The OES in Australia was introduced by Brother Stewart Hall and Sister Sarah Hall from the Supreme Grand Chapter of Scotland. Both members had been involved in founding the first few Chapters in Scotland and had come to Australia for health reasons. Sarah Chapter No 31 was instituted on 13th July ,1912 in the Valley Masonic Hall, Wickham Street, Brisbane (Under the Supreme Grand Chapter of Scotland). Sister Hall was the founding Worthy Matron, and Brother Hall, the founding Worthy Patron.
The growth of Chapters stalled for a few years and it wasn’t until 1922 that Golden Wattle Chapter No 189 and Hope Chapter No 192 were instituted. Chapters continued to grow and by 1938, Queensland had 27 Chapters, mainly in the Brisbane/South Brisbane area. In 1947, permission was granted to form the Brisbane District Grand Chapter and in 1952, South Brisbane District Grand Chapter was formed.
Chapters outside of the Brisbane area, and sometimes up to 2000 kilometres from the State Capital, were soon instituted. To support those Chapters, Burnett District Grand Chapter was formed in 1964, followed by Far Northern District Grand Chapter in 1979, and North Queensland District Grand Chapter in 1980.
On Australia Day 1985, and in the same year that The United Grand Chapter of Australia came into existence, the Grand Chapter of Queensland was formed with a jurisdiction over the five District Grand Chapters in that State.
The Grand Chapter of Queensland is represented by 19 Grand Office-bearers and the term of office is 1 year. The Annual General Meeting and Installation is held on the weekend of the first Saturday in April in Brisbane or the last weekend in March if Easter falls on the first Saturday in April. Click here to view the current board of Grand Office-bearers for 2025-2026.
Following is a listing of the Queensland Chapters: