Our Causes

Rotary is dedicated to six areas of focus to build international relationships, improve lives, and create a better world to support our peace efforts and end polio forever.

While a Rotary project could do almost anything that attempts to improve the lives of our fellow human beings around the world, most projects and the vast bulk of funding address one or more of the 6 causes below.

The Rotary Club of Brisbane supports all of these causes through its contribution of tens of thousands of dollars to the Rotary International Foundation. The RCoB is a committed centurion club which donates a minimum of US$100 per annum to the foundation for each of its members.

The Rotary Club of Brisbane also supports the Rotary Causes through its own projects in Australia and Internationally.

Peace and conflict prevention/resolution.
Disease prevention and treatment.
Water and sanitation.
Maternal and child health.
Basic education and literacy.
Economic and community development.

and

End Polio Forever

Promoting Peace

Rotary encourages conversations to foster understanding within and across cultures. We train adults and young leaders to prevent and mediate conflict and help refugees who have fled dangerous areas.

The University of Queensland in Brisbane is home to one of the 7 peace centres that Rotary International has established throughout the world. The Rotary Club of Brisbane along with other clubs in Rotary Districts 9600 and 9630 has been active since its establishment in 2001 hosting and providing host counsellors for the approximately 10 Rotary International Peace Fellows who come to the University of Queensland to study a Masters degree in Peace and Conflict Resolution each year.

Learn More About How Rotary Wages Peace

Fighting Disease

We educate and equip communities to stop the spread of life-threatening diseases like polio, HIV/AIDS, and malaria. We improve and expand access to low-cost and free health care in developing areas.

The Rotary Club of Brisbane has recently conducted projects supporting the fight against prostate cancer and diabetes in Australia as well as providing seed funding for a programme to train rural GPs in endoscopic procedures so rural patients do not need to travel hundreds of km to regional centres for endoscopy services.

Internationally, the Rotary Club of Brisbane has supplied medical equipment and snake antivenom and supported dental programmes in PNG and Timor Leste.

Recently, The Rotary Club of Brisbane has become increasingly concerned about mental health issues in our community and is providing support in this area through Rotary Health Australia and the mental health unit of the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Learn More About How Rotary Fights Disease

Providing Clean Water, Sanitation and Hygene

We support local solutions to bring clean water, sanitation, and hygiene to more people every day. We don’t just build wells and walk away. We share our expertise with community leaders and educators to make sure our projects succeed long-term.

In the past, The Rotary Club of Brisbane has contributed to water projects in Papua New Guinea.

Learn More About Rotary's Water and Sanitation Projects

Saving Mothers and Children

Nearly 6 million children under the age of five die each year because of malnutrition, poor health care, and inadequate sanitation. We expand access to quality care, so mothers and their children can live and grow stronger.

The Rotary Club of Brisbane is embarking on a project to establish a chicken-breeding programme in Papua New Guinea to improve nutrition in protein-poor remote areas.

Learn More About Rotary's Work in Maternal and Child Health

Supporting Education

More than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy.

The Rotary Club of Brisbane has instigated or supported many projects in the Brisbane area to provide educational and vocational opportunities for the disabled, as well as being instrumental in the establishment of International House at The University of Queensland. We have also been instrumental in the establishment of and constant in our support of Donations in Kind, which has shipped hundreds of containers of educational equipment to our Pacific Neighbours.

Learn More About How Rotary Supports Education

Growing Local Economies

We carry out service projects that enhance economic and community development and create opportunities for decent and productive work for young and old. We also strengthen local entrepreneurs and community leaders, particularly women, in impoverished communities.

The Rotary Club of Brisbane's community service projects in this area have been mostly focused in Queensland, particularly around drought relief over recent years.

Learn More About Rotary's Work in Economic and Community Development

Ending Polio Forever

Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for over 30 years, and our goal of ridding the earth of this disease is in sight. We started in 1979 with vaccinations for 6 million children in the Philippines. Today, Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan are the only countries where polio remains endemic.

Since we started the fight against polio, we’ve reduced the number of polio cases by 99.9 percent and reached more than 2.5 billion children with the vaccine. There are fewer polio cases today than ever before, but we will not stop until we reach zero. If polio is not eradicated, hundreds of thousands of children could be paralyzed. Global health care costs would rise dramatically, and many children’s quality of life would be drastically diminished.

The Rotary Club of Brisbane supports this cause through the Foundation of Rotary International which to date has spent more than $1.4B in the fight against polio. Most recently, the Rotary Club of Brisbane pledged $12,000 over 3 years to the Polio Plus fund, and numerous smaller fundraisers for Polio Plus have been held, both as a club and in collaboration with other clubs in the district.