It is hard to believe that Clean Up Australia Day began as the inspiration of one man, Ian Kiernan, AO.  An avid sailor, Ian was shocked and disgusted by the pollution and rubbish that he continually encountered in the oceans of the world. Taking matters into his own hands, Ian organised a community event with the support of a committee of friends, including co-founder Kim McKay AO.

This simple idea ignited an enthusiasm and desire among the local community to get involved and make a difference. And surely if a capital city could be mobilised into action, then so could the whole nation!  And so it was that Clean Up Australia Day was officially born in 1990 and has now become the nation’s largest community-based environmental event, held annually on the first Sunday in March.  Over 22 million Aussies have stepped up over the years, pulled on their gloves and volunteered their time to improve the environment.

At RQYS, we thought it apt that as a sailing community ourselves, we take up the responsibility of keeping our beautiful waterways as pristine as possible.  That is why this year we launched our inaugural Clean Up Australia Day event!  We invited the entire community to join in and despite our army of high school volunteers being absent due to the cancellation of Sunday sailing, we still had over 100 volunteers attend on Rigging Lawn 1 to collect their garbage bags and gloves and head off for one hour of community service.