The National Council of Wool Selling Brokers of Australia will celebrate its Centenary in 2020. It was established in December 1919 and held its first meeting in January 1920. NCWSBA is the only national organisation representing wool brokers on all issues that affect the Australian wool industry. The Australian wool industry is an iconic part of Australia’s history and its economy and wool broking companies have played a vital role in that history and the industry’s contribution to the Australian economy. The celebration of the NCWSBA Centenary will also celebrate the role of wool brokers in this iconic industry.

The Centenary of NCWSBA will be marked in February 2020 by the NCWSBA Centenary Auction on 20th February 2020, followed by a cocktail reception. The auction will be a commercial auction with limited volumes and held at 120-138 King St, Melbourne on Thursday, 20th February 2020. The four-storey building housed the Melbourne Wool Exchange which held auctions there until 1972. It was also the location of the first NCWSBA Board meeting in January 1920. It is currently the Melbourne campus of the Australian Institute of Music.

The cocktail reception will be held in the Intercontinental Melbourne The Rialto. One of the two buildings which make up the Intercontinental Melbourne The Rialto was previously known as the Wool Exchange Building and was the location of the first amalgamated wool exchange and incorporated an auction hall which brought together all the Melbourne wool sales. The other building housed offices for wool warehousing and broking companies, including Strachan & Bostock. For a period in the early 1900s it housed the offices of the Melbourne Woolbrokers’ Association. The cocktail reception will feature a charity auction of suit lengths and active wear. All monies raised in the charity auction will be donated to the Michael Manion Wool Industry Foundation.