Honorary membership for serving Australian Defence Force members
A new class of honorary membership of registered clubs is available as a result of changes to the Registered Clubs Act 1976 in December 2006. The creation of this new class of membership was requested by the RSL and Services Clubs Association. It also is strongly supported by the club industry in general.
Q: What is this new membership arrangement and who can take advantage of it?
A: The new class of membership confers automatic honorary membership on all serving Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel - including reservists, but only in regard to RSL and Services Clubs, and similar clubs. In the Act this group of clubs includes RSL, services, ex-services, memorial, legion and any registered club that has objects similar to, or has amalgamated with, one of these clubs.Q: Do these types of clubs need to change their rules?
A: No. The rules of each of these types of club are automatically taken to include a rule permitting entry to serving defence force personnel as honorary members. That is to say, this class of automatic honorary membership is not optional for these clubs, and they do not need to change their rules.
Q: Does it matter if the ADF personnel live within 5 kilometre of the club?
A: No. Serving ADF personnel are entitled to sign in as honorary members regardless of whether or not they live within 5 kilometres of the club's premises.
Q: Is there a sign-in requirement?
A: Yes. A person seeking entry to a club as this class of honorary member needs to show some proof of eligibility to enter, such as their services identification card.
Maintenance of a register is also required, and should record the full name, or the surname and initials, and the address, of the honorary member together with his or her signature. It is not necessary for the person's rank or services identification number to be recorded. To assist clubs, a template (PDF 37kb) for this purpose can be downloaded.
It is acknowledged that clubs will need time to develop appropriate procedures for this change. However, any interim register measure a club may choose will be acceptable during the initial period following commencement of the new class of honorary membership. Clubs will have up until Anzac Day, Wednesday 25 April 2007 to ensure that they are able to comply with the register requirements.
Q: Can serving ADF members under the age of 18 be admitted as honorary members?
A: No. The requirements regarding the entry of minors into registered clubs also apply to serving ADF members.
Q: When did this new honorary membership arrangement start?
A: From 22 December 2006.
For further information, please email our office at 
info@olgr.nsw.gov.au.
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