Blog 7: The Birth of AA in Australia
By Andrew T.
Alcoholics Anonymous worldwide celebrates its beginnings on Founder’s Day, 10 June 1935, the date marking Dr Bob’s sobriety and the start of an unbroken chain of one alcoholic helping another achieve and maintain sobriety. Australia was the second country outside the USA to join, following Canada—a remarkable achievement considering Australia’s geographical isolation from the USA. Given this, it seems only fitting to ask: when should we mark our own beginning – Australia’s Anniversary? When, where, and how did Australia’s nearly 80 year old unbroken chain of one alcoholic carrying the message to another begin?
The Early Contenders
One intriguing possibility dates back to 1941 in Brisbane. On 14 June of that year, Dr Edward Holbrook Derrick wrote to the Australian Medical Journal, stating:
“The nucleus of an ‘Alcoholics Anonymous’ group has been established in Brisbane.”
What Dr Derrick meant by “nucleus” and what became of this group remains unclear. By the time AA gained significant traction in Brisbane in October 1947, there seemed to be no trace of this earlier activity. Following these events, Dr Derrick loaned a copy of the Big Book to a prominent Methodist clergyman, the Reverend Clarence Irving Benson from Melbourne. Reverend Benson, was closely associated with the Oxford Group, and had authored an influential book, The Eight Points of the Oxford Group, in 1936. He would have immediately recognised the principles underpinning Alcoholics Anonymous. After reading the Big Book, Reverend Benson wrote a glowing review in his weekly column in the Melbourne Herald in 1942. However, this was not the end of his connection to AA’s development in Australia.
In September 1947, Reverend Benson encouraged visiting American screen star Lillian Roth to speak openly about her alcoholism and recovery in AA on his nationally broadcast radio show, A Pleasant Sunday Afternoon. Lillian, who was not yet a year sober, and admitted she was still feeling pretty shaky, agreed and shared her story. By doing so, she broke her anonymity, which drew some criticism, including a gentle rebuke from Bill W. Nevertheless, the broadcast created a national sensation. Lillian and her husband, Burt (who was also a member of AA) were inundated with pleas for help. They worked tirelessly to respond, and the publicity provided a significant boost to AA not only in Melbourne, but nationally. This surge of interest, coupled with Lillian Roth and her husband Burt Maguire’s willingness to roll up their sleeves, pitch in and help Australian alcoholics, directly led to the formation of AA groups in Adelaide and Brisbane in late 1947. In this way, Dr Derrick’s 1941 ambition for AA in Brisbane was ultimately fulfilled. His early efforts, seemingly lost to time, perhaps played an unseen but important role in bringing AA to life in Brisbane and elsewhere.
Despite the controversy surrounding her decision to break her anonymity, Lillian won the admiration of many within AA in Australia. Her supporters, including Dr Minogue, were steadfast in their belief in the profound and lasting contribution she made to the fellowship in this country.
Another contender for our starting point occurred in December 1944, when the founder of Boys Town, Father Thomas Dunlea established a camp for alcoholics in Loftus. Father Dunlea is widely regarded, alongside Archie McKinnon and Dr Sylvester Minogue, as instrumental in helping to establish Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) in Australia. Margaret (Bobbie) Berger, AA’s secretary in New York, also deserves considerable recognition for her crucial role—a sentiment which was shared by Dr Minogue amongst others.
But did AA in Australia start in a bush shack in Loftus in 1944? There are suggestions that AA meetings might have been held at the Loftus camp in 1944, although details remain sparse. Father Dunlea’s unconventional approach included providing “good-quality” liquor as an alternative to methylated spirits. Unsurprisingly, this strategy did not succeed. The camp itself was short-lived, finally being broken up by the police, but it left a lasting mark on AA history: Betty H, who helped cater at the camp, went on to become the first woman to join AA in Australia in 1946.
1945 - The Beginning of Continuous AA in Australia
Despite these early sparks, the beginning of AA in Australia is generally recognised as 1945. That year, AA ignited from a spark into a flame, with one alcoholic carrying the message to another—spreading like a benevolent contagion across the country and growing into the fellowship we know today. While 1945 is widely agreed upon as the pivotal year, pinpointing the exact starting point is challenging.
Two key figures in this story were Rex A, a long-term alcoholic from a privileged background, who had lost everything, and Archie McKinnon, a psychiatric nurse at Darlinghurst Reception House. Archie had obtained a copy of the Big Book and was one of the few people in Australia interested in AA at the time. According to Archie, Rex was admitted to Darlinghurst Reception House on 28 February 1945, after a severe bender, following his discharge from the Army in December 1944.
In his unpublished autobiography, held at the Sydney University Library, Rex recalls that he had been staying at Darlinghurst Reception House for about two weeks when he was approached by one of the nurses, Archie McKinnon. Archie sat down beside him and, after asking Rex if he would like to stop drinking and lead a more normal life, Rex responded in the affirmative. Archie handed him a copy of the book Alcoholics Anonymous with the words. “Read it, Rex…The answer to your problems lies in this book.” He added that they could discuss it further when he returned to work in two days. If this initial conversation took place around 14 March (approximately two weeks into Rex’s stay), their follow-up discussion likely occurred on or around Friday, 16 March.
When Archie returned to work, Rex told him that he wanted to join AA. Archie explained that Alcoholics Anonymous did not yet exist in Australia but offered to introduce Rex to some other alcoholics who were interested in starting it. Archie also hinted that Rex would be released soon and promised to arrange for him to meet another alcoholic, Ben B, after his release.
