The Rotary Club of Mildura was Chartered on 25th August 1933 and commenced with 23 members. We are proud to have been the first Rotary Club established in Sunraysia. We were the ninth Victorian club and the 40th Australian club to be Chartered.

The original “territories” of the Club were “the town of Mildura and that district within a radius of 25 miles of Mildura Civic Buildings”.

Since 1933, the Rotary Club of Mildura has sponsored the formation of other local Clubs – Swan Hill, Red Cliffs, Renmark (SA), Robinvale, Wentworth (NSW), Merbein and Irymple.

Four members of our Club have represented Rotary District 9520 as District Governor (to 2003/2004):
1. 1949/1950 Reg Etherington
2. 1960/1961 Arch Ramsay
3. 1979/1980 Harry Allen
4. 2002/2003 Arthur Robinson

In the 2000/2001 Rotary year, our Club opened its doors to welcome women members and our membership currently (2005/2006) stands at 53 members, including 9 women.  In June 2005, our Club inducted its first female President.

A range of noteable activities have been (and are being) undertaken by the Club and these activities may be for the benefit of the local community, our country or the world.

The first activity of the Club in 1933 was a beautification scheme of the grounds of the Mildura Base Hospital and other early noteable activities include:

• Starting of a housing scheme, later the formation of Co-operative Housing Societies
• Milk Scheme (providing milk to local State School children)
• Numerous assistance projects for the elderly, children and the poor and disadvantaged
• In the late 1930’s the after care of children effected by Polio was a major project and Rotarians today remain involved with Polio through the “Polio Plus” program
• The outbreak of war saw the Club’s activities evolve to include such things as donations to the “Prisoners of War Fund” and the “Food for Britain” movement and afterwards, the re-establishment of ex-servicemen was a priority project
• In 1957 the Club’s largest community service project was opened – the Homes for the Aged, and the care of the community’s elderly remains an important part of modern day Club activities
• 1963 saw the first meeting of the “Meals on Wheels” program, in which the Club took an active part in the establishment
• In the late 1960’s a “River Safety” campaign was initiated, following a number of drownings at Apex Park, along with a bicycle safety program

More recent activities include the collection of hospital equipment and fund-raising to support hospitals and medical care in overseas countries; participation in community projects such as Peer Support and vocational programs, Career Counselling, community safety, preservation of local history, Rotary Art Exhibition, environmental programs such as “Health of the River”, “Adopt a Highway” and various beautification activities, Red Cross programs, Blood Donor programs and many more.

In the 2001/2002 year, our Club sponsored a young woman participating in the Group Study Exchange (GSE) program (to Yorkshire, England), the first from the Sunraysia area for over 10 years.  In 2005/2006 the Club again embraced the GSE program and sponsored a team member from Mildura to Ohio, USA.  At the same time we were proud to host the incoming GSE team from Ohio, USA during their visit to District 9520.

On a local level, Club members remain ever-busy with a range of community activities to assist the disadvantaged, care for the elderly and encourage the development of our youth, while being involved with various Rotary initiatives that have world-wide benefits.