{{Short description|Australian non-profit public company}} {{more citations needed|date=September 2021}} {{Infobox organization | name = Rotary Australia World Community Service Limited | type = Australian non-for-profit public company limited by guarantee | vat_id = | registration_id = ABN 37739341003, ACN 003 444 264 | founder = | location = Australia | coordinates = | origins = | key_people = Chairman of the Board: David Pearson | region_served = Australia, other countries | product = Humanitarian projects | focus = Community development, disaster aid | method = | revenue = AUD 19.4 million in 2023 | endowment = | num_volunteers = Approximately 267 internationally | num_employees = 3 | subsid = Rotary Australia Overseas Aid Fund, Rotary Australian Benevolent Society, Rotary Australia Relief Fund, Rotarians Against Malaria, Donations in Kind | owner = | former_name = ROTARY F A I M AUSTRALIA LTD | dissolved = | website = {{URL| https://rawcs.org.au/}} | footnotes = }} '''Rotary Australia World Community Service''' ('''RAWCS''') is an Australian non-profit public company controlled the Australian division of Rotary International.<ref name=asic>{{cite web|url =https://connectonline.asic.gov.au/RegistrySearch/faces/landing/SearchRegisters.jspx?_adf.ctrl-state=69mcq6nxw_4 |title=ROTARY AUSTRALIA WORLD COMMUNITY SERVICE LIMITED ACN 003 444 264 |author=Australian Securities & Investment Commission|date=30 December 2020|accessdate=12 September 2021}}</ref><ref name=acnc>{{cite web|url =https://www.acnc.gov.au/charity/b60dd4703dab3386afb6bbb3c1efb207#financials-documents |title=Rotary Australia World Community Service Limited|author=Australian Government Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission|date=3 November 2020|accessdate=12 September 2021}}</ref> Its purpose is: “Within the areas of focus of Rotary International, to enhance support services to Australian Rotarians and Rotary Clubs to assist disadvantaged communities and individuals with humanitarian aid projects.”<ref name="acnc"/>

Each Australian Rotary District is represented through their District Governor who is a member of the Company. This membership elects a Board of Directors to govern the company on their behalf.<ref name="acnc"/>

==Funding schemes== RAWCS is registered as a charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission.<ref name="acnc"/> It undertakes its work through three tax-deductible funds:<ref name="acnc"/>

* ''Rotary Australia Overseas Aid Fund'' assists local Rotary Clubs or Rotary Districts in supplying aid in developing countries (as defined by the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) or for short term relief for disasters. In 2023, it funded 332 overseas projects in 37 countries. * ''Rotary Australian Benevolent Society'' (RABS) assists Rotary Clubs and Rotary Districts within Australia to respond to needs within their own communities{{clarify|date=January 2024}} and to gain tax deductibility for donations made to their registered project. In 2023, it funded 97 projects, including 31 compassionate grants to Australians in need. ''Rotary Australia Compassionate Grants Projects'' is a subset of the RABS Projects and was established to provide matching funding on a dollar-for-dollar basis with Rotary Clubs. This project type was made possible by A$2,000,000 donated by philanthropist Dick Smith’s Trust.<ref>{{cite web|url =https://rotarydownunder.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/12.pdf |title= Dick Smith does it again – another $1M to end suffering |author=Rotary Down Under |date= September 2019 |accessdate=12 September 2021}}</ref> Matching grants are distributed to disadvantaged Australians identified by local Rotary Clubs or Rotary Districts as being in need. * ''Rotary Australia Relief Fund'' (RARF) responds to national appeals and disburses funds to appropriate aid projects. RARF projects have included collecting donations for bushfire relief following the 2019–2020 bushfires. As of 2020, the fund had collected in excess of A$1.4 million for distribution in bushfire-affected communities.