Rex describes being “turned loose on an unsuspecting world” on a “warmish”, humid day in March 1945. Weather reports from the Sydney papers between Wednesday, 14 March, and Wednesday, 21 March, provide clues as to the date:
Wednesday, 14 March: Fine with scattered clouds
Thursday, 15 March: Fine with scattered clouds
Friday, 15 March: Fine and warm
Saturday, 17 March: Morning haze, fine and warm
Sunday, 18 March: Warm with moderate southerly change later in the day
Monday, 19 March: Warm to hot and sultry conditions generally
Tuesday, 20 March: Cloudy and cool with a southerly wind and a shower or two
Wednesday, 21 March: Fine, warm, and sultry
Of these dates, Monday, 19 March, appears to be the most likely candidate for a "warmish" and humid day, consistent with the other details we know about the events. Like many Australians, Rex had a tendency towards understatement—if he described the day as "warmish," it was likely quite hot.
Upon his release, Rex booked a room at the YMCA, had lunch, and spent time at the Mitchell Library. Later that afternoon, at around 5:30 pm, he met Ben B outside the Sydney Hotel. Together, they travelled to Sutherland to visit Father Thomas Dunlea.
Ben B was a pharmacist and a returned soldier, still deeply scarred by the war who, like Rex, had lost everything to alcoholism. In 1953, Psychiatrist, Dr Sylvester Minogue, a pivotal figure in AA’s early days, detailed these events in a multi-part history of AA in Australia published in The Reviver. Ben had been admitted to Reception House some time before Rex and, like him, had shown interest in AA when Archie McKinnon introduced the idea. After leaving Reception House, Ben voluntarily admitted himself to Rydalmere Psychiatric Hospital, where Dr Minogue served as Medical Superintendent.
Rydalmere Psychiatric Hospital (Now a campus of the University of Western Sydney).
While at Rydalmere, Ben was given a Big Book to read and was taught “what AA meant,” although Dr Minogue later described this as "the blind leading the blind." When Archie informed Dr Minogue that Rex, another prospect, had been identified, they arranged for Rex and Ben to meet upon Rex's release.
Both Rex and Dr Minogue credited Ben with teaching Rex the principles of AA. Sadly, Ben began to relapse after a few months. However, Rex continued to work hard to recruit new members, laying the groundwork for AA's steady growth in Australia.
The day after he and Ben visited Father Thomas Dunlea in Sutherland, Rex again visited the Mitchell Library, which makes a weekend release (17 or 18 July 1945) unlikely given trading hours in 1945 Sydney. It seems improbable that the library would have been open on a Saturday afternoon (as Rex's first visit was in the afternoon), and it would have been closed on Sunday.
That evening, Rex met Ben once more, and together they attended a gathering, this time in the Drawing Room of Dr Sylvester Minogue’s home at Rydalmere Psychiatric Hospital. Also present were Dr Minogue, Archie, Father Dunlea, and another “well dressed” patient of Dr Minogue, Wally, who Archie McKinnon described as “dapper, even when drunk’. While the gathering was unconventional—with music and singing—it qualified as an AA meeting: a group of alcoholics with a desire to stop drinking, coming together to support one another.
Pinpointing the Date
On 21 March 1945, Dr Minogue wrote to Bobbie Berger in New York, reporting that a branch of AA had been established in Sydney. Based on various accounts, it appears that the pivotal moment of one alcoholic helping another, which led to continuous AA activity in Australia, occurred between 15 and 21 March 1945. While the 14th, 15th, and 16th of March remain possible dates, the evidence leans towards a slightly later timeframe.
This conclusion is supported by Rex’s account of his stay at Reception House, his conversation with Archie towards the end of his time there, his detailed description of the weather, and the fact that he visited the Mitchell Library on two consecutive days. However, one challenge with this theory is Dr Minogue’s mentions in his 21 March letter to Bobbie B, that AA in Sydney consisted of four members. Reconciling this is difficult unless Dr Minogue was exaggerating slightly, or they had recruited a fourth member by the 21st. Otherwise, the timeline might need to be revised to slightly earlier.
Another important factor to consider is Dr Minogue’s strong determination to establish AA in Australia, as evidenced by his correspondence with Bobbie Berger dating back to 1943. It seems improbable that he would have delayed sharing such significant news. It is reasonable to assume that he wrote to Bobbie as soon as he felt confident that AA had been successfully established in Sydney. This suggests a date shortly before 21 March 1945.
Conclusion
"It takes a village," as the saying goes. The development of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) in Australia owes much to countless individuals—some known, others anonymous, some alcoholics, and some not—who laid the groundwork enabling one Australian alcoholic to help another in 1945.
If we consider the birth of an AA fellowship in Australia to be the moment Rex A and Ben B met with the shared intention of founding AA and supporting each other in sobriety, then Monday, 19 March 1945, could be regarded as our starting point. Alternatively, if we define the beginning as the first AA meeting, this likely occurred the following evening, Tuesday, 20 March 1945, in Dr Minogue’s drawing room in Rydalmere.
While the precise date may be uncertain there’s no doubt that the meeting between Rex A and Ben B in 1945, marked the start of an unbroken chain of alcoholics helping each other stay sober—a legacy that happily continues to this day.
If you have any further information about these events, I’d love to hear from you. Please feel free to reach out at readitrex@aa.org.au
