Our Club History

The Australian Caravan Club was launched in September 2006, when some forward thinking caravanners perceived a real need for a truly representative national organisation to meet the wide variety of interests and needs of caravanners and camper-trailer owners. Our objectives are clearly set out in our Constitution.

Existing caravan clubs and Associations do an excellent job running social and rallying activities for caravanners, but do not appear to be a single body able, or wishing, to speak up on National issues. We see ourselves, in part, as a lobby group - not as an organisation set up to attack the RV industry – but rather to work with existing organisations for the benefit of all caravanners and camper-trailer owners.

The Australian Caravan Club was set up using the model of the UK's ‘The Caravan Club’ - an organisation with huge benefits for members with a current membership of more than 300,000.

Dynamic Committees

We have appointed three dynamic committees to look after Independent Camping, Marketing and our annual National Muster and AGM. These committees are doing sterling work – the Independent Camping Committee is responsible for liaison and lobbying of Government bodies and other authorities to see that facilities for caravanners are not only maintained but improved.

Our Marketing Committee has successfully organised our participation in a number of major caravan shows  and has developed a healthy relationship with trade advertisers and sponsors to enhance our activities and provide more benefits for members.

Local Branches

It was never intended that the ACC would be in competition with existing caravan and camper-trailer clubs - we believe there is room for both types of organisations and many caravanners hold dual memberships including our Chairman and another Director.

Fourteen local branches have been formed with Western Australia and Tasmania the only States still to establish branches. Our branches organise social weekends called ‘Musters’ and similar activities including the occasional ‘tag-along’ tour.

Strong Lobby Group

An informal alliance has recently been entered into with the Campervan and Motorhome Club of Australia (CMCA), the National Association of Caravan Clubs (NACC) and the Australasian Touring Caravan, Motorhome and Camping Club (ATCMCC) to form an organisation, which is known as MoTouring, to provide a strong lobby group on issues affecting all RVers.

Registered Company

Unlike other clubs that are State-based incorporated bodies, the ACC is an Australian Registered Company that reflects our truly National identity.  Our club is managed by a Board of six Directors elected by our club members at our Annual Meeting.  All directors are dedicated volunteers who receive no remuneration for their work.

Although our registered office is in Queensland, our club is a National body with members from every State plus the ACT and the Northern Territory.

The Club Constitution

We have a comprehensive Constitution which clearly sets out our objectives and governs the operation of the Club.

A copy of the Constitution may be downloaded from this website.

The document is in Adobe pdf format and an appropriate reader may be obtained free from Adobe by clicking the above button.

The Club Management and Operational Structure

A Board of directors controls and manages the affairs of the Club according to the Constitution.  It consists of upto six directors elected by the membership.  A number of committees have been established to assist the board in specific areas.  Details of the Club's Directors are listed at the end of this page.

The Nomad

The Club publishes a full colour magazine, The Nomad,  containing a wealth of topics including among other things, specialist articles, technical advice, news on advocacy, news from our branches and committees, contact lists and our upcoming events calendar.  The Nomad is posted to members each quarter.

ACC Branches

Social activities are organised through locality based branches and we now have fourteen branches operating in a number of states with more on the way.  To contact a branch in your area, just refer to the Contact Us section of this web site.

Club and Branch Events

Our social activities are called musters and each of our branches organises upwards of six musters per year.

Branch musters are always an enjoyable occasion for all attendees and typically each muster attracts 20 to 30 caravans. The Branch musters are generally held over a weekend at a location within easy reach of the Branch's members.

Each year a national muster is held to coincide with the Club’s Annual General Meeting.  The national muster is a much larger gathering held over a number of days in a central location.  Our first national muster was held at Byron Bay in 2007 and covered by several caravanning magazines including The Caravan & Motorhome, the 2008 muster was held in Casino, NSW, the 2009 in Mildura, Victoria and the 2010 National Muster is planned for Maryborough in Queensland.  The national muster is somewhat more formal in structure and as well as the AGM itself includes seminars conducted by various experts on caravan related topics.  The social side is not forgotten, evening Happy Hours are well attended and the Boules competition, now an annual fixture are keenly fought.

Details of upcoming musters are listed in our magazine, The Nomad and in an on-line events calendar.

The Club Website

The Club maintains a dynamic website containing a large amount of content including, latest news, events calendar, tips and tools, an opt-in membership directory and an active members forum.  It is a very useful resource for the sharing of experiences, advice and other information.

Caravan Insurance

Manufactured Homes Insurance Agency Pty Ltd (MHIA) has designed a special caravan insurance policy for Australian Caravan Club (ACC) financial club members. This policy offers a wider range of benefits than the standard policy.  Details are in the Caravan Insurance Section of this website.

Becoming a Member

Just click Join The Club to find out more about membership.

Contacting The Club

Contact details for the Club's officers, committee chairman and branch secretaries are available in the Contact Us section of this website.

The Club Directors

Chairperson - Lionel Mussell, Victoria, Author. Lionel has over 40 years and 2 million kilometres experience travelling this great land. He has written a range of books on travelling Australia, operates his own web site which provides advice to caravanners and tourists who look for answers to their wide range of questions about travel in Australia. Lionel also writes his monthly "On the Wallaby" column for "Caravan World".

Secretary - Alan Lazarus, Victoria. retired following 35 years in the telecommunications industry, both at home and abroad. He and his wife, Deirdre, are avid caravanners, clocking up thousands of kilometres in the last few years. He also has interests in aviation - as pilot and builder of his own aircraft, and journalism. He is currently co-editor of the ACC magazine, the 'Nomad'.

Treasurer - Rob Tudor, Victoria, retired. Rob retired 5 years ago, bought a caravan and went travelling.  Prior to retirement he worked for over 30 years in the Information Technology industry both in Australia and overseas.  He is a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia and holds an Economics Degree majoring in Accounting.  He maintains his own web site detailing his travels and is also the webmaster for the club.

Director - Tom Smith, is a grazier from Inverell. He's been a caravanner since 1991, and has extensive agricultural representative experience. His main goals with the ACC include freedom of choice for camping locations and promoting safety through education.

Director - Craig Humphrey, Queensland, Public Servant. Craig has been caravanning with his family for the past 5 years. He is a past president of our Family Firesiders branch. He is a public servant and also supports several not-for-profit community groups in the Sunshine Coast region where he resides. He has tertiary qualifications and extensive management experience.

Director - Jenny Beausang Details TBA