About

The Rotary Club of Carlton was chartered on 27th June 1985 and was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Melbourne. Over that time, the broader Carlton area has undergone significant change and it continues to do so. Over those years we have established very strong connections with most of the agencies that serve the city’s residents. It is a dynamic and diverse suburb that includes in its area the Exhibition Building, the Museum, the University of Melbourne precinct, Lygon St. and the high-rise flats.

More recent changes include significant growth in new medium and high density housing developments, including public housing estates and student accommodation. There has been a major increase in population generally and significant changes in its ethnic composition. The large number of overseas students has resulted in a rather high proportion of people from Asian countries now living in Carlton, as well as healthy numbers of immigrants from Africa – Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan, and the early immigrants from Italy.

The Rotary Club of Carlton is very well connected into the community fabric of Carlton, through our membership of the Carlton Community Network (CCN). Our Director of Community, attends these meetings bi-monthly. Other agencies that make up the network include the Church of All Nations, Carlton Primary School, Carlton Neighbourhood Learning Centre, Drummond St Relationship Centre, YMCA (Carlton Baths), Fitzroy Financial Counselling Service, the City of Melbourne, City of Yarra North Health Service and Centrelink. These meetings play a vital role in mapping what is happening in the community, emerging issues/concerns, effective coordination of the services and support for agency staff. The then Minister for Education, Bronwyn Pike, launched the Opportunities for Carlton Project. The Rotary Club of Carlton has become a very visible and welcome member of the Carlton Community.

JOIN THE COMMUNITY

We Meet At..

Graduate House,

220 Leicester Street
Carlton, VIC 3053

Meeting Times

1st & 3rd Tuesdays of Month

Lunch 12:45pm for 1:00pm until 2:00pm

Contact

rotaryclubofcarlton@gmail.com

Maxine Cooper

President 2025-26

President’s Message

Welcome to the Rotary Club of Carlton. This year, we celebrated our 40th Anniversary, and we look forward to continuing our dedicated service to our club members and the Carlton community and the broader humanitarian challenges that this club has worked on over the past few years.

Being relatively new to becoming a member of the Rotary Club of Carlton, I have been impressed with the diverse range of members, who are dedicated people with a passion for community service, local and global projects and for tackling many humanitarian challenges.

My particular focus this year is on learning, education and literacy. I believe lifelong learning is crucial for everyone. Learning is an adventure in exploring our world, our local and global community, with our families and friends. Because we are partnering with other rotary groups at the bookshop in Docklands, I hope to do some work in local schools in Carlton to assist children in learning about literacy, enabling the children to write their own stories and then to help them write and draw their stories into small books about their lives and their learning in Carlton schools. I believe it is important to explore the wonderful world we live and learn in, together. I will focus on local schools and other Carlton groups, including those associated with the Carlton Community Network (CCN).

Our Board 2024/25

President Maxine Cooperi

Deputy Presidents Casey Tan & Keith Ryall

On to Conference Áron Perényi

(Immediate Past President)

Secretary Maureen O’Dwyer

Assistant Secretary Tim Lennie

Treasurer David Percival

International John McLean

Foundation Parisa Afshar

Environmental Sustainability Steven Hsia

Vocational Keith Ryall