The Lansdowne Club was formed in 1986 by a group of Irish born business people living in Australia. At the time there were large numbers of professionally skilled Irish people taking up residence in Australia. There was no Irish business orientated focal point for these new arrivals and this void was then filled by the Lansdowne Club. From the beginning it was essentially a business network. It provided the newly arrived with a meeting place where they could relax with people who had shared and understood their experiences. Membership was drawn from the business world and therefore the common bond was further accentuated.