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About the ABF

What is the ABF?

History

The first organised bridge association were formed in NSW and Victoria in the early 1930's. During that time a number of other states also formed associations. To co-ordinate the sport nationally, the states formed The Australian Bridge Council. This organisation changed its name to the Australian Bridge Federation (ABF) in the 1960's.

The Purpose of the Australian Bridge Federation

The ABF exists to;

  • promote the game of bridge in Australia and internationally.
  • provide the services required by our 30,000 members at nearly 300 clubs
  • represent Australia in the World Bridge Federation
  • facilitate the enjoyment of bridge.
  • make sufficient profit to remain financially viable.
  • to meet the competing needs of our stakeholders that include:
    • Constituent State associations
    • Members
    • Affiliated bridge clubs
    • Directors and the Australian Bridge Directors' Association
    • Teachers and the Australian Bridge Teachers' Association
    • convenors
    • Sub contractors (e.g. the Masterpoints centre)
    • Suppliers
    • Journalists and commentators
    • The bridge playing population including the "entrepreneurial" clubs and members
    • The international bridge community (WBF/Zone 6, Zone 7 and individual member countries)

What is the affiliation fee?

The annual ABF affiliation fees are $12.00 per member which are normally collected as part of your club membership fees .

What do we provide in return?

  • The ABF develops the policies and procedures for managing bridge in Australia.
  • We run major events during the year including the Summer Festival of Bridge in Canberra, the GNOT and many others.
  • Some events provide "qualifying points" which allow players to qualify for a playoff event in April that determines which teams shall represent Australia at international world championships.
  • We send teams to compete in world championship events like the Bermuda Bowl and the Venice Cup, which are held throughout the world.
  • The ABF represents Australia at meetings of Zone 7 and Zone 6 of the WBF, which consists of countries like NZ, French Polynesia, Cook Islands, Fiji and New Caledonia. China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Macau, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
  • Provides a free bi-monthly ABF Newsletter to inform members about the latest in the bridge world, interesting hands, events and bridge related advertising.

The ABF Constitution is available here in PDF format (needs Adobe Acrobat reader)

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