Bulletin 2nd June 2026 (May 31, 2026)

Space

WHAT'S IN THIS BULLETIN

2nd June 2026

Our Program for Jume
Guest Speaker for Meeting
From the Last Meeting
Muna
RIMERN newsletter
Invitation to Changeover celebration - Save the Date
Gallery

NEXT MEETING

Rotary Central Melbourne meets at the RACV Club on the first and third Tuesdays of each month.

If you would like to visit our meeting, you are welcome to join us at the Theatrette, Chancery Level of the RACV Club. There is no charge for attending the meeting.

If you would like a more general discussion about attending a Rotary meeting, please contact the club secretary at rotaryclubcentralmelbourne@gmail.com

The meeting will commence at 7:40 am and conclude no later than 8:30. Members and guests are invited to stay for coffee or breakfast in the RACV Club Bistro following the meeting.

OUR PROGRAM FOR JUNE

Tuesday 2/6 Club Meeting at RACV City Club from 7:30am

Tuesday 16/6 Club Meeting at RACV City Club from 7:30am

Wednesday 17/6 Board Meeting from 12-1:30pm

Tuesday 23/6 DIK Warehouse Working Bee from 9am

Tuesday 23/6 Changeover Celebration at the William Angliss Restaurant from 6:30-9:30am

Saturday 27/6 RIMERN Warehouse Working Bee from 10:30am

GUEST SPEAKER FOR MEETING

Dr Gayle Smerdon: What to do when everything sucks

Bad Days happen. At work. At home. Sometimes before 10am. And when they do, having a plan can make all the difference.

Dr Gayle Smerdon is the author of The Bad Day Playbook, a guide to navigating tough days with clarity, humour and practical actions.

Gayle is a workplace learning specialist, speaker and author who helps people make work less exhausting and more meaningful.

For more than two decades, she has worked across universities, government and not-for-profits, helping leaders and teams navigate change, build capability, and create healthy cultures. She studies how organisations function (and malfunction), exploring the interplay of systems, culture and behaviour. Her favourite question is simple: “Is this important and are we helping?”

Gayle lives in Melbourne and is the contented slave to her feline overlord, Mr Spooks.

FROM THE LAST MEETING

Meeting Report, Tuesday, 19th May 2026

Guest Speaker

Liz Williams, former Deputy Electoral Commissioner at the Victorian Electoral Commission

Election Integrity – why does it matter?

Liz Williams explained why election integrity is essential to a healthy democracy, stressing that trust in the process prevents democratic erosion. She outlined key dimensions: clear rules and independent electoral bodies, broad participation, secure and transparent processes, and legitimate outcomes. Australia ranks highly globally thanks to strong commissions and consistent procedures, but campaign finance laws remain a concern, as shown by recent High Court challenges. Williams warned that escalating mis- and disinformation, accelerated by social media and AI, is now the greatest threat.

Club Announcements

Service & Community

Orygen Working Bee & Clothing Donation

Ten members and partners volunteered at Orygen in Parkville on 18 May (Headspace youth mental health facility). In appreciation, Orygen passed on several boxes of quality clothing for RCM to distribute via our community partners.

Just Group Clothing

The clothing received at Orygen came from the Just Group – rejected but perfectly good stock, now being redirected to people in need through our networks.

Sleeping Bag Appeal

• 228 sleeping bags collected so far, with more expected.

• Being distributed to Youth Projects, The Living Room (Hosier Lane) and others through May and June.

Fundraising

In-Kind Goods – Year to Date

Our club has sourced and redistributed goods to charities valued at almost $70,000 this financial year, at no direct cost to the club.

Bunnings Sausage Sizzles (Major Fundraiser)

• Aug–Dec roster is out; some shifts still need volunteers.

• St Aloysius Secondary College** will assist at **8 barbecues** (mainly Collingwood).

• Expected total income for this financial year is around $36,000.

Youth & Scholarships

Rotary Global Scholar – Metta Chalapati

• Metta is a Rotary International Global Scholar with a long association with RCM (including the National Youth Science Forum).

• She will undertake a dual Master’s in Public Policy (global health) at Sciences Po (Paris) and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

• Metta expressed her gratitude to the club and will provide updates on her studies and work in public health policy over the coming years.

MUNA

Over the past weekend, students from St Aloysius, our Youth Service partner, were invited to take part in the Rotary Model United Nations Assembly (MUNA). The event is all about building bridges of goodwill for world peace and understanding in the minds of our youth, challenging them to respect and tolerate differences of race, religion and nationalism whilst retaining their own individualism and the best of their national traditions.

Nina Cutuli and Jocelyn Weng represented the nation of Italy at the MUNA event, where they were confronted with a series of resolutions and an emergency event to develop global consensus on. They were joined from students from a wide array of Melbourne Schools, with the winner invited to compete at a national MUNA event in Canberra. Both students triumphed in securing amendments for proposed resolutions and took an active role in leading a European coalition to confront global issues.
This is the second year that our Club has sponsored St Aloysius at MUNA as part of a wider partnership.