In response to the 2017-2019 Australian drought, RAWCS and the Australian Government distributed A$6.5 million in cash grants to drought-impacted families through the ''Drought Community Support Initiative''.<ref>{{cite web|url =https://minister.infrastructure.gov.au/littleproud/media-release/more-money-cash-strapped-drought-communities |title= More money for cash-strapped drought communities |author=The Hon David Littleproud MP Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia |date= 20 February 2020 |accessdate=12 September 2021}}</ref> It has also been involved in the delivery of the A$5 million Drought Communities Outreach Program to farming families impacted by the drought through the provision of information events and A$500 debit cards to eligible farming households.

RAWCS has been involved in Rotary projects relating to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, including the manufacture of protective clothing for frontline health workers.<ref name="acnc"/> Donations through RAWCS in 2020 totaled A$24,648,693.<ref name="acnc"/>

==Australian Rotarians Against Malaria== Australian Rotarians Against Malaria (ARAM) is a Rotary organization that operates under the umbrella of RAWCS.<ref name="acnc"/> ARAM was started in the early 1990s from a proposal by Dr Brian Hanley of the Rotary Club of Brookvale (New South Wales) who was concerned about the surge in malaria incidence after the discontinuation of DDT-based malaria control programs.<ref>{{cite web|url =https://rawcs.org.au/rotarians-against-malaria/ |title=Australian Rotarians Against Malaria|author=Rotary Australia World Community Service |date= 2019 |accessdate=12 September 2021}}</ref> It provides supplies, equipment and volunteers to support the elimination of malaria in Australia's region. It has projects in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Timor Leste and West Timor (Indonesia). Projects include the supply of insecticide-treated mosquito nets<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/despite-overwhelming-challenges-papua-new-guinea-has-made-major-strides-against-malaria|title=Despite overwhelming challenges, Papua New Guinea has made major strides against malaria|author=World Health Organization |date= 11 April 2017 |accessdate=12 September 2021}}</ref> and funding of staff to provide malaria diagnostic tests and antimalarial medication.<ref>{{cite web|url =https://postcourier.com.pg/ericas-role-as-a-heo-in-rural-png/|title=Erica's Role As a HEO in Rural PNG|author=Papua New Guinea Post-Courier |date= 11 August 2021 |accessdate=12 September 2021}}</ref> In 2020, ARAM entered into a partnership with the Global Fund and other organizations to form the Malaria Elimination in Melanesia and Timor-Leste Initiative (MEMTI).<ref>{{cite web|url =https://www.aplma.org/malaria-elimination-in-melanesia-and-timor-leste |title= Malaria Elimination in Melanesia and Timor-Leste|author=Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance |date= 2021 |accessdate=12 September 2021}}</ref> This involves an international campaign to raise a significant amount of funds to enhance malaria elimination programs in its partner countries. ARAM also supports research to develop and trial a malaria vaccine by the Griffith University Institute of Glycomics.<ref>{{cite web|url =https://www.griffith.edu.au/institute-glycomics/support-us/our-supporters |title= Our Supporters |author=Griffith University Institute for Glycomics |accessdate=12 September 2021}}</ref>

==RARE (Rotary Australia Repurposing Equipment)== RARE is a Rotary organization that operates under umbrella of RAWCS and was established in 1962.<ref name="acnc"/> Its purpose is to collect goods and consumables no longer required in the Australian health and education institutions and distribute them to developing nations and other areas of need. Recipient nations include countries of the South Pacific, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, South East Asia and South America. RARE has major storage facilities in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Geelong and Adelaide and smaller satellite storage areas in Western Australia and regional areas.<ref name="acnc"/> These facilities are managed and staffed by volunteers. In 2023, RARE dispatched medical and educational supplies worth $3.5M across ten developing countries. Additional support was provided through the ''Donations In Kind'' facility, shipping $1M worth of supplies to ten countries.

== See also == *Australian Rotary Health

== References ==

{{reflist}}

== External links ==

* [https://rawcs.org.au/ Rotary Australia World Community Service] * [https://aram.rawcs.com.au/ Australian Rotarians Against Malaria] {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rotary Australia World Community Service}} Category:Health charities in Australia Category:Rotary International