AUSTRALIAN HOTELS ASSOCIATION
The AHA(WA) has been a part of the rich fabric of Western Australia’s tourism and hospitality industry for 130 years.
Established in 1897, the AHA(WA) it is one of the State’s oldest professional trade associations.
Its founder’s goals were to establish an association that would support the hospitality industry with the highest quality services and resources available.
The first known gathering of the Western Australian Licensed Victuallers, (as the AHA was known in those days), was in 1879, however it took another 13 years before the organisation was made official. On the 12th July 1892, the WA Licensed Victuallers gathered at the Royal Hotel in Perth’s CBD for the purpose of establishing a unified state-wide association.
The following day, the West Australian newspaper reported “A special general meeting of Licensed Victuallers and others interested in the formation of the United Licensed Victuallers Association was held last evening, at the Royal Hotel, Mr R. Wolfe was in the chair.”
In the formation meeting the principal business was the election of officers and it was unanimously decided that Mr Strickland of the United Service Hotel was to be appointed President.
Over the past 130 years the AHA(WA) has lobbied for dozens of causes which have, or would have, a profound effect on WA’s hotel and hospitality industry. These events include the prohibition referendums of 1925 and 1950; the change of the Western Australian legal drinking age from 21 to 18 years old in 1970, the 2007 introduction of a compulsory Responsible Service of Alcohol accreditation, the 2015 increase to Sunday trading hours and the 2016 reduction in tax on working holiday makers.
FUN FACTS
At 130 years, the Australian Hotels Association (WA) has surpassed many famous Australian organisations. Bankwest was formed in 1895; The Commonwealth Bank was established in 1911; Qantas was formed in 1920; Vegemite was launched in 1922 and Australia’s federation as a nation occurred on 1 January 1901 – nine years after the AHA(WA) was formed.
