Internationally, we develop and implement large, impactful projects primarily, but not exclusively, on the needs of communities in South East Asia and the South Pacific Islands. We also provide emergency aid in natural disasters.
Our projects are aligned with one or more of the Seven Areas of Rotary Focus:
Rotary Melbourne strives to partner with local Rotary Clubs to ensure our projects are relevant, sustainable and impactful.
In rural, mountainous Isabela, Philippines, Dangan Elementary School faces limited access to water, sanitation, and educational resources. Students fetch water daily, and literacy is hampered by a lack of supplies. Rotary Melbourne together with a Melbourne Primary school is transforming lives by providing clean water, a new library, 380+ books, teaching aids, and sustainable gardens. This project fosters health, education, and resilience, creating a legacy of hope and opportunity for the future.
Papua New Guinea has the highest per capita death rate from snakebite globally, 60% of cases involving children. Rotary Melbourne and the PNG Snakebite Partnership helps reduce snakebite fatalities through provision of ventillators, solar powered refrigeration for anti-venom, and training of healthcare workers.
The Rotary Give Every Child A Future Centenary Project is a joint project between the Rotary Clubs of Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland and Wellington - the first four Rotary Clubs chartered in Australasia in 1921.
In conjunction with UNICEF, the project's goal is to immunise 100,000 children and adolescent girls in 9 Pacific Island Countries. The countries are Cook Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
We packed 12,000 packs in 1.5 hours. At 6 meals per pack that means 72,000 meals are now ready for delivery for emergency or disaster relief to countries including Philippines, Ukraine and Sri Lanka.
Launched in October 2024, our San Mateo Clean Water for Life project - partnering with the Rotary Club of Greater Marikina Valley (Philippines) and Rotary Australia World Community Service - delivers safe drinking water and a WASH hygiene station at Jose F. Diaz Memorial National High School.
In 2017, Rotary Melbourne signed an MOU with the Minister for Education in Timor Leste for the publication and shipment of a series of books written by Kirsty Sword Gusmao, Timor’s first lady to enhance the opportunities for school children in Timor to have access to publications in Tetun and Portuguese for reading. Several books were written, published, and sent to Timor via Donations In Kind (DIK).
Our life-changing scholarship program with Empowering Youth Cambodia (EYC) enables over 50 children annually from run-down shanty houses, in the urban poor slums of Phnom Penh to attend high school. These schools provide education, leadership, development and job opportunities for vulnerable boys and girls.
A gamechanging new WASH project at Agkawayan Elementary School in the Philippines, brings vital toilets and wash stations to boost hygiene and health. With strong community support, this initiative of Rotary Melbourne and the Rotary Club of Lubang Island transforms lives and protects children from disease in Agkawayan.
ROMAC provides surgical treatment for children from our neighbouring Oceanic countries in Australia and NZ, in the form of Life Giving and/or dignity restoring surgery not accessible to them in their home country.
Rotary Melbourne in conjunction with corporate member RedR Australia and with support from Australia Assists, Rotary, USAID and The Baker Foundation, helped deliver disaster management and humanitarian traiing t the Government of Tonga, NGOs and disaster response agencies.
At the end of the 1980s, more than 350,000 children were paralyzed by polio every year. Today, Rotary and its partners have reduced the incidence of polio by 99.9%. We are this close to eradicating it worldwide.
Rotary Donations in Kind Store (DIK) Footscray. This Rotary created warehouse is a hub for collecting goods donated in bulk such as hospital beds and equipment, and school desks for charitable purposes. Rotary volunteers support DiK store by helping to sort and load containers for shipment to local and off-shore projects.
For more information on how to become involved, contact the club office.
The Rotary Clubs of Melbourne, Australia and Osaka, Japan have been sister clubs since 1978. Together we continue to work on a variety of projects to make a difference in the world, as well as friendship and young leader exchanges.
Amid widespread devastation and a dire water crisis in Magsikap Quezon, Rotary Melbourne and Greater Marikina Valley launched a transformative project. We installed a water distribution system for over 2,000 households and key community sites, while also introducing sustainable crop programs, offering immediate relief and long-term hope for the village's future.
The “Sewing Machines for East Timor” project encompasses collecting sewing machines and overlockers to be refurbished and shipped to the Canossian Sisters in Timor-Leste, to the coffee highlands of Ermera and the main capital city of Dili.
Rotary Melbourne and Ortigas Center Rotary provided two Skyhydrant water filtration units to the rural villages of Baroro and Pandan in northern Philippines.
Since 2011, Professor Jeremy Oats AM led 17 volunteer VTT visits to remote regions of Timor Leste, typically of 6-10 days duration, to deliver up-skill training to 360 midwives/nurses and 162 doctors.
Rotary awards up to 100 fully funded fellowships for leaders to undertake university study in peace and conflict resolution.
A fire broke out at the Empowering Youth in Cambodia Youth School - and Rotary Melbourne stepped in to help.
East Timor Roofing was established as a Rotary project in mid 2000 by Rotary Clubs of Doncaster 45%, Melbourne 45% and joined subsequently by Rotary Club of Lilydale 10%to provide training and opportunities for the people of Timor Leste to help them help themselves to greater sustainability as a nation and as a people. From a start of “zero base” the operation is now a fully established incorporated limited liability Company in Timor Leste.
Typhoon Mangkhut, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Ompong, was a strong typhoon which struck the Northern Philippines islands on 14 September 2018 with disastrous flooding. Thanks to Bob Glindemann, Ruth Carlos Martinez and Members, a call to action was undertaken successfully.
Rotary Melbourne in conjunction with Stewart Craine's Village Infrastructure organisation, helped provide solar power to remote villages on Tanna in Vanuatu to provide lighting, to mill crops and to recharge mobile phones.
