News & Advocacy for Members

CEO Message

Annual Report for the Year Ended 30 June 2024

Dear Members,

Clubs are truly the quiet achievers of our community!

The community club sector in Victoria employs over thirty (30) thousand staff across the state and in the last National Clubs Census, KPMG Consulting calculated that Victorian clubs ‘social impact’ was estimated to be one billion dollars.   This ‘social impact’ comprised the value of volunteer labour, cash and in-kind donations, subsidised access to recreational and social facilities owned and operated by clubs.

Clubs are fantastic contributors to local communities and the local economy, bringing people of all walks of life together to enjoy activities and pursuits in a supportive and inclusive environment.

With hustle and bustle of today’s modern life everyone needs to have an activity that allows them to have a feeling of ‘time-out’ from the stresses and pressures generated from work, cost of living inflationary pressures, mortgage interest rate rises, and the general feeling people convey of experiencing stress from high pressure jobs.  Clubs can provide relief through camaraderie, peer support and a safe environment for people to enjoy their favourite activities and sports.  Bringing people together to socialise and talk about common interests is more and more important in the modern digital world in large cities, where many age-groups seem to want to send a message, rather than talk and seek support and help.  What’s that old saying … ‘together we are better’ and that’s what clubs do.

Community clubs also provide their members and guests with food and beverage options that are generally very competitive and provide quality and value.  Clubs are constituted by a not-for-profit structure, unlike other hospitality private inventor businesses who have shareholders and pressure to achieve supercharged dividends, year-on-year.

In 2024 the most talked about issue in the community is cost of living pressures, including home mortgage rates, fuel costs and how to juggle the family budget.

Clubs recognise these issues and have been working hard to keep costs low and in turn provide competitive meal options, so families can continue to enjoy dining at their local club and grandparents on fixed incomes have affordable options available to take grandchildren and friends out for lunch or dinner.

Across the spectrum of costs that have risen with such an impact is electricity.  In this space, clubs have delivered some leading projects with solar farms and storage batteries to assist the club with these core operating costs.  Many clubs pay tens of thousands of dollars in electricity bills every month.  These are the hidden costs that the general public don’t automatically appreciate at such a large scale, compared to the domestic market.

Community clubs such as the Rosebud RSL, Kooyong Law Tennis Club, Frankston RSL and Portarlington Golf Club are all stand-out venues that have demonstrated excellence in leadership and innovation in the area of power generation projects and in turn championed sustainability programs for all to see.

Through clubs’ diverse membership profiles, bringing people together with a range of skills and experience we can collectively deliver impactful projects with a unique community spirit.

We encourage you to get involved and contribute to the success of your local community club.

On behalf of the CCV team I wish you well for the year ahead.

Andrew Lloyd – CCV Chief Executive