Rotary Melbourne members honoured the 106th Anniversary of the Battle of Amiens at the 0808@0800 service, joining dignitaries to lay wreaths at the Shrine of Remembrance in tribute to Sir John Monash and the Australians who served.
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Rotary members are an imaginative bunch when it comes to making a difference on World Polio Day, observed last week on 24 October. A Missouri member rides his rickshaw bicycle in parades and at different clubs’ meetings, talking with passengers about polio eradication and Rotary. Italian members collaborate with city leaders to illuminate the Leaning Tower of Pisa with red floodlights.
Rotary's World Polio Day is on October 24th, a day dedicated to raising awareness and funds for polio eradication efforts. Rotary and its partners, including health organizations, host events to highlight the progress made in fighting the disease and the urgent need for continued global commitment to eradicate it completely
Congratulations to Andrew Mahar AM, recipient of the Rotary Melbourne Vocational Service Award 2025–26. A visionary social entrepreneur, Andrew has dedicated over three decades to advancing digital inclusion, environmental sustainability, and community empowerment across Australia and Timor-Leste. His leadership in founding more than 15 social enterprises and his lifelong commitment to social justice and innovation truly embody Rotary’s ideal of Service Above Self.
See all our Rotary Melbourne volunteers in action at the 2025 Melbourne Marathon in this photo gallery. Many thanks to photographer Michael Waller for the images.
Our club's International Service Committee met following last week's lunch, continuing to build on our existing and upcoming projects impacting peace, education, health, water & sanitation, and the environment, focusing especially on our South East Asian and Pacific neighbours.
President Philip was in Osaka, Japan last week visiting our Sister Club, the Rotary Club of Osaka. He attended a club meeting and also met with Osaka President, Yoshihiko Sano to extend our sister club relationship.
On 1 October 2025, the world lost Dr. Jane Goodall, pioneering primatologist, conservationist, and advocate for peace. Rotary remembers her not only for her groundbreaking work with chimpanzees but also for her keynote at the 2009 Rotary International Convention, where she urged members to make a positive daily impact. Click on Read More below for her Q&A, first published in The Rotarian, that captures her wisdom, humor, and enduring call to action.
Rotary Melbourne is backing RIMERN’s Spring Cleaning with RIMERN campaign to raise $5,000 by 30 Nov 2025.
RIMERN provides essential furniture and household goods to families starting over after crisis. Some items - like basic cleaning kits - must be purchased new to meet our quality standards.
A $50 gift sponsors a complete kit, but every dollar helps us deliver 10+ kits each week. Click read more below to change lives, one household at a time.
A patch of cement was a launchpad for a Rotarian who brought women’s soccer to Palestine. Honey Thaljieh and a handful of young women played on the makeshift pitch more than two decades ago in college in the West Bank. The effort led eventually to a national women’s team that she captained for years. Thaljieh ascended to a job at FIFA, the international soccer governing body, spreading the message that the sport is for everyone. Click Read More below to read how this soccer pioneer found Rotary.
Rotary Melbourne has again achieved carbon neutrality, reducing annual emissions to 11.979 tonnes CO₂e and offsetting these with 12 certified Carbon Social credits from the WithOneSeed community forestry program in Timor-Leste - supporting both sustainability and stronger regional communities.
Rotary Melbourne proudly recognised Charlotte Arndt of Beaconhills College with the 2025 Student Community Service Award. Celebrated for her inspiring and sustainable Play It Forward Vic initiative, Charlotte has transformed a simple idea into a project bringing joy, opportunity, and connection to young athletes in Fiji and now Samoa.
Did you see the story about BioEYES on WIN News? This Rotary Melbourne-supported project is an innovative school science program using Zebrafish to teach students about biology and genetics. BioEYES is expanding to regional and remote schools. Click on read more to watch the video.
Olayinka Hakeem Babalola, a member of the Rotary Club of Trans Amadi, Nigeria, has been selected by the Board of Directors to become Rotary International’s president for 2026-27. His term will begin on 1 July 2026.
This month, Rotary shines a light on one of our core causes: supporting education and literacy around the world. More than 775 million people worldwide over the age of 15 still cannot read or write. Rotary believes that literacy is not just about reading books – it’s about unlocking opportunity, breaking cycles of poverty, and empowering individuals to build better futures.
September is Rotary International Education & Literacy Month, and our unstoppable Ruth Carlos-Martinez has just pulled off another inspiring mission. She personally collected 18 boxes of books from Brighton Library to be sent to Dangan, Philippines.
Our Community Welfare Committee created and implemented the 2025 Cynthia’s Gift Mentoring Awards through partner organisations. The Inaugural Cynthia’s Gift presentation 20th August 2025 was led by PP Kevin Sheehan,
President José Ramos-Horta, Nobel Peace Laureate and President of Timor-Leste, spoke last week at at the Australasian Emission Reduction Summit in Melbourne. His message on courage, youth leadership and reforestation featured Rotary Melbourne’s burgeoning new partnership with Foundation Rai Matak and the Rotary Foundation - upscaling the proven WithOneSeed model to now grow 10 million trees in 10 years - helping 20,000 farming families and their communities plant trees, grow livelihoods through the sale of carbon credits, and shape a hopeful future in Timor-Leste.
Rotary Down Under is offering two $10,000 scholarships for budding journalists in the name of RDU founder Paul Henningham and his successor Bob Aitken.
Dubai has been officially selected to host the Rotary International Convention in 2027. It will be a convention focused on excellence and innovation. What's more, our club's own Amanda Wendt has been appointed Vice Chair of the Convention Committee. Save the date in your diaries now: 5-9 June 2027.
Larry A. Lunsford, a member of the Rotary Club of Kansas City-Plaza, Missouri, USA, is the selection of the nominating committee to become Rotary International’s President for 2027-28. Larry visited our club in 2022 as a Trustee of the Rotary Foundation, and met up with us again during the Rotary International Convention in Melbourne in 2023.
Rotary Melbourne members and friends attended the 0808@0800 service at the Shrine on Friday 8 August 25. The service commemorated the 107th Anniversary of the Australian Victory at the Battle of Amiens, 8 August 1918 by the Australian Army Corps led by Sir John Monash, Lieutenant-General, Commander. Australian Corps. Click read more below to see photos and video.
Rotarians, we need your nominations. Let’s find an outstanding volunteer worthy of the Sir John Reid Community Service Award. We all hear about or come across wonderful volunteers who fly under the radar, who don’t receive due recognition, despite years of dedicated effort.
At a meeting rich with history and fellowship, Rotary Melbourne proudly awarded the 2025 Monash Medal to Dr Robert Webster OAM, honouring his exceptional leadership, integrity, and service. Surrounded by distinguished guests and past recipients, the occasion celebrated values exemplified by Sir John Monash and alive in today’s community leaders.
Rotary Melbourne's Make A House a Home project (MAHAH) delivered a further 10 sets (20 tea-chest boxes) of new homewares to Launch Housing’s front line offices in Dandenong and Southbank.
