Acknowledgement of traditional owners

Australian Dragon Boat Federation (AusDBF) acknowledges and pays respect to the past, present and future Traditional Custodians and Elders of this nation and the continuation of cultural, spiritual, and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. AusDBF recognises and respects these practices acknowledging that our sport in Australia is conducted, administered and celebrated on the land and waterways of these Traditional Custodians.

Dragon Boat Racing in Australia

Dragon boat races are held in Australia from Broome to Brisbane, from Perth to Sydney and from Adelaide to Darwin. The first Australian involvement occurred in 1980 when the Penang Tourist Development Corporation invited the WA Surf Life Saving Association to send a team to the Penang Festival. This was followed the next year by invitations from the HKTA to WA and NSW to send teams to what was then considered the unofficial world championships on Hong Kong Harbour. In 1984 Sydney held the inaugural Sydney Dragon Boat Festival at Farm Cove. The Western Australia Dragon Boat Association formed in 1985. All states have subsequently formed State Associations. Australian Clubs tour regularly overseas and have been sighted at least once at all the major international festivals.

The Australian Dragon Boat Federation Ltd (AusDBF)

Until the formation of the Australian Dragon Boat Federation in 1997 there had been no cohesive, unified national body managing the sport of dragon boat racing in Australia. Several earlier attempts to form a national body floundered through either lack of effective management or lack of support from the clubs and paddlers.

AusDBF is the most recent and successful body to organise dragon boat racing at the national level and is the first dragon boat body in Australia to implement a formal National Sporting Organisation structure. In 2011 AusDBF became a Non Profit Public Company Limited by Guarantee.

Structure

AusDBF consists of a Board of Management (Directors) that looks after the day-to-day affairs of the Company. The AusDBF Board Directors are elected each year at the AGM, or appointed in the case of a vacancy.