“Lady guests” will be welcomed into one of Australia’s oldest private clubs as the cost-of-living crisis pushes the men-only Melbourne Savage Club into a six-month trial of mixed dining.
In a survey of the club’s members last year, just 2% (four men) of respondents voted in favour of admitting women as card-carrying members, but they were keen to allow an increase in guests.
The Savage Club describes itself as “the home of bohemian Melbourne for well over a century [that provides] a place for artists, intellectuals and business leaders to share ideas and good company”.
The former Labor senator Doug Cameron called the club a “more sozzled alternative to the genteel Melbourne Club”, based on “bohemianism, free love, frugality and voluntary poverty”.
In 2019, the human rights barrister Julian Burnside famously quit the club because of its refusal to admit women, during his tilt at Kooyong for the Greens.
The Savage Club has a range of bars, dining rooms and meeting rooms in its historically significant home on Bank Place, with its main focus on luncheons and functions.
In a notice to members beginning “Dear Brother Savages”, the president, David McCubbin, explained that the club was not immune to the cost-of-living crisis affecting hospitality venues, with fewer than four people using the facilities on some days.
“Sadly, the Dining Room usage, particularly on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, has diminished to such a level that it has become uneconomic and dispiriting for staff members,” McCubbin wrote.
At its latest meeting, the committee noted an interest and “untapped potential” for members to bring female guests to the Dining Room.
Currently, women can attend some functions such as special interest groups and musical performances, including the “Ancient Savage Hepcats” and the “Savage Sloths and Poets’ Table”. They can also visit after 4.30pm on weekdays.
“The committee resolved at its meeting on 19 June 2025 to implement a six-month trial period of mixed dining on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, commencing 1st July,” McCubbin wrote.
That will allow members to bring “lady guests” to a reserved alcove area of the Dining Room, and for a pre-lunch tipple in the Social Room.
On those days, the Third World Bar will be reserved for members only.
According to the Victorian Heritage Council, the site is significant for its architectural features and for the club’s occupancy.
The council cites high-profile historical members include the artists Frederick McCubbin (the current president’s great-grandfather) and Arthur Streeton, and former prime ministers Billy Hughes and Robert Menzies.
Private gentlemen’s clubs such as the Australian Club, the Melbourne Club and the Tasmanian Club have been the subject of controversy over recent years, often riven over whether or not to admit women, and often lacking transparency about their inner workings.
In London, the Garrick Club lifted its men-only rule last year but so far only three women have been admitted. The broadcast journalist Julie Etchingham recently withdrew her candidacy, apparently uneasy at the level of hostility from men.
