From the President It's been another busy month for the club – our April Bayside Farmers Market was extremely popular (and lovely to see more dogs visiting us), members participated in the virtual Multi-District Conference and District conference last weekend and we’ve been planning for the running of our Community Sausage Sizzle at Bunnings Mentone on Sunday 23 May (come and say hello and buy a sausage please). Our fundraising is vital to supporting Rotary’s community and international projects. A new project the club is developing is to develop the capacity within Tonga’s health system, through the provision of training and specialist equipment, to undertake regular screening of the hearing of young children within the country. We are working with the Rotary Club of Nuku’alofa, the Audiology Department from Melbourne University and the Ministry of Health, Tonga. Melbourne University Audiology Department has been working with the Rotary Club of Hampton for several years, supporting the screening of pre-school children in Hampton.   Regards Amanda

Recent Events

Club Meeting – Tuesday 13th April
Guest Speaker - Professor John Skerritt , Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) – 



Given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past year, it was indeed an honour to have Professor Skerritt speak to our Club about the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines, and challenges.
John spoke about the role of the TGA, and the approval process for drugs and vaccines. He also provided insight to the analysis of adverse events and the forensic process required to determine the cause and effects when adverse events occur.

He also spoke about the work being done offshore with poorer countries in the region, such as with PNG and Timor Leste, where they are working to assist them develop their approval system, safety advice and safety reporting systems, as well as storage guidelines. They are also working with Thailand on their vaccine factory capability.

Thanks so much to Professor Skerritt for his time to speak with us on what was a very topical and timely presentation, as well as to answer the range of questions members raised.

Club Meeting – Tuesday 20th April – Club Forum
A Club Forum where members discussed club activities & projects and plans for the coming period.

April Bayside Farmers’ Market – Saturday 24th April – “A Fantastic Community Event”



The April Bayside Farmers’ Market was a great morning out for everyone. Not only was the weather fine and the range of produce and goods from all the stallholders amazing, but families and friends took time out to relax on the grass, catch up over a coffee and morning snack, and enjoy the live music from the YarraVillians. There were sing-alongs and dancing, and even some budding artists were spotted sketching market scenes as well.

Thanks to all the stallholders, Regional Farmers Markets and all the volunteers who helped, and of course, all the market patrons who came out to support the market. April’s market was a fantastic community event!

Our next market will be back on Saturday 22nd May 8am – 1pm at Trey Bit Reserve Sandringham – so see you there.

Pre-School Hearing Screening – Saturday 8th May



After the COVID restrictions last year put a halt to face-to-face events, we are now thrilled to be able to re-launch the Pre-School Hearing Screening project again for 2021.

The first session for this year was held on Saturday 8th May at Hampton Primary School and was fully subscribed, with a wait-list already set-up for our next date later in the year. This project was first piloted in 2015, and is a joint initiative between Hampton Rotary, Bayside City Council and the University of Melbourne. Hampton Primary School also support this project and have made available their premises again for the testing session. Pre-school children are tested to identify any hearing issues, which can have the potential to impact both their short-term and long-term speech and language development. Students from the Master of Clinical Audiology at the University of Melbourne conducted the tests, under the supervision of a qualified audiologist.

Big thanks to Marie Arendsen, Project Leader for this project, who co-ordinated all the arrangements for this session. Also, many thanks to all the Club members who volunteered to support this project and helped out at the registration table during the day. We also want to extend our thanks to the team from the University of Melbourne who do an amazing job testing all the children throughout the day.

The dates for the next testing session will be announced in due course and any further enquiries regarding this project can be directed to:

Marie Arendsen
Email: arendsen.m.a@gmail.com

Club Projects

Spirit of St Mary's Award 

For 2021, two year 6 students were elected by their peers at the commencement of the school year. They were considered to best meet the criteria of kindness, responsibility, fairness, friendship and acceptance. In addition, staff considered they upheld the school principles.

Evie Leeds and James Jebb were elected as Friendship Captains.
The photo shows them with the Honour Board, school deputy principal Nathan Eddy and Geoff Tickner

International Hearing Project – Children of Tonga

The Rotary Club of Hampton has developed an exciting new International project in the Pacific and is currently in the process of finalising the project plan for implementation. The project is focussing on screening the hearing of young primary school age children, which is currently not undertaken on a regular basis as is the situation here in Australia.

The Tonga Hearing Project, to be undertaken in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Nuku’alofa and supported by the University of Melbourne, will train Community Health Personnel to screen the hearing of Grade 5 and 6 Primary School Children to identify possible hearing or ear health problems, and supervise screening of 3200 children them prior to them embarking on life’s educational and social pursuits.

Tonga is a Polynesian sovereign state in the Pacific with a population of about 110,000, situated 4322 km from Melbourne. About 70% of the population reside on the main island of Tonga’tapu where the project will be rolled out. A previous clinical study found that about 30% of a sample of 500 primary age children were found to have some hearing/ear problems.

Currently there is no hearing screening program in Tonga and our project proposes to fly in specialist audiologists and support technicians and train local community health staff to conduct and document regular screening for young children. Identified problems are to be referred to medical authorities for detailed investigation and remediation.

It is proposed that the project will also provide specialised equipment to facilitate screening and follow-up with community education programs.

Additional funding support is needed to ensure this highly beneficial humanitarian project can achieve its goals and the young population can embark on life with sound hearing. We are pleased that a proportion of that additional funding requirement has been promised but much more is needed.

For more information contact Peter Read peterlread@bigpond.com


Upcoming Club Meeting/Events

Club Meetings Still Online – ZOOM-in to get the latest updates

Here is the dedicated link to join ANY of the Hampton Rotary Zoom Meetings (it will be the same for each meeting):

The meetings commence at 7:00PM and to join the meeting, click this link from 6:50PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88310576978?pwd=VG41aG83RlJiMW1yQ2d5N3ZjOU5rdz09

You can also refer to our website for further updates on the upcoming meeting program
https://hamptonrotary.org.au/all-events


Club Meeting – Tuesday 11th May
Guest Speaker - Rose Baernreuther
Education Department Visiting Teacher for the Hearing Impaired



Over the past 30 years Rose has worked in a variety of settings including at the Victorian College for Deaf Children and in special facilities for the Deaf in both mainstream primary and secondary schools. Rose has also worked as an Inclusion Support Facilitator in the kindergarten, early intervention and childcare sectors.

She brings with her a wealth of experience and a thorough understanding of the impact of hearing impairments on educational outcomes, social engagement and family dynamics.

Zoom log-in details for the meeting are on our website at:
https://hamptonrotary.org.au/meetings

Club Meeting – Tuesday 18th May – Club Forum

Zoom log-in details for the meeting are on our website at:
https://hamptonrotary.org.au/meetings

Club Meeting – Tuesday 25th May – Trivia Night

A great opportunity to test your knowledge on a wide range of topics and having fun at the same time.

Zoom log-in details for the meeting are on our website at:
https://hamptonrotary.org.au/meetings

Board Meeting – Tuesday 1st June
This is a Board Meeting only and Board Members only are to attend.

Club Meeting – Tuesday 8th June
Guest Speaker – Tim Klar - Audiologist - Member of Tonga Hearing Project Team



Tim joined the Rotary Club of Adelaide East(D9500) in 1990 and served as President in 1999-2000 and subsequently transferred to Coromandel Valley Rotary Club in 2014.

He has worked in the Commonwealth and State Public Health systems, as Senior Audiologist at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and in private practice. He retired in 2016 but still does occasional locum work. In 2012He was involved in the H.E.A.R.S pilot project in Tonga and has undertaken a number of trips to Tonga as a volunteer Audiologist in both assessment and training roles.

Zoom log-in details for the meeting are on our website at:
https://hamptonrotary.org.au/meetings

Club Meeting – Tuesday 15th June – Club Forum

Zoom log-in details for the meeting are on our website at:
https://hamptonrotary.org.au/meetings

Presidents’ Changeover Night - Tuesday June 22, 2021

Cilantro Restaurant - Holmesglen Moorabbin Campus - 488 South Rd Moorabbin

For details and booking information click HERE.

District Rotary News

District Conferences



The five Rotary Districts in Victoria joined to celebrate 100 years of Rotary in Australia through a virtual Multi District Conference. Held on May 1st and 2nd the excellent speakers included Jessie Harmon (Zone 8 RI Director), Ian Riseley, Lord Mayor Sally Cap, Jennifer Jones (RI President 2022-23). Amongst the many excellent presentations there were two that stood out for me - Robert Pradolin (General Manager of Frasers Property Australia) and a speaker from Salvation Army who both addressed the issue of homelessness and affordable housing especially in the wake of the COVID pandemic.

In a break-out session on the Saturday District 9810 came together virtually to celebrate achievements and showcase projects. We were all very proud of the video presentation produced by Christine Lindsey to highlight the many achievements of Hampton Rotary.

Liz Ware
Secretary RC Hampton