In Rotary, our diversity is our strength. This idea dates back to the earliest years of our organisation, when the classification system was first proposed. The idea behind it was simple: that a club with members who had a wide variety of backgrounds and abilities would be capable of better service than one without.
In the years since, the idea of diversity in Rotary has come to be defined more broadly. We have discovered that a club that truly represents its community is far better able to serve that community effectively. Looking ahead, it is clear how essential diversity will remain in Rotary: not only to strong service today, but to a strong organisation in the future.
One of the most pressing aspects of diversity to address in our membership is the age of our members. When you look around at almost any Rotary event, it becomes immediately obvious that the age range in the room does not promise a sustainable future for our organisation. Our membership is near a record high, and we are bringing in new members all the time – yet only a small minority of those members are young enough to have decades of Rotary service ahead of them. To ensure a strong and capable Rotary leadership tomorrow, we need to bring in young and capable members today.
We also cannot discuss diversity in Rotary without addressing the issue of gender. It is difficult to imagine that just three decades ago, women could not join Rotary. Although we have come a long way since then, the legacy of that misguided policy is still with us. Far too many people continue to think of Rotary as an organization only for men, and that idea has had a detrimental effect on both our public image and our membership growth. Today, women make up just over 21 percent of Rotary's membership. While this is certainly a great improvement, we have a long way to go to meet what should be the goal of every club: a gender balance that matches the balance of our world, with as many women in Rotary as men.
Whatever brought each of us to Rotary, we stay because we find value in Rotary membership and believe that our service has value to the world. By building clubs that reflect that world in all its diversity, we will build even more enduring value in Rotary: Making a Difference.
Footnote
The average age of our members is 66 - of which 23% are under 60, and 33% are female. 38% of our members have been members in this club for more than 10 years - the average being eight years. Our members have been Rotarians for an average of 13 years - 56% for more than 10 years.
This year’s annual report shows how, as people of action, Rotary members exchange ideas, forge lifelong relationships, and invest in service projects that make a lasting impact in communities all over the world.
The 2016-17 annual report is available online through a new interactive edition that allows readers to learn more about Rotary and our members.
Rotary is the Founding Partner of the NYSF, and every year Rotarians continue to support the Year 12 Program through promoting the opportunity in local communities, managing applications and selections of students, and assisting with funding or fund-raising for student fees to attend the Year 12 Program. Rotarians also volunteer during the Year 12 Program in January. It is estimated that Rotarians contribute more than 20,000 volunteer hours to the NYSF every year.
This year NYSF are holding a session in Brisbane and next Thursday, 18 January 2018, are holding a gala dinner at City Hall.
Please note the invitation to all Rotary Clubs to attend and I invite you to join us.
The introductory statement and three of the four tenets of the Object of Rotary relate to Vocational Service, underlining its importance to the philosophy and culture of Rotary.
Those objectives are:
To encourage and foster high ethical standards in business and professions, to recognise the worthiness of all useful occupations, to dignify the Rotarian's occupation as an opportunity to serve society.
To apply the ideal of service in personal, business and community life.
To advance international understanding and goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of businessmen and professional men and women united in the ideal of service.
Paul Harris wrote: "Each Rotarian is a connecting link between the idealism of Rotary and their trade or profession".
Vocational Service is the way Rotary fosters and supports the application of the Ideal of Service to the pursuit of all vocations.
It is the shared responsibility of both the Rotary Club and its members.
The role of the Club is to implement and encourage the objectives by its own actions in dealing with the community and by the development of projects that enable members to use their vocational talents in the service of the community. The role of members is to conduct themselves and their businesses in accordance with Rotary principles, and support the Vocational Service projects that the club has developed.
During January, Rotarians are encouraged to focus on this important avenue of Rotary service. Discussions on vocational service can lead to projects that not only develop the ethical consciousness and vocational skills of Rotarians but also the talents within their communities. Vocational Service Month is an opportunity to begin year-long vocational service activities, ranging from Rotary discussions to awards to community projects.
Our meeting which normally would have been on Tuesday 23 January has been given wheels enabling all of us to be mobile!
The suggestion is that - rather than turn up at Oaks (where there will be nobody!) - groups of three to four of our members visit other Rotary clubs in our vicinity, take notes (things we would benefit from or should avoid) and report back to our meeting on 30 January. Helen is coordinating the groups.
Your choice of Rotary club is:
Alexandra Headland : Friday 7am - Headland Golf Club
Buderim : Friday 12.30pm - Buderim Tavern
Caloundra Pacific : Thursday 6.30 - Caloundra Golf Club
Kawana Waters : Monday 6.30pm - Kawana Waters Surf Club
Sunshine Coast Central : Wednesday 6.15pm - Maroochy River Golf Club
Maroochydore : Thursday 6.30pm - Maroochydore Bowls Club
The current thinking is that Queensland is to be redistricted to two (2) only districts. This is being achieved as follows.
District 9570 and 9550 will be merged and extend from just North of Gympie up to Far North Qld and across to the border with the Northern Territory, it may also include Part of the NT from Tennant Creek to Darwin.
District 9600, 9630 and 9640 are to be merged to form one district from Gympie to just north of Glenn Innes in NSW and West to the NT and SA border’s. This new District will also include our current clubs in PNG, the Solomon’s and Nauru. In total this new district would have approximately 165 clubs.
FYI RI has put together a committee overseeing the total redistricting in Australia and smaller committees have been put in place to look at specific regional issues, e.g. the tyranny of distance in Qld and how the clubs would be serviced and much work is being done on this as I write.
Also attached is the current proposal document to merge district 9600 with 9630 and 9640 for your attention and action. This document is being sent to every club in the 3 districts this week.
If I can make one comment in that whilst this may seem a big change, it will be for our districts. The clubs will still operate as they have done, the annual district events will continue, as will the training etc and yes you will still get a district bill, one big change will be that with 165 clubs in the district, then I doubt the district governor will be able to visit each and every club annually.
In closing I hope that the next 6 months are as fruitful as the last and we look forward to receiving your responses to district secretary Ian Hope at districtsecretary@rotary9600.org as soon as possible.
A Rotarian Action Group is an autonomous group of Rotarians, family members, program participants and alumni who are experts in a particular field, such as microcredit or water and sanitation. Group members share their expertise by collaborating with clubs and districts on service projects.
For example:
The Rotarian Action Group for Population & Development partnered with Rotary clubs in Germany, Austria, and Nigeria to reduce maternal death by 60 percent at 25 hospitals in northern Nigeria with a program to prevent and treat obstetric fistula, a serious birth injury.
Rotarians for Family Health & AIDS Prevention Rotarian Action Group organizes an annual event that provides comprehensive health services to nearly 500,000 people in hundreds of locations in Africa and parts of India. These services include screening for HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria, diabetes, blood pressure cancers, and more.
This year’s 
Rotary is the Founding Partner of the NYSF, and every year Rotarians continue to support the Year 12 Program through promoting the opportunity in local communities, managing applications and selections of students, and assisting with funding or fund-raising for student fees to attend the Year 12 Program. Rotarians also volunteer during the Year 12 Program in January. It is estimated that Rotarians contribute more than 20,000 volunteer hours to the NYSF every year.
Our meeting which normally would have been on Tuesday 23 January has been given wheels enabling all of us to be mobile!
