Few clubs have generated as much press in recent years as the modern-day run club, but the constellation of clubs being built around community, inclusivity and shared interests is much more expansive.Whether it’s cooking circles, film societies, birding walks or chess nights, Australians are finding new ways to gather, make friends and connect.DJs and late-night dance floors aren’t going anywhere, but it’s the reinvention of the kind of clubs we joined as kids or teens that are offering up a new space for connection in 2025.Here are 10 doing it well. 

Acid Chess Club, Melbourne

Name: James “Benji” Benjamin, co-founder.
Why did you start the club? Me and Jack [Irvine], my co-founder, spent a fair bit of time during lockdown playing chess; I introduced it to him. He got good in a short amount of time, and he says I’m a good teacher. At some point he said, “You should teach more people how to play.” One of our friends ran Good Gnocchi and he wanted to activate an event on Tuesdays, so we started a chess club.
What do you do, how often do you meet, and where do you do it? It’s a free club. We prioritise doing a lesson to start – you come in, play friendly games and then we do the lesson. When we got offered [space at] Runner Up, which is where we’re at now, it became a monthly event. Now it’s twice a month – the main competition night and a secondary night focused on learning. That’s the Learn and Play, three Thursdays from the end of the month.
Talk us through a typical club meet-up. The social aspect is pretty high. There’s a lot more people wanting to hang out and get to know people on the Learn and Play nights compared to the competition nights. We teach for an hour – we get some of the chess club hosts who are Fide masters or we ask people we meet in the community if they’re interested in teaching intermediate or advanced lessons. Besides that, it’s generally just fun, friendly games and socialising. There’s always a music element – we book DJs for it.
What are your club dos and don’ts? There are obviously game rules, but there are also three main rules. When you’re playing each other, it’s 10 minutes max on the clock for friendly games, and you need to reset the board at the end of each game.
Second rule is after each friendly game, swap and play a different player – don’t play your friends all the time. Meet new people.
The third one is, we’re all friends in Acid Chess Club. Always be considerate of players from all skill levels, while treating every person in our club with respect. Any unfriendly behaviour will result in exclusion from our safe space.
What do you love about your club? How much it helped people assimilate back into community [after lockdown] and interact with people on an interpersonal level. It’s fine to be introverted or extroverted or whatever you may be, but I have seen people come out of their shells through the club in beautiful ways. It’s seeing people heal through community, via the club, that brings me the most amount of joy and stirs me to continue doing it.
How can people join the club? It’s basically a free-for-all – you just turn up. It’s inclusive in that way.

Nanna’s Bake Club, Adelaide

Name: Chaveli Goya, founder.
Why did you start the club? I saw The Cake Picnic, that started in America, and I thought, “That’s so cool”. But I wanted mine to be different. I thought it would be cool to get people together and have a bake club where I set a theme and people can be as creative as they like.
It’s called Nanna’s Bake Club, because Mum is the reason I learned to bake, and she became a grandma – or a nanna – last year. She used to do something like this when she was younger.
What do you do, how often do you meet, and where do you do it? We change it up: different locations, different theme each month.
Talk us through a typical club meet-up. I greet everyone, check them in and make sure they’ve got a name tag and a tag for their baked good. We go around and introduce ourselves, what we’ve brought and if there’s a reason behind it. Once everyone’s done, we let everyone go around and eat cake and baked goods and have a chat.
What are your club dos and don’ts? A do would be do attend, because it doesn’t matter what you bring, we’re super open. Don’t let your worries or your doubts [about your baking skills] stop you from attending. We’re not competing against each other, we’re a community. We want people to feel encouraged.
What do you love about your club? I didn’t think anyone would attend, so watching it grow over the past year has been incredible. It’s so nourishing to see how happy it makes other people and how much of a community I’ve made.
How can people join the club? We have an Instagram and put our tickets live on Eventbrite. 

