Welcome
What Is Rotaract?
No More Boring Weekends! 
ROTARACT offers men and women between the ages of 18 and 30 a unique opportunity to get together in an atmosphere of fun and friendship without any social, political, religious or vocational constraints. Being a Rotaractor means you can apply your skills and ideas to community services while having an awesome time.
Rotaract is about young adults working together as a team while providing an opportunity to meet people and enjoy an active social life of: parties, restaurant nights, dances, BBQs, car trials, sports days, wine and cheese tasting, weekends away, etc. We are not a church group, nor are we a political party or profit making organisation.
We're out to enjoy ourselves and make the most of youth, and hopefully, do some good in the community as well.
Rotaract has an enviable record of active community service, ranging from such activities as the exciting "Project Santa" (Santa's for hire) to simple car washes. Swim-a-thons and other social activities raise money for local, national and international charities.
Rotaract also supports other fund raising groups and community functions. Rotaract doesn't just talk about Service, it acts upon it.
Rotaract also offers self-improvement opportunities in an environment of fun and friendship, as each Rotaract Club provides every member with the opportunity to be involved in many areas of self-development and leadership. Rotaract Club activities include: seminars, conferences, club meetings, public speaking and also teaching the ability to organise. Rotaract Clubs arrange guest speakers, undertake tours to places of interest and organise international exchanges.
Rotaract is Australia wide, has clubs throughout the world and is associated with Rotary International.
The Goals of Rotaract:
- To develop professional and leadership skills
- To emphasize respect for the rights of others, based on recognition of the worth of each individual
- To recognize the dignity and value of all useful occupations as opportunities to serve
- To recognize, practice and promote ethical standards as leadership qualities and vocational responsibilities
- To develop knowledge and understanding of the needs, problems and opportunities in the community and worldwide
- To provide opportunities for personal and group activities to serve the community and promote international understanding and goodwill to all people
A Brief History of Rotaract
Since 1968, Rotaract has made it possible for thousands of young adults to live out the Rotary ideal. Today, some 155,000 members are working together to build a better future in 146 countries. The latest statistics show 6,747 Rotaract clubs worldwide, sponsored by 6,876 Rotary clubs. Everywhere in the world, Rotaractors have remarkable humanitarian projects to their credit, and have been able to acquire knowledge they can use for their personal growth within a framework of friendship. In this way, they have been able to meet the social and material needs of their community while striving for improved relationships between peoples.
March 13, 2000 marked the 32nd anniversary of the first Rotaract Club to have received its Rotaract certificate of organisation - the club of Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. Many events, however, had taken place prior to the official creation of Rotaract.
Back in the 1950s, many clubs made up of young adults or students had been created and sponsored by Rotary clubs. They functioned in a non-official manner and under different names. As early as 1935, Rotary Founder Paul Harris discovered a youth organisation based on Rotarian principles during a trip to Australia.Take, for example, the "Paul Harris Circles" created in Europe and in particularly significant numbers in Belgium and Italy, or the "Rotors" clubs created in some American universities. What these organisations had in common is that they were made up of young people, mostly children of Rotarians and their friends. Their functioning and objectives were similar to those that are the main features of Rotaract clubs today.
As from 1965, these organisations experienced significant growth linked to the creation of the Interact Program by Rotary International, three years earlier. In fact, many Interactors, having reached the age limit, decided to create a new type of club: "Senior Interact clubs". It took very little time for the leaders of Rotary International, particularly then President Luther H. Hodges, to realise the importance of these clubs and of their action. Then, in 1968, the RI Board of Directors decided to adopt the program officially and to make it one of the most important programmes among the different services that Rotary International offers young adults.
The new programme was baptised Rotaract, which comes from the contraction of the words Rotary and Action. The first charter was awarded on March 13, 1968 to the club of Charlotte. Although officially Rotary International announces that this club was the first Rotaract club, and therefore that Rotaract was born in the USA, we should bear in mind that a significant number of clubs for young adults affiliated to Rotary changed names and thereby joined the new organisation immediately after the creation of the club in Charlotte. These clubs were the foundation that allowed Rotaract to spread immediately throughout the world, and to have higher membership today on other continents than in North America.
After its official creation, the Rotaract organisation was for many years considered by Rotary International as nothing more than Rotary clubs´ community programme. The 1990s marked a turning point in Rotaract history with the creation of Multidistrict Organisations in Europe, Australia and South America. These groups, of which ERIC, the European Rotaract Information Centre, is today the largest, have made it possible for Rotaract to become the " Partners in Service " of Rotary Clubs, as described by Past RI President Rajendra Saboo. This change in the way Rotaract is considered by Rotary was enhanced in 1996/97 by RI president Luis Vicente Giay, who made the development of Rotaract one of his top priorities. Thanks to Rotaract, Rotary is now represented in age groups which will be the driving force of communities in less than twenty years, thereby Building the Future with Action and Vision.
In 1959, André Geubel, founder president of the Paul Harris Circle of Péruwelz in Belgium, described his club as "A huge ship sailing toward peace and understanding, flying the flag of friendship, with a rudder of " Service " and a crew made up of all young people of goodwill". Today, this description still applies to Rotaract, which, like Rotary International, allows young adults to Act with Consistency, Credibility and Continuity.
Text by Magali Füss and Cyril Noirtin
Our District
Welcome to District 9790 of Rotary International. Our District encompasses an area from the northern suburbs of Melbourne to the border of New South Wales and Victoria. The area is a mixture of agricultural, industrial and leisure country including the immense River Murray the Victorian Alps and many lakes. Our area includes significant National and International manufacturing companies, extensive agricultural regions and sporting and tourist attractions.