Young Australian League Building was constructed in 1924 as a memorial to members of the League killed in World War 1. The YAL was a patriotic, independent, non-political, non-sectarian youth organisation founded in W.A. by John Joseph Simons (known as Boss) in 1905. It developed readily out of a branch of the West Australian Football Association of which the charismatic Simons was secretary from 1909-1914.
The aim of the League was to develop a spirit of Australian nationalism in young boys. The Young Australian League also developed a youth camp at Araluen, (adjacent Araluen Park).
The organisation enjoyed widespread popularity adopted particularly in the inter-war period. The foundation stone was laid on 23 April 1922 by the then Prime Minister, William Morris Hughes.
In the 1970s Gilkisons Dance Studio occupied a portion of the building which continues to the present. A museum for the Young Australia League is located in the ground floor.
BALLROOM
1929
Ambassadors Theatre Ball at the Young Australia League ballroom, 1929.
Courtesy State Library of W.A. slwa_b4546282_1
Audience in ballroom at YAL listening to Wilfred H. Hemingway speak, 19 September 1933
