131-year-old gentlemen’s club prematurely ends trial allowing women to have lunch in dining room

Celeste Martin

24 October 2025 | 8:01

The Savage Club had bravely, or perhaps reluctantly, embarked on a six-month trial to see how things would go if women were allowed to join members for lunch four days a week.

Picture: Pixabay/@Alexandra_Koch

One of Australia's oldest gentlemen’s clubs, the 131-year-old Savage Club in Melbourne, has called off its short-lived experiment of allowing women to lunch in its main dining room.

It made it only three months before the grand social experiment came crashing down.

"They basically said that the presence of women would temper the loud and boisterous behaviour that the club is famous for. It would upset wives, and some even warned of 'Karens' spoiling the dining room's relaxed, bawdy energy," says Katie Macdonald, our correspondent for the Pacific.

These comments are leaving many outside observers rolling their eyes in disbelief.

The club, which has long prided itself on its creative and cultural heritage, now finds itself squarely in the crosshairs of modern sensibilities.

To listen to Macdonald in conversation with CapeTalk's Lester Kiewit, use the audio player below [skip to 3:44]: