The National Press Club is an association of primarily news journalists, but also includes academics, business people and members of the public service, and is based in Canberra, Australia.
The National Press Club was founded in 1963 as the National Press Luncheon Club by a few journalists with the backing of the Canberra Press Gallery. The founding president was Tony Eggleton.
It was renamed the National Press Club in 1968, and established official premises in 1976.
The National Press Club address is a weekly formal speech of approximately one hour, which includes time for questions from members of the press. The president introduces the speaker and moderates the questions. The addresses are broadcast on the ABC Network at 12:30 pm. Guests have included heads of government and ministers of Australia and other countries.
Israeili Ambassador to Australia Hillel Newman made a National Press Club address on 31 March 2026. His address came after several months after the 2025 Bondi Beach shooting, a terrorist attack targeting Jewish Australians. The social and political turmoil that followed the attack included mass protests against a visit to Australia by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, nationwide marches against the Israeli occupation of Gaza, the announcement by the Albanese government of the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion and the passage of several pieces of state and federal legislation aimed at curbing antisemitism in Australia. There were several protests against the National Press Club hosting Ambassador Newman for his address, including from prominent journalist Greg Jericho who labelled the Government of Israel a "murderous regime" for the hundreds of journalists killed by the Israeli Defence Force.
Newman's address caused controversy as he voiced support for Israel's contentious new death penalty laws that exclusively target Palestinians. Several days before the address, the Australian government co-signed a statement alongside countries such as the United Kingdom and Germany, urging Israel not to pass the new laws and arguing they were "de facto discriminatory". In the address, Newman also claimed, without providing evidence, that members of a Lebanese television news crew recently killed by an Israeli air strike during their invasion of Lebanon were members of a violent militant group. During his address, the ambassador also refused to issue an apology on behalf of the Israeli government for the unlawful killing of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom in Gaza in 2024, despite being queried repeatedly by the Australian journalists in attendance.
On 21 October 2007 a debate between Prime Minister John Howard and Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd was hosted by the National Press Club from the Great Hall of Parliament in Canberra. The debate was televised live by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Channel Nine and Sky News. A controversial decision was taken during the debate to interrupt the provision of the live transmission signal to the Channel Nine network because of the inclusion by Channel Nine within its broadcast picture of a real-time line chart of the aggregate studio audience reaction to the debate. This type of chart is referred to as the 'Worm', after the form in which it is rendered and an approximately 'worm-like' movement of the display within the area of the screen in which it appears.
The decision by the National Press Club to interrupt the provision of the live transmission signal to the Channel Nine network has been heavily criticised as contrary to the principles of free speech that are a part of the journalistic tradition. On 22 October 2007, Greens Senator Bob Brown called for a Senate inquiry into the circumstances in which the transmission signal had been cut.