The Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia (RAC) is a motoring club and mutual organisation, providing roadside assistance, motor, home, contents and travel insurance, personal, car and travel loans, as well as road and community safety advocacy.

History

The club evolved from the Automobile Club of Western Australia which was formed by a small group of enthusiastic car owners in 1905. They established the club partly for social purposes, such as picnic runs and reliability trials, and also to overcome the hostility of a community that still depended on the horse for road transport.

The RAC has in excess of 720,000 members from Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

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Timeline of major club events

• 1905 - Formative meeting in Perth on 28 January 1905.
• 1926 - Roadside Assistance begins: 2 motorcycles with sidecars commissioned.
• 1928 - Touring Service begins, offering maps and introducing use of street signs
• 1937 - Motor Insurance first offered.
• 1947 - RAC Insurance PTY Ltd. was incorporated.
• 1957 - RAC Albany branch opened.
• 1964 - Kalgoorlie branch opened.
• 1973 - Geraldton branch opened.
• 1980 - Travel agency service started.
• 1988 - Finance business started.
• 1998 - Mortgage Find started.
• 2003 - RAC Security started.
• 2004 - RAC Auto Services business starts.
• 2008 - Closed Mortgage Find business.
• 2009 - Migrated Vehicle Inspections to Auto Services.
• 2009 - RAC Driving Centre business starts.

Services

Roadside Assistance – breakdown assistance

Finance – car, personal and travel loans

Insurance – home, contents, car, motorcycle, caravan, boat, landlords, renters

Home Security – home security systems

Tourism and travel – escorted and unescorted tours, accommodation bookings

RAC Auto Services - A network of vehicle repair and service centres

Member Service Centres – a network of retail outlets providing RAC Travel products and other merchandise

Advocacy

The RAC is an important advocate for its members and the WA community on issues such as road and vehicle safety, fuel pricing, road funding, transport planning, energy and the environment.

Corporate

The RAC headquarters (Centenary House) is located at 832 Wellington Street, West Perth, Western Australia

West Perth, Western Australia

West Perth is an inner suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia. It is part of the inner mixed zone, and has predominantly office blocks which have displaced residential buildings. There is a high proportion of miners and consultants, and particularly medical specialists, compared to...

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The RAC Group comprises the Royal Automobile Club of WA (Incorporated), RAC Insurance Pty Limited, RAC Travel Services Pty Ltd, RAC Finance Ltd and RAC Security Services Pty Ltd.