The Association of Apex Clubs of Australia is an Australia-wide association of autonomous clubs dedicated to fellowship, self-improvement, and community service, similar to other

service club A service club or service organization is a voluntary nonprofit organization where members meet regularly to perform charitable works either by direct hands-on efforts or by raising money for other organizations. A service club is defined first ...

s such as

Lions International The International Association of Lions Clubs, more commonly known as Lions Clubs International, is an international non-political service organization established originally in 1916 in Chicago, Illinois, by Melvin Jones. It is now headquarte ...

but with a younger membership (18–40). Apex organizes a range of activities such as public speaking and debating competitions, ute musters, and B&S balls. Members call themselves "Apexians".

History

Apex had its beginnings in Geelong, Victoria in December 1930 with the formation of the "Geelong Young Business Men's Club" by architects Ewen Laird, Langham Proud and John Buchan with the support of the local chapter of

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...

, the mayor of Geelong, and the ''

Geelong Advertiser The ''Geelong Advertiser'' is a daily newspaper circulating in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, the Bellarine Peninsula, and surrounding areas. First published on 21 November 1840, the ''Geelong Advertiser'' is the oldest newspaper title in Vic ...

''. Although Rotary has no formal connection with Apex, it figures in the club's formation, as Buchan's father was a Rotarian, and the three friends might have joined but for that organisation's rule of no two members in the same profession. This was the time of the Great Depression in Australia, when there was a great need for service-oriented men to work together, and the club soon boasted of 60 members. On 10 March 1931 they adopted the name "Apex" with the triangular badge symbolizing the club's three ideals: Service, Citizenship, and Fellowship. That day has since been recognised as the birth of the organisation. Within a few months a club was formed in Ballarat, with assistance from Rotary. Bendigo followed, then Camperdown, Albury, Warrnambool, Wagga, Launceston and Orange. By the start of the Second World War there were 41 clubs scattered across Australia, from Perth to Brisbane. Each year conventions were held, both at region level and Association-wide, where apart from socializing and attendance at workshops and speeches, decisions affecting all clubs were voted on. In 1958 a move was made to found Apex clubs overseas, and to that end the word "National" was dropped from the association's and "National President" became "President of the Association", and "National Council" became "Executive Council". Projects and causes adopted by the Association include: * Seat belts in passenger vehicles * "Learn to Swim" campaign * "Operation Apex Sea Lift" encouraging each club to sponsor a British family as migrants * Full citizenship to Aborigines * Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation * Aid to the mentally retarded * Miss Apex Australia quest * Guide Dogs for the Blind * Improved pensions for civilian widows * Improved pensions for families of jail inmates * Recruiting blood donors * Daylight saving * Guthrie test for

phenylketonuria Phenylketonuria (PKU) is an inborn error of metabolism that results in decreased metabolism of the amino acid phenylalanine. Untreated PKU can lead to intellectual disability, seizures, behavioral problems, and mental disorders. It may also r ...

(1969) * Aid to the Disabled (1970) * Autistic children * Well-sinking in India * Banning cigarette advertising (1972) * " Foundation 41" neonatal research (1974) * Multiple Sclerosis research * Children's Leukemia and Cancer Foundation * Drug awareness 1978 * Sudden Infant Death Syndrome * Ban on TV liquor advertising * Apex Australia Fine Arts Scholarship Proposals that were lost to the vote include fluoridation of water and decimalization of currency.

Club achievements

The range of works undertaken at a local level was great. Some clubs took on projects that were more ambitious: * 1950: Claremont club helped establish a Guide Dog training centre at

Belmont Belmont may refer to: People * Belmont (surname) Places * Belmont Abbey (disambiguation) * Belmont Historic District (disambiguation) * Belmont Hotel (disambiguation) * Belmont Park (disambiguation) * Belmont Plantation (disambiguation) * Belmon ...

, transferred to Kew, Victoria in 1957. * 1956: Launceston club built a bowling green for a Home for the Aged. * 1959: Coolangatta-Tweed Heads club built a

brick-veneer Masonry veneer walls consist of a single non-structural external layer of masonry, typically made of brick, stone or manufactured stone. Masonry veneer can have an air space behind it and is technically called "anchored veneer". A masonry venee ...

holiday home for children with

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be p ...

in one day of ten working hours; fully lined and finished, with well-equipped kitchen, fully wired, plumbed and connected. Around 100 local tradesmen volunteered their services. * 1965: Mount Barker, South Australia, club restored a century-old derelict windmill to working order * 1967: Broken Hill club raised $250,000 to build a geriatric wing for the town's Home of Compassion. * 1968: Yass club, with assistance from Rotary and

Legacy In law, a legacy is something held and transferred to someone as their inheritance, as by will and testament. Personal effects, family property, marriage property or collective property gained by will of real property. Legacy or legacies may refer ...

