Help Rotary Change The World
What is a Rotary Club?
Rotary Offers a world of opportunities to people from all walks of life. Scholarships, Support, Community Involvement…
Our Mission
Rotary’s global mission is to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty.
If that resonates with you, contact your local club and say ‘hello’. If you need support, maybe your local club can help?
Opportunity
Your local Rotary club opens up a world of opportunity to people from all walks of life. There is no better way to feel like you belong to a community than when you volunteer with your local Rotary Club.
Scholarships, leadership training, financial support, career development… the list goes on.
Becoming a member of a Rotary Club is a life-changing experience that enables ordinary people to achieve extraordinary things.
Rotary is a global network of people who share a bond through the desire to provide life-changing opportunities to the youth of the world and actively help those less fortunate.
We refer to members of a Rotary Club as Rotarians.
There are 1.2 million Rotarians in nearly 33,000 Clubs around the globe, each dedicated to making the world a better place through the promotion of peace, cultural understanding and service to the community.
Rotary’s Seven Areas of Focus
Where is my Closest Rotary Club?
Today there are over 1,400 Rotary clubs across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands plus thousands more around the world.
Your local Rotary Club is a collection of like-minded individuals who share a common goal of helping in your community.
If you’d like to find out more about Rotary, contact your nearest club and go have a chat with its members.
Find your nearest Rotary Club using the Global Clubfinder
Rotary in Australia and New Zealand
The first Rotary Club was chartered in Chicago USA in 1905. Australia and New Zealand got their first Rotary Clubs in 1921 with the charter of the Rotary Clubs of Melbourne, Auckland, Sydney and Wellington.
Every club in Australia and New Zealand can trace their lineage back to one of these four clubs.
Youth & Vocational Support
Rotary Clubs offer many opportunities for students. From scholarships and youth enrichment programs to overseas experiences and much more.
Right; Emma-Lee graduated as a nurse thanks to the support of a multi-year student scholarship from the Rotary Club of Hall.
My Rotary Story
Since joining Rotary, my wife and I found our place in the community. We have gained immeasurable rewards from the sense of place we feel and value that we can offer to those in need.
We have formed lifelong friendships, not only with like-minded people in our local area but also with families in Brazil, Switzerland, Finland, Norway and Japan among others.
Most of our close, international family ties grew from our involvement as host parents for Rotary Youth Exchange Students.
This program offers a life-changing experience for students and also a fabulous eye-opening experience for the friends they make in their year abroad.
The answer to the question, ‘What is a Rotary Club?’ is probably best answered by looking at how Rotary Clubs work
Each club is a little different because the personality of a club reflects the interests of its members. But all clubs share the same principles and are governed by the same code of conduct and management practices.
Club members help with a wide range of community activities such as working-bees to help with a community project. Clubs do various voluntary activities to raise funds that enable financial support for local, regional and international aid projects.
By way of example, Canberra has 17 Rotary Clubs spread across the city. Most clubs meet weekly. Some are known as ‘breakfast clubs’, meaning they meet in the early morning. Some are ‘lunch clubs’, and… you guessed it, they meet at lunchtime! Some are E-Clubs and they meet online. The rest are ‘evening clubs’. My own club, The Rotary Club of Hall, is an evening club.
Rotarians get involved in many community projects, either to provide volunteer manpower or to earn funds that can be used to provide financial aid locally, nationally or internationally.
Above: Members of Rotary Club of Hall, are on car parking duty early one morning at the Capital Region Farmers Market. This is my club’s major fundraising project.
There are 30,000 Rotarians in over 1,100 Clubs in Australia. Each Club is presided over by a Club President, supported by office bearers that manage portfolios of the club’s activities. We rotate the position of President every July, providing ample opportunity for members to step up and gain leadership experience.
Clubs operate independently but often come together to work on joint projects and events – such as the Aussie Peace Walk and Rotary’s Give Every Child a Future.
Every Club is part of a ‘District’. Districts are geographically defined areas that can cross state or international borders. The District Canberra clubs belong to is known as ‘District 9705’. Geographically, our district is roughly the size of England. We refer the head of each Rotary District as the ‘District Governor’. In our Rotary District (D9705) we have 83 clubs with an average membership of 27 people per club.
Every District is part of a Global Zone. Our District is in a Zone labled Zone 8 that includes all Districts in Australia, New Zealand, American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Timor Leste, Tonga, Vanuatu.
The opening ceremony for the Rotary Aussie Peace Walk will take place at the Canberra Peace Bell, a project of the Rotary Club of Canberra Burley Griffin.
The Rotary Club of Hall founded The Capital Region Farmers’ Market in 2004 as a fundraising exercise to support agri-business in the region and provide fresh, seasonal produce to the public.
The club continues to operate the market every Saturday morning, assisted by the Rotary Club of Jerrabomberra.
The Rotary Club of Hall is Canberra’s only rural club. Many of our members have worked on the land or have an affinity for it.
Club members undertake farm compliance visits to ensure that all stallholders at the club’s market are genuine. What they sell must be produced by them and meet the club’s ‘two-day freshness’ promise.
Above: A club member on a compliance visit for a spot-check on one of our free-range egg suppliers.
Rotary clubs and their members get involved in many adventurous projects that can take them to all corners of the world.
Above, The Rotary Club of Regency Park (D9500) had a visit to a project they’ve been supporting for several years. The club has provided a Nepalese Hospital with a range of medical equipment.
If you are interested in walking, Rotary can introduce you to many opportunities. Here a group train to trek the Larapinta Trail to raise money for Shelterbox.
This trail is one of Australia’s premier walking tracks, stretching 223 kilometres following the West MacDonnell Ranges.
Why Join Rotary?
Joining or aligning your organisation with your local Rotary Club can help you build new friendships and business networks. You will have the opportunity to collaborate with teams to improve the lives of others both within your community, and around the world.
And, you’ll make a world of friendships and have a lot of fun along the way.
Rotary clubs are for everyone. We also partner with Rotaract Clubs for 18 to 30-year-olds and we have Interact Clubs for 12-18-year-olds and EarlyAct Clubs for primary school children.
Welcome
The first step is to visit a few Rotary Clubs and see for yourself. Every club is a little different.
Start by getting in touch with your nearest Rotary Club.
Rotary Supporting the Environment
“More than USD$18 million in Rotary Foundation global grant funding was allocated to environment-related projects between 2015 and 2020.”
Supporting the environment is one of Rotary’s seven areas of focus. These are categories of service activities supported by global grants.
The other areas of focus are peacebuilding and conflict prevention; disease prevention and treatment; water, sanitation, and hygiene; maternal and child health; basic education and literacy; and community economic development.
If you are interested in volunteering to help the world in any of our areas of focus, then Rotary is for you.
by Chris Edwards
Rotary Club of Hall
Chris joined the Rotary Club of Hall in 2010. He has held a variety of Board positions with the club including President in 2021-2022.
He is a family man who enjoys traveling and ‘the great outdoors'. He regularly starts his day with a walk or a jog. (He is also the youngest of the Sydney City2Surf Legends.)
Chris has been an Ambassador for Australian Rotary Health since 2016 and is the Event Director of the Rotary Aussie Peace Walk.