Queensland Recruiting Committee

The Queensland Recruiting Committee was a volunteer organisation in Queensland, Australia, which urged Queensland men to enlist for military service during World War I. It operated from May 1915 to December 1916, when it was replaced by an Australian Government recruitment organisation, the Queensland State Recruiting Committee.

On 28 May 1915, a meeting was held at the Brisbane Town Hall, chaired by Brisbane mayor George Down, to discuss ways to encourage able-bodied men to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force to fight in World War I. The decision of the meeting was to create the Queensland Recruiting Committee, the first recruitment committee established in Australia. Unlike in other states, the Queensland Recruitment Committee was not a government organisation but rather an independent and privately funded organisation with volunteer members.

The immediate actions of the committee were to take advantage of a march down Queen Street the following day by establishing two temporary recruiting booths, one in front of the Town Hall and one in front of the Brisbane General Post Office. The committee also decided to establish a permanent recruiting booth in Queen Street.

The initial belief of the committee was that their role was primarily one of education; young men would enlist if they understood the issues at stake and the need for their service. Local recruiting committees were also established in local government areas and other committees were formed to support the war effort, e.g. the University of Queensland had a University War Committee.

In October 1915, the Queensland Recruiting Committee become a sub-committee of the Queensland War Council when the council was established in September 1915.

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