Rotary is a worldwide organisation of business and professional leaders that provides humanitarian service, encourages high ethical standards in all vocations, and helps build goodwill and peace in the world. Approximately 1.2 million Rotarians belong to more than 32,000 clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas.
Rotarians worldwide are inspired by the Rotary theme of “Service Above Self” and are guided by reference to ‘The Four-Way Test’. In particular, ‘The Four-Way Test’ challenges Rotarians, in everything they do, to ask of themselves:
“Of the things we think say or do:
Rotarians are business and professional leaders who take an active role in their communities while greatly enriching their personal and professional lives. A Rotary club contains a diverse group of professional leaders from the community that the club serves.
Membership in a Rotary club offers a number of benefits, including:
Through Rotary's service programs, a Rotary club can have a significant effect on the quality of life in its community. Programs of The Rotary Foundation offer opportunities to form international partnerships that help people in need worldwide.
We are a young Club (chartered in June 1999) with adult membership including a broad spectrum of all ages, males and females. Our members represent a wide range of vocations and most work or live in or around the Southbank/City area. The Rotary Club of Southbank is recognised as being one of the ‘new breed’ of Rotary Clubs with a membership that reflects the communities in which it operates.
In the ten years since the Club was formed, we have worked on a number of projects, providing support in the areas of:
- The Big Issues Community Street Soccer program Visit Site
- The Melbourne Homeless World Cup 2008 Visit Site
- District 9800 Bushfire Recovery Fund projects Visit Site
- STEPS Outreach Services for homeless youth Visit Site
- ABC Local Radio Giving Tree – Christmas gift collections
- Hanover Welfare Services – crisis accommodation centre Visit Site
- SHARC - addiction rehabilitation for young people Visit Site
- Port Phillip Special School and Kindergarten
- Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) Visit Site
- Rotary Youth Program for Enrichment (RYPEN)
- Rotary Club of Southbank Bali Trust – established to support Balinese communities following the 2002 terrorist attack
- Support for the Xanana Vocational Education Trust and the Dili Institute in East Timor – providing vocational training to the East Timorese Visit Site
Please feel free to visit us a few times to see how we operate and to get to know us better. During this time, we will ensure that you are provided with information about Rotary International and the Rotary Club of Southbank – this will assist you in deciding ‘if Rotary is for you’. Membership of Rotary is by invitation and if, after a period of four to five visits if you wish to join the Club, your application for membership will be submitted to the members and Board of the Club.
Membership costs include:
Members are encouraged to attend meetings on a regular basis. Attendance and fellowship at the weekly meetings is an important part of the fabric of the Club and provides the ‘glue’ that keeps us active in the community and successful with our service projects. We do, however, recognise that members have commitments other than Rotary and therefore do not insist on attendance at every meeting. For periods of extended absence, it is possible to apply for a Leave of Absence (subject to membership fees etc being current). During such a period of absence, members are not expected to attend weekly meetings, but are certainly welcome to ‘pop in’ if time permits.
There are many ways to learn more: