E-142 · A 90-day try-out

A club plan for Rotary Welcome Ritual

Use this as a starting point. Cross out what does not fit, add what is missing and make it your club's own.

Where this idea came from

Playbook entry
E-142 · Rotary Welcome Ritual
Theme
Theme 2: Engagement & Belonging · Subtheme 9: Club Identity & Culture
Source material
Current playbook index title and category plus an internally authored detailed-guide draft

Initiative-specific development wave

How this draft was developed

These sources support general principles for belonging, accessible participation and respectful authority over Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and knowledge; they are not an endorsement of the named Rotary Welcome Ritual or approval to use any word, ceremony, story, symbol, music, image or gesture.

Primary references consulted

Candidate District material consulted

These records remain draft evidence and still need a human source decision.

  • Club Playbook - Theme 2
    Candidate record 84 Club Welcome Phrase or Ritual provides a closely related welcome-practice concept. It is not a literal current-title match and does not supply the present consent, belief, accessibility, cultural authority, host, trial, concern or sunset controls.

Theme 2 source-assurance wave

What has been checked

  • 3 current primary pages used by this guide were reopened on 9 August 2026.
  • 3 attributed source claim(s) were mapped to their bounded use in this initiative.
  • Candidate District material remains separate and does not establish this result.
See each source's scope and limit
  • Enhancing Belonging and Engagement at Rotary
    Supports: Belonging, accessibility, respectful participation and equitable access principles for renewal and club experience.
    Does not establish: That a particular meeting model, membership pathway, leadership process or club culture is inclusive without testing with affected people.
  • Hosting accessible and inclusive in-person meetings and events
    Supports: The 71 attributed Theme 2 claims attached to this source, limited to the implementation elements and supporting documents named in each initiative-level claim mapping.
    Does not establish: Accessibility or inclusion conformance, the needs or preferences of any person or community, cultural authority to act, the suitability of a format or venue, or local approval.
  • AIATSIS Code of Ethics for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research
    Supports: The 6 attributed Theme 2 claims attached to this source, limited to the implementation elements and supporting documents named in each initiative-level claim mapping.
    Does not establish: Accessibility or inclusion conformance, the needs or preferences of any person or community, cultural authority to act, the suitability of a format or venue, or local approval.

What still needs a person to confirm

  • Confirm the member, prospective-member, past-member and community needs, preferences and consent that the local design assumes.
  • Confirm which privacy, safeguarding, incorporated-association, charity, work health and safety, food, liquor, copyright, licensing, screening and other duties apply to the club and the activity.
  • Test accessibility, cultural safety, belonging, language and alternative participation routes with affected people and recognise First Nations cultural authority rather than inferring suitability from the guide.
  • Confirm every local fact, starting point, cost, role, current service contact, measure, stopping condition and platform capability before the club decides to proceed.
  • Confirm the authority and current scope of each primary source, resolve login-gated or moved-page references and keep any candidate District material attributed and unapproved until its source decision is made.

The source-verification release gate remains closed.

Checks still on hold

Still an internal draft: source interpretation, local suitability, accessibility, governance and editorial approval remain open checks.

1. Is this worth trying here?

What we hope will change: Use Rotary Welcome Ritual to turn the club's stated values into everyday habits that members can recognise and uphold.

2. Our 90-day try-out

What our club will do for Rotary Welcome Ritual
StepWhat we will doWho could lead itOur dateHow we will know it is done
1Ask members, recent guests and access advisers what would make arrival clearer and warmer and what existing practices feel confusing, compulsory or excluding.Member experience leadSix weeks before trialA de-identified welcome-needs brief
2Draft a short purpose and several possible welcome practices, then screen words, gestures, music, symbols and stories for cultural authority, rights, belief and accessibility.Welcome design group and board sponsorFour weeks before trialA safe shortlist with excluded elements
3Test the shortlisted practice with varied participants, including remote and access perspectives, and make non-participation and alternatives ordinary rather than exceptional.Accessibility lead and test participantsTwo weeks before trialA tested host script and alternatives
4Approve a time-limited trial, explain the purpose and choice to hosts and members and publish the private feedback and concern route.Club boardBefore first useAn authorised welcome trial
5Deliver the welcome briefly and consistently, provide equivalent visual, spoken and online cues and never call attention to a person who declines or adapts participation.Meeting hostAt each trial meetingA voluntary and accessible welcome
6Review participant experience, access, cultural concerns and host consistency, remove any borrowed or harmful element and decide transparently whether to retain, revise or stop.Member experience lead and club boardAfter four to six meetingsA reviewed welcome practice or clean sunset

