During the major wave of Greek immigration following the Second World War and the Civil War, Greeks found themselves in an unfamiliar environment surrounded by strangers speaking a strange and foreign language.

It is not hard to imagine how isolated these people must have felt. Since it is a basic need of people to group together and to relate to one another, groups were formed to hold social events and to keep alive the culture and traditions of their homeland. It was in this context that Greek Associations in Australia were formed. Naturally, because of the limited number of people, these early "regional" Associations tended to represent larger regions of Greece.

The first regional Association representing the municipality of Zaraka was "Leonidas", which was formed around 1963 to represent people from the Province of Epidavros Limiras.

As the number of people arriving into the country from a particular region reached a certain threshold, it became viable to establish smaller associations representing smaller regions the size of a few villages, or in some cases even one village. As a result, many of the larger regional associations did not survive for long. Leonidas itself officially dissolved in 1970.

In that year, a group of hopeful young men approached all immigrants from the villages of Zaraka with a proposal to establish a new association. These men were (in alphabetical order by surname): Apostolis Belesis, Haralambos Doukas, Ioannis Drivas, Nikos Lafkas, Konstantinos Laggis, Stavros Paraschos, Pavlos Pramataris and Aggelis Tourlas.

A short time later in 1971, Zarax Association (named after the famous ancient town of Zarax within the modern municipality of Zaraka) was formed to represent people from the villages of Zaraka (Kyparissi, Harakas, Pistamata, Lambokambos, Achladokambos, Rihea, Agios Ioannis, Gerakas, Logari and Ariana). Although the village of Kremasti was also in the municipality of Zaraka at the time, the Brotherhood of Mystras had already been created two years earlier in 1969. The villages of Agios Dimitris and Koupia, also within the municipality of Zaraka, did not participate.

The first committee was (in alphabetical order by surname): Panagiotis Doukas, Ioannis Drivas, Ioannis Koulouris, Antonis Lafkas, Sotiris Manikis, Stavros Paraschos, Pavlos Pramataris, Aggelis Tourlas and Haralambos Tsavalas. The first President of the Association was Sotiris Manikis.

The association's beginnings were humble. Meetings were held at people's homes (usually the President's) and dances were held in local council halls. Fundraising was the major objective and early committees worked tirelessly to ensure that the association's finances were built up quickly.

Today, Zarax Association is financially strong and has a tightly-knit community of about 150 members. Zarax Cultural Centre (owned by Zarax Association) is a substantial property situated in the suburb of Enfield, that includes leased premises and a main hall used by Zarax Association and other organisations for various events. Although the future of associations generally is uncertain, Zarax Association is well-placed to continue providing into the future an important focal point for the people of Zaraka and their children.