The Australian Surfing Hall Of Fame was established by Surfing Australia, to recognise and celebrate the lives and outstanding achievements of Australia’s leading surfers. Initially the Hall Of Fame inductees were presented with their awards at dinners held to coincide with the annual RipCurl Pro contest. After construction of the Surfworld Museum complex in 1993, the award ceremonies were moved in house at Surfworld. In 2001 the awards ceremony were moved north as the Surfing Australia head offices had also moved from Torquay to the Tweed Heads area.
Each year a significant Australian surfer is inducted into the Australian Surfing Hall Of Fame through a process of nominations, and voting by a panel that includes previous inductees and eminent members of the Australian surfing community. The inducted Surfer is awarded a carved timber trophy recording their induction into the Hall Of Fame. A surfboard typical of the type used by each surfer is shaped either by the surfer (if they are a shaper) or by longtime Torquay shaper Doug Rogers. The boards are then glassed with a biography of the inducted surfer applied under the fibreglass and photos added once the board is finished. The Boards are produced by Russell Graham of Moonlight Laminating in Torquay. Once complete the boards are placed on display in the Australian Surfing Hall Of Fame in the Surfworld Museum.
The Australian Surfing Hall Of Fame inductees:
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1985
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CJ “Snow” McAlister Mark Richards |
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1986
|
Bernard “Midget” Farrelly Robert “Nat” Young |
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1987
|
Bob Evans Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew |
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1988
|
Wayne Lynch |
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1989
|
Simon Anderson |
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1990
|
Tom Carroll |
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1991
|
Peter Drouyn |
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1992
|
Michael Peterson |
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1993
|
Isabel Letham Ian Cairns |
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1994
|
No Award Given |
|
1995
|
Terry Fitzgerald |
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1996
|
Phyllis O’Donell Bob McTavish |
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1997
|
Pam Burridge |
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1998
|
Barton Lynch |
|
1999
|
Damien Hardman |
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2000
|
Rod Brooks Gail Cooper |
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2001
|
Peter Townend |
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2002
|
Peter Troy |
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2003
|
Wayne Dean |
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2004
|
Paul Neilsen |
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2005
|
Mark “Occy” Occhilupo |
The Australian Surfing Hall Of Fame awards night also sees people receiving Honour Roll awards in the following areas, Surfing, Administration, Innovation, Pioneering, Media, Surf Schools, Lifestyle and the Duke Kahanamoku Award for surfing volunteers. The walls of the Hall Of Fame carry lists of the surfers who have received these prestigious awards.
Housed within the Hall Of Fame are interactive video units, where visitors can call up information about many of the inducted surfers and see them talk about their favourite waves, contest victories and more. You can hear from surfers such as Nat Young, Mark Richards, Midget Farrelly, Rabbit Bartholomew, Ian Cairns and Simon Anderson about surfboard design, fitness, pro surfing and the surfing lifestyle.