LIONS INTERNATIONAL - A network of 1.3 million people in 200 countries and geographic areas around the world, all working to build better communities.

The International Association of Lions Clubs began as the dream of Chicago insurance man Melvyn Jones, who wondered why local business clubs, of which he was an active member, could not expand their horizons from purely business concerns to activities for the betterment of their communities and the world at large.

His idea was canvassed among his colleagues and it struck a chord particularly within his own group, the Business Circle of Chicago. They authorised him to explore his concept with similar organisations from all around the United States. His efforts culminated in an organisational meeting at a local hotel on 7 June 1917.

The 12 men who gathered that night overcame a natural sense of loyalty to their parent clubs and voted the “Association of Lions Clubs” into existence and issued a call for a national convention to be held in Dallas in October 1917. 36 Delegates representing 22 Clubs attended that convention at which they forged the constitution and by-laws that largely govern the operations of Clubs throughout the world to this day.

The emblem of two lions facing away from the centre symbolises the past and the future – proud of the past and confident in the future. The slogan of the Association was/is “LIBERTY - INTELLIGENCE - OUR NATION’S SAFETY” – which combines together to form the word LIONS.

The first Club to be formed in Australia occurred in 1947 in Lismore, NSW, with the first Club in Western Australia being the City of Perth (Host) in 1962.