The Australian Club is a private club founded in 1838 and located in Sydney at 165 Macquarie Street. Its membership is men-only and it is the oldest and most prestigious gentlemen's club in the southern hemisphere.
"The Club provides excellent dining facilities, en-suite bedrooms and apartments, a fully equipped gym, and on Level 7 of the building in which the Clubhouse is located, are first rate business facilities which Members and resident guests may access."
Reciprocities with other clubs
Presidents
- Hon Alexander Macleay MLC FLS FRS 1838âÂÂ1848
- Hon Campbell Drummond Riddell 1848âÂÂ1856
- Hon Sir Edward Deas-Thomson KCMG CB MLC 1857âÂÂ1879
- Hon Sir William Macarthur MLC 1879âÂÂ1882
- Christopher Rolleston CMG 1882âÂÂ1888
- Edward Merewether FRGS 1888âÂÂ1893
- Hon Philip Gidley King MLC 1894âÂÂ1900
- Hon Sir Francis Bathurst Suttor MLC 1900âÂÂ1908
- Hon Henry Edward Kater MLC 1909âÂÂ1924
- John Archibald Anderson 1924âÂÂ1933
- Major-General Hon James William Macarthur-Onslow VD MLC 1933âÂÂ1936
- William Deuchar Gordon 1936âÂÂ1939
- Pat Hamilton Osborne 1939âÂÂ1942
- Hon Sir Colin Sinclair KBE MLC 1942âÂÂ1945
- Hon Sir Norman William Kater MLC 1945âÂÂ1948
- Edmund Irving Body 1948âÂÂ1951
- Hon Sir Colin Sinclair KBE MLC 1951âÂÂ1954
- John Gordon Crowther 1954âÂÂ1957
- Edmund Irving Body CBE 1957âÂÂ1959
- John Gordon Crowther 1959âÂÂ1960
- Rt Hon Sir Victor Windeyer KBE, CB, DSO, ED, QC 1960âÂÂ1963
- Donald Brian Hardy Arnott 1963âÂÂ1966
- Major-General Sir Denzil Macarthur-Onslow CBE DSO ED 1966âÂÂ1969
- Sir Norman Lethbridge Cowper CBE 1969âÂÂ1972
- Sir William Morrow DSO ED 1972âÂÂ1975
- Peter Gordon Sayers 1975âÂÂ1978
- Graham Marriott Thorp MC 1978âÂÂ1981
- Louis Walter Davies A0 1981âÂÂ1984
- Hon Sir John Bryan Munro Fuller 1984âÂÂ1987
- Alam Hamilton Loxton AM 1987âÂÂ1990
- Brian Cameron France 1990âÂÂ1993
- Peter John Watt 1993âÂÂ1996
- David Hardy Playfair MBE ED 1996âÂÂ1999
- Robert Lee MapleâÂÂBrown AO 1999âÂÂ2002
- Peter Ross Graham QC 2002âÂÂ2005
- Roderick Murchison Hume Kater 2005âÂÂ2008
- Charles Frederick Moore 2008âÂÂ2011
- Richard Hamilton Fisher AM 2011
Membership
At least 5 former Prime Ministers have been members of the club including recently, John Howard and Malcolm Turnbull.
Women are excluded from membership of the club; although they are welcome as guests in most areas and at most functions hosted by the club. For over a century the club has had a friendly albeit informal relationship with the women-only Queen's Club, where many of the members' mothers, wives and sisters are members. The committees of each club take turns to host the other to a formal dinner on an annual basis.
In June 2021, around 700 members attended a Special General Meeting of the club to vote on a proposal to allow women to join the club. Seventy-five percent of attending members needed to vote for the proposal in order for it to receive approval. The proposal was defeated when only 38 percent voted in favour of allowing women to join, falling well short of the 75 per cent required.
Website
The club website is titled 165 Macquarie Street but is only accessible to members.
See also
References
External links