SoSo’s Run Club, Brisbane

Names: Sophie Rindfleish and Sofie Spelta, co-founders.
Why did you start the club? To create a sense of community for young people, get them socialising and doing something good for their physical and mental health.
What do you do, how often do you meet, and where do you do it? We run a social run club every week in Newstead, Brisbane.
Talk us through a typical club meet-up. We meet at 6am every Saturday morning and we run up to five kilometres along the Brisbane River and back, then we go to a local coffee shop. Great vibes, coffee and a chance to meet new people.
What are your club dos and don’ts? Dos: stay for coffee after the run. Introduce yourself to someone new. Stay left when running. Run or walk at your own pace. Share your run on Insta. Don’ts: there aren’t a lot of rules at SoSo’s that aren’t just common sense!
What do you love about your club? The friendships it creates. We get so much positive feedback and see so many friendships that started at SoSo’s. We think of SoSo’s as a social club that also runs.
How can people join your club? Register online and fill out a waiver, which can be accessed via a link in our Instagram bio. It’s completely free and anyone can join.

Club DVD, Melbourne

Name: Dayna Di Fulvio, host and curator.
Why did you start the club? We felt a space was missing for people who loved watching films and dissecting them a little more than casually, especially when it came to femmes and queers. We wanted to create a space where you didn’t need to know a director’s entire film history, but you could talk about beautiful cinematography, infectious characters and how the themes spoke to your personal experiences.
What do you do, how often do you meet, and where do you do it? Our event is designed for film lovers to meet other film lovers. We screen indie films and forgotten gems in a friendly, approachable space, with breakout groups afterwards so people can mingle and chat about the film. We host monthly events, sometimes fortnightly. You can catch our screenings at Milney’s Upstairs and Wildflower, both in Fitzroy North.
Talk us through a typical club meet-up. You enter, and grab yourself a drink – cocktails or mocktails are encouraged. Before the film begins, you can read some interesting film facts projected on the screen and maybe chat about them with the person next to you. Once everyone’s settled, two of our hosts introduce the movie and explain how the night runs. Then we press play and watch the selected masterpiece. After the film ends, the hosts say a few words before a short break while we set up the breakout groups. As people return, you’ll head to your designated group. After everyone has spent time in their groups, we invite everyone to move around as they please. Usually at the end of our events, everyone is huddled in one room all chatting together – it’s very sweet.
What are your club dos and don’ts? Our club doesn’t have any strict dos or don’ts, but we ask everyone to listen respectfully, without interrupting, and allow everyone the chance to speak. During breakout groups, we emphasise the importance of listening as well as speaking. The only real requirement for joining our club is simple: be a film lover.
What do you love about your club? The people our club attracts. Most members come solo, which can feel daunting, but they show up with open minds, respect and a real thirst for conversation. Whether you’re a girl who loves talking about Twilight, a trans person who’s into campy horrors or a straight guy who loves David Lynch, we love seeing everyone connect through film and a shared experience. It’s been really gratifying to see a lot of people make genuine friendships out of the club – some regular attendees have even built larger friendship groups and now meet up outside of our events.
How can people join the club? Each event is ticketed, so get in quick. You can also follow us on Instagram and Tiktok to stay up to date with our events and movie selections.

Crafter Work Drinks, Perth

Name: Emma Whettingsteel, co-founder.
Why did you start the club? Nearly three years ago, me and three other friends were all a little burnt out and wanted to do our craft projects – but not by ourselves and not taking up all that space at home. We wanted somewhere that was low-effort, didn’t require a lot of work to be able to do something nice and social, and [allowed us to] work on projects that were too messy to do at home.
What do you do, how often do you meet, and where do you do it? We meet at the Victoria Park and Carlisle Bowls Club, and people can drop in whenever they like. It’s every week on a Friday afternoon. It’s a BYO craft project – we don’t provide anything except a name badge to write your name on. Everybody brings their own craft, their own projects and buys their own drinks.
Talk us through a typical club meet-up. It’s relaxed, come and go as you like, do a cool project or even a shit project that you’re working on – no expectations.
What are your club dos and don’ts? We don’t have a formal rule book – we’ve tried really hard not to over-govern or over-complicate it. The general vibe is it’s a safe space for mediocrity – it’s not a space where you need to be really talented and really serious and intense about a project. Do bring something that you want to work on, or that you want to learn about, or that’s just fun for you. Don’t have high expectations about what might happen, what might be provided or what you might be able to achieve in a night.
What do you love about your club? It’s so friendly. People really put themselves out there, especially the first time they come along.
How can people join the club? They don’t really have to do anything, they just have to turn up.