3. Checks before we start

Things our club needs to check
QuestionWhat it means for usWho will checkDone?
Check the idea with the people affected and confirm its purpose, owner and practical limits before putting it into use.
Protect member choice and privacy, make participation accessible, and do not infer belonging or satisfaction from attendance alone.
A ritual intended to welcome becomes a test of conformity. — Make participation and alternatives explicit, brief hosts not to monitor compliance and measure clarity and comfort rather than visible participation.
Cultural material is borrowed, generalised or used without authority. — Screen every element, seek the appropriate local authority and remove material when authority, meaning or relationship is uncertain.
The practice excludes people through speech, hearing, sight, movement, language, technology or belief. — Co-design equivalent options, test with varied users and keep the useful information available in more than one format.
A host publicly explains why someone is not participating. — Treat non-participation as ordinary, prohibit public questioning and provide a private route for access and concern follow-up.
The board must approve the purpose, participation boundary, accessibility, host script, trial period, feedback route and retain, revise or stop decision.
No person may be required or pressured to recite, affirm, stand, touch, disclose, use a camera or otherwise demonstrate belonging.
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander cultural material requires the appropriate local authority and cannot be adopted from a generic example.
A welcome practice cannot replace accessible meeting information, personal hospitality, complaint handling or action on exclusion.

4. What changed?

What we will keep an eye on
What mattersWhere we are nowWhat we hope to seeHow we will checkWho
After 90 days, review Rotary Welcome Ritual. Look for members being able to describe the club's shared character and for agreed behaviours appearing consistently in meetings, service and decisions.
New and returning participants able to describe how to enter, participate, seek help and decline the welcome practice.
No required recitation, belief, touch, standing, disclosure, camera or microphone use and equivalent alternatives available without request.
Cultural and rights authority documented for every non-original word, symbol, story, image, music or gesture used.
Trial feedback leading to a recorded retain, revise or stop decision rather than automatic continuation.

After 30 days

Is it reaching the right people? Is anything unsafe, unfair or harder than expected?

After 60 days

Make one useful change based on what people have told you.

After 90 days

Compare with where you started. Decide whether to change it, continue it or stop.

Made for this initiative

Tailored supporting documents

These working documents use the decisions, safeguards and evidence needs of this initiative. Complete them with the people affected and keep the agreed version with the club's project record.

01

Welcome Purpose and Cultural Screening Record

Show why each element is proposed and whether the club has authority to use it.

Open supporting document
02

Welcome Participation and Accessibility Choices

Make participation voluntary and equivalent across common access needs and meeting formats.

Open supporting document
03

Welcome Host Script and Run Sheet

Help each host deliver the same clear, brief and non-compulsory welcome.

Open supporting document
04

Welcome Trial Feedback and Review

Test whether the practice improves belonging without creating new barriers.

Open supporting document

Before your club says yes

Does the idea fit?

Talk with the people it is meant to serve and check that the need is real.

Who can say yes?

Name the person or group that can approve the work, spending and any safety arrangements.

Are people protected?

Check privacy, consent and safety. Collect only the information you genuinely need.

Can everyone take part?

Check the language, format, place, technology and cost for barriers.

Are the facts and permissions right?

Check names, claims, images, quotations, partner references and Rotary branding.

How will we learn?

Note where things stand now, check in at 30, 60 and 90 days, and decide what to do next.

Worksheets for your club

Open them online, print them or change them to suit the way your club works.

01

Welcome guide

Use this worksheet to prepare a practical learning or mentoring session and follow up afterwards.

Open worksheet
02

Are we ready to try this?

Use this worksheet to decide whether a small first try is realistic and what the club must settle before it starts.

Open worksheet
03

Contact plan

Use this worksheet to map each step and keep only the information the club genuinely needs.

Open worksheet
04

Progress check

Use this worksheet to note where things stand and choose a few useful signs that will help the club decide what to do next.

Open worksheet