, built the "Yass Apex Homes", ten flats for aged citizens on land bequeathed to the cause. * 1976: Tennant Creek club produced the ''Tennant Times'', the town's only newspaper.

Growth and decline

There were 100 chartered Apex clubs in 1954, 162 in 1956, 200 in 1958. In 1964 there were 410 clubs and 11,000 Apexians, with 70% of membership in the country; in 1970 615 clubs and almost 16,000 members. In 1976 membership had reached 17,400 in 796 clubs. By 1970 there was a small number of Apex clubs in Papua and New Guinea, Singapore, Malaysia, Ceylon, India, East and West Pakistan, Nauru, Fiji and The Philippines. Initially Apex membership was restricted to males 18 to 35 years of age, with mandatory retirement at age 40. Beginning in the early 1990s individual clubs could declare themselves "all male", "all female", or "mixed", with the upper age for women set at 45. but since the 2006 National Convention there has been no gender requirement for membership. Geelong's last Apex club (Barwon) folded in 2015, but there were still 150 active clubs elsewhere in Australia.

Notable members

Miles Bourke Miles Bourke (20 November 1925 – 13 October 1982) was an Australian farmer who served as the first president of the Victorian Farmers' Federation. He was born in Warracknabeal to farmer Michael Thomas Bourke and Lucy, ''née'' Powell. He at ...

(1925–1982), farmer and founding president (1979) of the Victorian Farmers and Graziers Association (became Victorian Farmers' Federation), was a member of the

Warracknabeal Warracknabeal ( ) is a wheatbelt town in the Australian state of Victoria. Situated on the banks of the Yarriambiack Creek, 330 km north-west of Melbourne, it is the business and services centre of the northern Wimmera and southern Mall ...

Apex Club. * Sir John Buchan, businessman and Apex co-founder, president of the Australia-America Association and councillor of the City of Melbourne. * Herb Elliott sen., father of athlete

Herb Elliott Herbert James Elliott (born 25 February 1938) is a former Australian athlete and arguably the world's greatest middle distance runner of his era. In August 1958 he set the world record in the mile run, clocking 3:54.5, 2.7 seconds under the re ...

, was president of Perth club and appointed Life Governor in 1953. * Sir Harold Roy Fidge (1904–1981), solicitor and mayor of Geelong, a founder of the

Geelong Geelong ( ) ( Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the south eastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon ...

Apex Club in 1932 and was secretary-treasurer of the Apex national council 1935–40, 1946–1947, and in 1940 elected a life governor. *

Donald Bruce Mackay Donald Bruce Mackay (13 September 1933 – 15 July 1977) was an Australian businessman and anti-drug campaigner. He disappeared in 1977, but his body has never been found. In 1986, James Bazley was convicted on his murder. Personal life and ba ...

(1933–1977), furniture store proprietor and murdered anti-drugs campaigner, was at various times secretary and president of the Griffith Apex Club and district governor. * Ivor Gray Morris (1911–1995), woollens manufacturer, was a founder in 1938 of the

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

Apex Club and president in 1941, district governor in 1945. * William Phelan (1915–1973), businessman and politician, founding member (1939) of

Maryborough, Victoria Maryborough () is a town in Victoria, Australia, on the Pyrenees Highway, north of Ballarat and northwest of Melbourne, in the Shire of Central Goldfields. At the 2016 census, it had a population of 7,921. History The area was originally ...

Apex club and president 1944–46. * William Langham Proud CBE (28 January 1909 – December 1984), architect, born at Korumburra, Victoria, was co-founder of Geelong Apex Club. * John Basil Regan (1903–1987), flour-miller, was foundation member (1935) of the Tamworth Apex Club. *

Bevan Rutt Walter Bevan Charles Rutt OBE (24 January 1916 – 12 January 1988) was a South Australian architect and philanthropist, a prominent worker for the Guide Dogs Association of Australia. Biography Rutt was born in Adelaide, the only son of Charles W ...

OBE was president of the Adelaide Apex club in 1948, became charter president of Adelaide Lions Club in 1961 and later a District Governor. In 1964 he gave up his practice as architect to work full-time for Guide Dogs for the Blind. He became president of the National Guide Dogs Association in 1966. * William R. Tresise MBE (1907–1975) was a member 1936–1947 and president 1945–1947. He then founded Australia's first Lions Club in Lismore on 29 September 1947, was first (Australian Lions) District Governor. * William John Wallwork (1903–1971), magistrate, was founding president (1936/37) of the Bunbury Apex club.

National Presidents

Life Governors

"Life Governor" is the highest award Apex can award its members.

Notes

References

External links

Apex Australia official website

The Apex Foundation
Youth organisations based in Australia Clubs and societies in Australia 1931 establishments in Australia Mutual organizations Service organizations