Sydney Bird Club, Sydney

Name: Stephanie Chambers, co-founder.
Why did you start the club? We started in 2016. Things have changed, but 10 years ago there was no inclusive space for people who were curious about birdwatching  I’m queer/non-binary and based the model of SBC on open spaces I loved – if language is not deliberate, someone can’t know whether people like them are truly welcome. We also choose accessible paths, factoring in public transit and access to toilets and water.
What do you do, how often do you meet, and where do you do it? Essentially, we get people together and we learn about the birds in Sydney. We have no set schedule. We do around 40 different events a year. We go all over Sydney.
Talk us through a typical club meet-up. They’re all a little different, but on our big seasonal walk, we get about 80 people together. We have special checklists, and we go and observe the birds. It depends on the season: for example, in winter, the sea birds come closer to shore, so we’ll go down to the beach and have a look at them. Whereas in autumn, we get our migratory birds passing through, like our rufous fantail. I lead the walks along with volunteers. Sometimes we bring in special experts, like Kirsty Costa from Weekend Birder or Dr Holly Parsons (Birds in Backyards). We’ve worked with the Australian Museum, Museums of History, the National Maritime Museum and created the Inner West Bird Fest.
What are your club dos and don’ts? We practice ethical birdwatching, and within the birdwatching space there are pretty strict dos and don’ts. You wouldn’t want to disturb a nest, you don’t want to use flash photography, you don’t want to play bird calls to lure birds out as it could really upset them. A big club do is to be friendly, be inclusive. We encourage people to talk to one another. I cannot begin to tell you how many people have made friends in the club. We say, “good vibes only” – we want people to be positive. We always say cooperation over competition; globally, some people chase birding records, but for most people competitiveness comes across as gatekeeping or judgement around knowing facts, identifying species or having seen bird species before. We deliberately cater to beginners and work to foster a culture of openness to prevent this.
What do you love about your club? The people. It’s funny – it’s obviously a birdwatching club, and we see astoundingly amazing birds throughout the year, but it’s the people that make me the most fulfilled. It’s the community aspect of it. It’s incredible.
How can people join? Just sign up to the newsletter. There’s no entry fee: we wanted to keep barriers to entry really low.

Novelette Book Club, Melbourne

Name: Ruby Wyant, founder.
Why did you start the club? It’s hard to make friends with similar interests nowadays, and I personally found it hard to find a book club – they were all full, or they were reading books that were old classics by old white men. I wanted to read books that were more interesting to me, and I wanted to make some new friends.
What do you do, how often do you meet, and where do you do it? We hold monthly meetings reading books written only by women or gender-diverse authors. We meet monthly at a library or community space or a park, and we discuss a book, or we scrapbook or we have dinner or we have a drink. It’s a very community-based thing – it’s almost less about the reading and [more about] getting to meet new people and have fun and be in a space that’s shared.
Talk us through a typical club meet-up. Lately, we’ve been having scrapbooking meetings. I set up a bunch of tables with some scrap paper, and pop discussion questions on a whiteboard or projector. I usually order pizza, and I encourage people to scrapbook about the book and then have a chat with each other using the questions on the board. It’s very free-flowing – people are free to come even if they haven’t read the book.
What are your club dos and don’ts? Do bring baked goods – someone is always bringing cookies. Everyone’s allowed, even without reading the book, so a do is inclusivity. And I wanna say whimsy – I encourage people to be whimsical. A don’t would be: don’t be mean. Everyone’s welcome, so as long as you’re having fun, there are no other don’ts.
What do you love about your club? Seeing the joy this brings to people – being able to see people make friends, and the whole community aspect. It’s special.
How can people join? Follow on Instagram – we post all of the details of the meetings there – and then RSVP when the details come out. They can also join the Whatsapp group or the Discord server, where they can chat between meetings with other members. 

