About the ANF

The first known nudist clubs in Australia date back to the mid 1920s. In those conservative days it was of course highly illegal, so every thing had to be very secretive. Following World War II nudism expanded quite rapidly with many new clubs being established. It soon became evident that a national governing association was needed to promote this newfound recreational lifestyle.

After a couple of failed attempts the Australian Nudist Federation was founded in 1968, primarily to promote naturism/nudism on a national scale, and to encourage and promote interclub social and sporting activities.

Specifically the aims and objectives of the ANF are to:

• To act as the national organisation for the nudist movement in Australia
• To promote organised nudism in Australia, its ideals and activities, and its good public image.
• To safeguard and serve the individual and collective interests of the Affiliates of the Federation and to consolidate and preserve the unity of the organised nudist movement in Australia.
• To assist in the formation of clubs/organisations whose objectives are in concordance with this Constitution and to encourage them to become active Affiliates of the Federation.
• To promote sporting and cultural interests and activities for its Affiliates.
• To support nudist clubs /organisations and/or individual nudists either by loans or donations.
• To maintain contact with nudist and kindred organisations throughout the world.
• To promote and act on conservation and preservation with regard to flora and fauna
• To promote the legislation and development of free beaches and/or other public venues for nudists in Australia and subsequently to liaise and assist in the formation of local management organisations for such venues.
• To construct, purchase, lease or otherwise acquire buildings, real or personal property or carry out works that may be necessary and appropriate in the attainment of the objectives of the Federation and to borrow, raise or give security for any money on such terms as the General Assembly shall think fit.
• To produce or assist in the production of any printed or audio-visual material relevant to the Federation.
• To promote and encourage youth participation.
• To engage in any other activities which accord with the principles and ideals of nudism.

Historically nudity was associated with less social and moral issues, and in ancient Greece the human body was considered beautiful and was the subject of art. During the first Olympics Athletes commonly were nude as they competed in events against each other, and the word gymnasium comes from the Greek root 'gymnos' meaning nude.

Although the first nudist colonies were established in British India in 1891, it was in Germany that the naturism movement really began. Several papers were published in the early 1900's advocated that the human body was neither sinful nor obscene. They talked of the concepts of self hate, and shame. The first nudist colonies opened in Germany around 1903, and grew into popularity during the 1920’s, and while suppressed by the Nazi party, they were never completely eliminated.

The Germans seemed to be the missionaries of the Naturism movement, spreading to wherever they travelled. In the 1960’s German’s vacationing along the Mediterranean coast in France began nudist colonies, and nudist beaches and nudist resorts grew in popularity there. The movement had its early beginning in North America in 1929 when a German immigrant named Kurt Barthel opened a colony in the United States. In the early days of the movement in America, nudism became associated with family values and alcohol was prohibited from all activities.

Despite the attempt to associate high moral standards with the nudism movement it was subjected to much harassment and misunderstanding due to the prevailing social climate in the country that saw nudism as a sexual and even pornographic activity. Over the past three decades this has largely changed. Nudist vacations became more common, and nudism lost some of its social stigma. Nudism became less restrictive as well and clothing optional gatherings became more common. Topless beaches also became popular, and the organized nudist movement made strides in erasing the negative perception of nudism.

Sadly, not a great deal has changed in Australia. Naturism takes a back seat to many other lifestyle choices, and is still seen as many as an unsavory and unwholesome activity. Little do the critics realise that what you can't do clothed, we don't do naked. Certainly, the ANF does not support (and will continue to fight) against the individuals who break the law, and do not abide by our Code of Conduct. Our objective is to modernise the naturist movement in Australia, seek cultural recognition, and challenge the discrimination which befalls us. Importantly, we need to challenge the narrow-minded and ignorant attitudes of mainstream society, and educate them about naturism and what it offers individuals and communities.

On 15th February, 1975, Maslins Beach south of Adelaide was
declared Australia's 1st legal nude beach.

Don Dunstan, Premier of South Australia at that time said:

“… I was insistent that one of the major changes that we would make in South Australia was that we would allow people to be individual in society. We believe that the law had no right to demand conformity to patterns of  behaviour which didn’t need to be imposed. Unless people were hurting others in the community they should be able to be individuals and do their own thing. I believe the richness of society comes from its diversity and individuality.”

The ANF is in turn affiliated with the International Naturist Federation, a world wide body that was established in 1948 to co-ordinate the efforts of the individual national associations to further the growth and acceptance of naturism/nudism throughout the entire world.

The International Naturist Federation is an organisation consisting of members in over thirty countries. Together with other interested parties involved in naturist activities, the INF-FNI works to enhance and improve the naturist experience and the naturist business climate by promoting the benefits of naturism to the general public.

INF-FNI provides a variety of services to naturists including the scheduling and coordination of several events. These include the World Congress, held every two years  at different clubs throught out the world, athletics and sporting events consisting of an International Volleyball Tournament, swimming gala's and petanque tournaments, youth meetings, Central Committee meetings and Executive Committee meetings. In addition, INF-FNI provides direct services to naturist members and federations such as communications and notifications of events as well as special bulletins.

There are over 30 federations around the world and within these federations there are over a thousand unique clubs, clothing optional resorts, nude beaches and holiday centres.