Royal Automobile Club of Victoria

Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV) Limited
Formation1903
TypeRoadside assistance, insurance, resorts, leisure, solar, home trades
HeadquartersBourke Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Location
Members2.29 million (2025)
President and chairman
Greg Robinson
Key people
Neil Taylor, Managing Director and CEO
Revenue$1 billion Australian dollar (2025)
Staff4,000+
Websitewww.racv.com.au

The Royal Automobile Club of Victoria, known as RACV, is a motoring club and mutual organisation based in Melbourne, Victoria. Established in 1903, various sources suggest it is one of the largest member organisations in Victoria with 2.29 million members as of 2025.[1][2]

RACV provides emergency roadside assistance, car loans, and trade services and distributes motor insurance, home insurance and travel insurance. The organisation operates nine resorts across Victoria, Queensland, and Tasmania, and two clubs with locations in Melbourne and Healesville.[3]

History

Automobile Club of Victoria was founded at a meeting held at the Port Phillip Club Hotel on 9 December 1903 called by Syd Day, Henry James and James G. Coleman.[4] Henry James Joseph "Harry" Maddox (1862–1937)[5] was elected as its first President, and H.B. "Harry" James, its first secretary. At that first meeting, a proposal from Henry Sutton, the Australian motoring pioneer, was unanimously adopted:

"that the objects of the club should be the promotion of a social organisation and club, composed mainly of persons owning self-propelled vehicles or motor cycles; to afford a means of recording the experiences of members and others using motor cars and motor cycles; to promote investigation in their development; to co-operate in securing rational legislation and the formation of proper rules and regulations governing the use of motor cars and motor cycles in cities, towns and country districts; to maintain the lawful rights and privileges and protect the interests of owners and users of all forms of self-propelled vehicles whenever and wherever such interests, rights and privileges are menaced; to promote and encourage the improvement, construction and maintenance of roads and highways and the development generally in this State of motoring, and to maintain a club to be devoted to the interests and advancement of automobilism."[6]

It held its first car rally at Aspendale Racecourse in 1904.[7][8][9][10] In 1916, the club received the approval of King George V to prefix the title "Royal" to its name.[11][12]

RACV Headquarters on Bourke Street, Melbourne

It is an unlisted public company, limited by guarantee, and headed by a board of directors consisting of eleven independent non-executive directors and a managing director and CEO.[13] The registered office is located in the Melbourne central business district. It was a founder of the insurance brand AAMI, previously known as Club Motor Insurance and now owned by Suncorp-Metway.[14]

Resorts and Clubs

RACV operates nine resort properties across Australia. Five resorts feature 18-hole golf courses: Cape Schanck, Torquay, Goldfields and Healesville Country Club & Resort in Victoria, and Royal Pines Resort in Queensland.[3]

Victoria:

Queensland:

  • RACV Royal Pines Resort

Tasmania:

The RACV Club operates two locations: the Melbourne City Club in the Melbourne central business district and the Healesville Country Club & Resort.[3]

Publications

RACV’s first magazine was published in 1922 as a supplement to The Australian Motorist.[16] It was launched as a stand-alone publication in the mid-1920s called the Royal Auto Journal.[17]

The Radiator, a newspaper-format publication, was introduced in the mid-1930s.[17] In 1953 a new full-colour magazine, Royalauto, was launched, which later became the bimonthly member magazine RA, published in print and online.[16]

As at September 2016, RoyalAuto had an audited circulation of over 1.4 million, with sources claiming it was Australia's highest-circulating monthly magazine.[17] Today, content continues to be published in the News & Lifestyle section of the RACV website.[18]

Subsidiaries and investments

Notes:[19]

  • R.A.C.V. Finance – 100%
  • Intelematics Australia – 100%
  • Gippsland Solar – 100%
  • Nationwide Group – 100%
  • Insurance Manufacturers of Australia (IMA) – 30% (joint venture with Insurance Australia Group owning other 70%)
  • Club Assist – 30%
  • Australian Motoring Services (AMS) – 24% (joint venture with Australian automobile clubs)
  • Collaborate Corp (Drive My Car) – 6.77% (P2P car sharing company)

References

  1. ^ School of Historical Studies, Department of History. "RACV (Royal Automobile Club of Victoria) - Entry - eMelbourne - The Encyclopedia of Melbourne Online". www.emelbourne.net.au. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  2. ^ "Our corporate governance practices and policies | RACV". @RACV. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  3. ^ a b c "RACV's inspiring spaces in memorable destinations". Spice News. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  4. ^ Thirty years of motoring in Australia: A woman looks back The Age 1 August 1931 page 8
  5. ^ Major H.J.J. Maddox The Argus 4 October 1937 page 3
  6. ^ Motoring: An Automobile Club The Herald 10 December 1903 page 4
  7. ^ [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/174647518 Motor Notes, Melbourne Punch 18 February 1904 page 30
  8. ^ Automobile Club: The Inaugural Run The Age 22 February 1904 page 6
  9. ^ Motor Notes Melbourne Punch 25 February 1904 page 30
  10. ^ Land and Environment: Aspendale Park Racecourse
  11. ^ RACV Annual Report 1916-17
  12. ^ Priestley, Susan (1983). The crown of the road: the story of the RACV. Melbourne: Macmillan Publishers. p. 170. ISBN 0-333-35629-2.
  13. ^ RACV Annual Report 2016
  14. ^ Smith, Simon (2002). From club to corporation: motor insurance and the rise of AAMI 1933–1999. Melbourne: AAMI. p. 271. ISBN 0-9581646-1-4.
  15. ^ "RACV resorts attain Australian-first Advanced Sustainable Tourism rating". www.ausleisure.com.au. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
  16. ^ a b "Photojournalism Students Published in RoyalAuto Magazine". PSC Creative College. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
  17. ^ a b c "Behind Australia's highest-circulating magazine - Mediaweek". www.mediaweek.com.au. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
  18. ^ "Latest lifestyle updates – News & Lifestyle | RACV". @RACV. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
  19. ^ See Notes 28 and 30 to the Financial Statements, RACV Annual Report 2010
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