Cookbook Club, Sydney

Name: Mika Nakamura, founder/host.
Why did you start the club? I was trying to find a club myself – to meet new people in Sydney. The only thing I could find on Instagram were fitness-related clubs, or, if it was food-related, it was out of my budget. I thought, “Why not just do a picnic-style or potluck-style event? I’ll just do it with my friends first and see if people are actually interested.” I started posting slowly, and it grew over time.
What do you do, how often do you meet, and where do you do it? Cookbook Club is a community or social cooking club, but there’s no pressure. Whether you’re a beginner or very experienced cook, as long as you bring something, it’s completely fine. We follow a cookbook or theme every month, which gives you something to talk about with everyone.
Talk us through a typical club meet-up. We usually start at 1pm, you sign in, write your dish name on a piece of paper, then set up your dish on the table. At 1.30pm we do a welcome, and then we start eating. It’s buffet style, so you get a plate and you just grab whatever you want, then sit wherever you want to and talk to people.
What are your club dos and don’ts? Do be open and be kind. Some people, especially coming alone, can feel a bit nervous, but it’s a relaxed and friendly environment. A lot of the dishes might be something you’re not familiar with, so do have a taste of something that you’ve never seen before. Don’t be nervous, just try and talk to someone when you’re there. Don’t feel like you don’t belong there – everyone is bringing something, and everyone feels the same way. Do [be mindful] of food safety in general – you’re cooking food at home and preparing it for around 50 people, so be cautious.
What do you love about your club? The community. I wasn’t expecting it to be so strong and so warm, but every month, I’m always surprised by how friendly everyone is and how open people are to chatting.
How can people join the club? Everything’s done on Instagram. At the start of the month, we’ll post an event and you can buy tickets from the links we provide there. 

Scrap Society, Canberra

Name: Brooke Corkhill, founder.
Why did you start the club? So that people can meet new friends in a welcoming safe space and get offline, make something with their hands for fun and create tangible memories.
What do you do, how often do you meet, and where do you do it? We run crafty, creative events throughout Australia. We run events in Canberra, which is where I’m based, but also Melbourne, and we have plans to head to the Gold Coast and Sydney. I try my best to do monthly events, but they take a decent amount of time to plan so they’re not as frequent.
Talk us through a typical club meet-up. A typical meet-up is based around a crafty activity – mostly collage, scrapbooking or journaling. (We’ve also hosted a pottery-painting workshop.) People can bring their own journal, or they can purchase one and I’ll bring along a journal for them. There are stickers, paper, markers – all of the crafty things your heart desires. Sit down at a table with others and scrap and yap, with food and drinks.
What are your club dos and don’ts? Do come along expecting to create something fun that you’re really gonna like. I feel like sometimes people come in with lower expectations for themselves, but I’m always wowed by how creative and artistic people are, especially when they’re not expecting to be. Do bring your own crafty materials to share, if you would like.
Do prepare to meet some new people whose vibe you’ll enjoy. The community is so wonderful, warm and welcoming – there are opportunities to make new friends.
What do you love about your club? The energy at the events and meet-ups. It’s so pure and special. I think that energy is due to the people who come along.
How can people join? The easiest way is following on Instagram. You can also check our website for tickets, or I post about the events on Facebook. 

Bondi Salties, Sydney

Name: Henry Meagher, co-founder.
Why did you start the club? For selfish reasons – a love and appreciation of Bondi Beach and pulling together a few mates and going for a swim on a Friday morning, followed by a coffee. It was such a nice experience that we decided to continue it. Starting a club was never the intention.
What do you do, how often do you meet, and where do you do it? We are a community swim group at Bondi Beach. We meet every Friday at 6.15am.
Talk us through a typical club meet-up. We run a lap of soft sand at Bondi Beach, and if there’s a swell or the surf’s big then we’ll give a briefing, but otherwise we’ll just head on in. We jump in the bay, and we swim from the north end to the south end, point to point. And then once we’re out, we take a photo with the group, and then we head up the road for some coffee.
What are your club dos and don’ts? One do is make everyone feel welcome. Say hi, check in on people. We always ask people to buddy up, so pick a partner. Know your ability is another one.
What do you love about your club? The Salties isn’t the Salties without the beautiful ocean and Bondi Beach. What I also love about the club is the people, the community spirit, the sense of adventure. It’s the people that the ocean attracts.
How can people join the club? Rule number one, they need to be able to swim. Anyone can join – you can always sign up to the email, but otherwise just show up on a Friday. Water safety is important – people need to know their ability.

This story is part of Broadsheet’s special At the Club Issue, presented by Up, exploring club culture in 2025.