A recent communication from our District Governor, Peter Shepheard -
Some of you may be aware that RI have requested that our current Zone 8 (Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands) undertake a review of the current districts to look at district realignment to create less districts but with a base of at least 2700 members per district. The task was to take the current 19 districts down to 9 ideally, by merging existing districts using a detailed set of criteria.
A task force was set up that provided initial feedback that was then reviewed by all current Governor Trains and in the case of Victoria and Tasmania it was deemed that we could take the 5 existing districts (4 in Vic and 1 in Tas) to create 2 districts covering Vic/Tas. This will be achieved as follows:
- Current Districts 9780, 9790 & 9800 will merge into 1, referred to as Northwest Vic, that will have on current numbers 155 clubs and 3888 members
- To balance the number of clubs and members 12 clubs currently in 9790/9800 that border 9815 have been shifted into the new 9815/9830 merged District
- For us in D9800 that means 5 Clubs – Brighton, Brighton North, Chadstone/East Malvern, Malvern & Toorak will be transferred
- Current Districts 9815 & 9830 will merge into 1 known as Vic/Tas. That will have based on current numbers 129 clubs and 3060 members
I appreciate that the transfer of five of our clubs will be cause for different emotions and seen by some as unreasonable. From a purely logistical perspective it makes sense and the clubs are not exiled just under a different group. My personal hope is that we not only embrace the 2-district concept but also look beyond that and encourage whole of Vic/Tas mentality in regards to collaboration.
In regards the rest of the Zone please note the following:
- While less than the 2700 ideal due to its size Western Australia will remain a single district
- South Australia will join with the Northern Territory and Timor Leste to become a single district
- Queensland, Papua New Guinea and some other pacific islands will become 1 district
- New Zealand and their associated Pacific Islands will become 2 districts
- NSW will become 2 districts
And so, under this plan that now needs RI approval, the zone will go from 19 districts to 9 as requested. This mean that along with a Governor there will also be 2-3 deputy Governors who will then work with Community Leaders. As with all change you our members will have different reactions to this information and I also appreciate plenty of questions. The proposal needs to be approved by the RI Board and if that is the case we can then start working through the various impacts.
I personally believe this is an opportunity to bring together talent currently split over current district lines and reinforces the importance of collaboration. I am also mindful that part of this needs to be about making savings to cut costs that can passed on to decrease membership fees bit from RI and at District level. Once confirmed we will have just over 2 years to work through all the mechanics of a merger and thanks to the recent merger of districts 9810 & 9820 a template exists in how to successfully bring districts together.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me in the interim. peter.shepheard@rotary9800.org
Regards