Early History

The growth of interest in dragon boat racing has been astonishing and much of the credit for this belongs to the Hong Kong Tourist Association (HKTA), which arranged the first Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival International races in 1976. Since then, the HKTA and its overseas offices promoted the sport throughout the world, arranging to ship traditional wooden dragon boats and other equipment to cities where interest in the sport was expressed.

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 Inc (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.

AusDBF Milestones