Royal Automobile Club of Queensland

The Royal Automobile Club of Queensland Limited (RACQ) is a motoring club and mutual organisation, providing roadside assistance, insurance, travel, finance and other services to its Queensland members. It is a member of the Australian Automobile Association.

The Royal Automobile Club of Queensland Limited
MottoMore for members
Formation1905
TypeRoadside assistance, Vehicle inspection, Travel advisory
HeadquartersEight Mile Plains, Brisbane
Location
President
Bronwyn K Morris
Key people
Elizabeth M Jameson, Vice-President
David Carter, Group Chief Executive Officer

Glenn Toms, Chief Executive Officer Assistance
Michelle Bagnall, Chief Executive Officer Bank
Greg Booker, Chief Information Officer
Brad Bowes, Group Company Secretary
Fay L. Barker, Director of North Zone
Campbell J. Charlton, Director of Far North Zone
Anthony (Tony) M. Gambling, Director of Central Zone
Arthur J. Gearon, Director of South West Zone
Stephen J. Maitland, Director of South East Zone
Karl D. Morris, Director of South East Zone
Neville Ide, RACQ Insurance Limited Director
Raymond Jones, RACQ Insurance Limited Director
Vyn Tozer, RACQ Insurance Limited Director
Websitewww.racq.com.au

The RACQ Insurance, its insurance arm, is one of the largest[1] providers in Queensland.

Its bimonthly magazine, The Road Ahead, has the highest circulation of any magazine in Queensland with 887,630 paper subscriptions and 165,000 online subscribers.[2]

History

Eighteen motorists formed the Automobile Club of Queensland in 1905 at a meeting of "almost all the motorists in Brisbane" which was held at the School of Arts, in Ann Street. Of the eighteen founding members, ten were medical practitioners. Their belief that "autos" could be a reliable means for visiting patients was used to leverage a more positive image of cars in the public consciousness.[3]

  • William G. Billington
  • Dr Archibald B Brockway
  • Archibald Carmichael
  • P Clarke
  • Dr Lillian Violet Cooper
  • Thomas Coupland
  • Alexander B Elmslie
  • Dr Henry C Garde
  • Nils P Gustavson
  • Dr David Hardie
  • Dr Claude S Hawkes
  • Dr G. Herbert Hopkins
  • Dr Aeneas J MacDonnell
  • Hon. Dr Charles F Marks MLC
  • Dr Victor R Ratten
  • William J Tarrant
  • Walter M Trevethan
  • James Wilson

Dr. George Hopkins was voted to be the President, and Dr. Charles Marks was the first Vice-President. One of the foundation members was a woman, Dr Lilian Violet Cooper, noting that the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria did not permit women to be members at that time.[4]

The club received its Royal Charter in 1921.[5] The club was formed as an advocacy group, styled after the successful Royal Automobile Club of the United Kingdom. At the time of formation there were only 16 registered privately owned motor cars in the whole of Queensland.[6]

RACQ was inducted into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame in 2014.[7][8]

Services

As of 2017, The Royal Automobile Club of Queensland provides the following services:

  • Banking
  • Roadside assistance
  • Cars and driving assistance
  • Car insurance
  • Travel bookings and insurance
  • Cars loans assistance
  • Home assistance
  • Pet insurance[9]

Sponsorship

The RACQ sponsors the Prevent Alcohol and Risk-related Trauma in Youth program (P.A.R.T.Y.) run by the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital.[10]

In addition, the RACQ sponsors the RACQ Community Helicopter Rescue Network[11] through its charitable trust fund.

RACQ also sponsors the All Schools Pedal Prix, RACQ Technology Challenge Maryborough,[12] Older People Speak Out,[13] Queensland Road Safety Awards, RACQ Historic Motoring Council Rally and RACQ Insurance International Women's Day Fun Run[14]

Free2go[15] is a youth program designed to help learner drivers to get their licence and includes roadside assistance. Together with the online learner logbook.[16] Queensland learner drivers can record their required 100 hours of supervised on-road driving electronically.

Locations

The RACQ headquarters are in Eight Mile Plains, on the southside of Brisbane, with hubs at Tingalpa, Fortitude Valley, Virginia, Murarrie and Southport. Its branches are mostly owned outright; however, some are franchised or contracted out, particularly in the road service division with the use of contractors outside of Brisbane.

In 2013, RACQ released one-of-a-kind The Mobile Member Centre[17] that functions as an ordinary branch, and is used for exhibitions and trade shows, and to assist in large-scale disasters in helping communities.

July 2015 controversy

In July 2015 the RACQ was the subject of a report on the Australian Channel 9 program "A Current Affair".[18] Reporter Tracy Grimshaw outlined how the RACQ dismissed tow truck driver Murray French for breaking a road rule when he towed a wheelchair-bound handicapped person's car on a tilt-tray tow truck while the person was still seated in the car. The event was earlier reported by the Logan Reporter[19] and BigRigs.com.au.[20] Thousands of RACQ members and the general public signed a petition calling for the RACQ to reinstate French. On 9 July there was a protest at the RACQ office asking for French's reinstatement.[21] The RACQ issued a response on their Web site disputing the information in the Channel 9 report and defending the decision to dismiss the driver.[22] In a statement the tow truck driver cited the 5 people killed on the M1 while waiting minutes in their car after RACQ had been called.

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 18 July 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) car insurance
  2. "Autumn Campaign 2016". Outback Queensland Tourism. 2016. Archived from the original on 20 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  3. "Club History: More than 100 years of RACQ". Archived from the original on 23 February 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  4. "Our history". RACQ. Archived from the original on 27 October 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  5. "Question: What does RACQ stand for?". FAQs. The Royal Automobile Club of Queensland Limited. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 29 June 2007.
  6. "GovernorRACQ speech". Archived from the original on 2 June 2008. Retrieved 15 April 2008.
  7. "Hall of Fame". Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame. State Library of Queensland. Archived from the original on 23 October 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  8. "Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame | RACQ". leaders.slq.qld.gov.au. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  9. "RACQ Pet Insurance Review – Top 10 Pet Insurance". 2 July 2017. Archived from the original on 23 May 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  10. "RACQ Sponsorship". Archived from the original on 10 July 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. http://www.racq.com.au/links/about-us/sponsorships/technology-challenge%5B%5D
  13. http://www.racq.com.au/links/about-us/sponsorships/opso%5B%5D
  14. http://www.racq.com.au/links/about-us/sponsorships/iwdfr%5B%5D
  15. "Home – RACQ free2go". free2go.com.au. Archived from the original on 26 February 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  16. "Share this page". learn2go.com.au. Archived from the original on 30 September 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  17. "Mobile Member Centre – News and Community – RACQ". racq.com.au. Archived from the original on 27 April 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  18. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) |retrieved 9 July 2015
  19. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) |Retrieved 9 July 2015
  20. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) |Retrieved 9 July 2015
  21. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) |Retrieved 9 July 2015
  22. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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