50th anniversary campaign

To help our 50th year anniversary come to life, we asked some of our Members to tell us how we have played an important role in their family’s lives, and what they love about being a Member of QSCU.

From all walks of life, our Members have some great stories to tell; and we even managed to track down our very first Member!

Keep an eye out for our 50th year campaign at your nearest QSCU branch and you can also view the behind the scenes footage which shows the making of the campaign by clicking on the links below.

We hope you enjoy watching the video and hearing our Members stories as much as we enjoyed creating it.

Enjoy!