RSL NSW Congress wrap: Updates on veterans’ wellbeing support, service delivery, advocacy and more

How announcements made at the RSL NSW Congress & AGM – covering everything from veterans’ wellbeing to policy advocacy – will impact the RSL sub-Branch network and the wider veteran community.

By Lachlan Haycock

At a glance:

• The response of RSL NSW to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide includes embracing its recommendations and funding transition programs for Defence members.
• RSL LifeCare Veteran Services, working in partnership with RSL NSW, is expanding its service offering, including via multiple new Veteran and Family Hubs.
• More than 1,500 RSL NSW Sport & Recreation Program activities are projected to have occurred by the end of the year, confirming its place as the biggest program of its kind in Australia.

The RSL NSW Congress & AGM 2024 highlighted how the organisation is providing a platform for veterans’ wellbeing, policy advocacy, the delivery of support and services, and other issues of importance for veterans and families.

A number of announcements made at the event will have a positive impact on key issues for the veteran community.

Advocacy and wellbeing

Isaac Ohlin, General Manager of Policy and Services at RSL NSW, outlined the response of RSL NSW to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, which he said represents “the core of everything we’ve done for the past 12 months, and everything for the next 12 months”.

“We’re going to, in the next four months, begin to fund and support Defence transition programs to improve ADF member resilience and veteran wellbeing,” he explained. “We’re going to have funding pathways for community programs for advocacy, crisis and regional needs.

“We want to support transitioning veterans better. It’s really clear that this is a crucial time in the health and wellbeing of veterans, so [it’s about] making sure that the transition support services are what veterans need, when they need it.”

Ohlin pointed to the “rousing success” of the expanded RSL NSW Wellbeing Support Officer (WSO) program, which connects veterans and families at local sub-Branches with the support and services they seek, wherever they are in the state.

“So far, RSL NSW has held 15 training sessions and trained more than 200 WSOs across the state, and I think that’s a fantastic achievement,” he said. “We’re also developing online refresher training.”

The expansion of the RSL NSW advocate network includes the development of an online platform to support volunteers.

“We’re developing an advocate forum that will be a networking tool able to be used by all advocates to get together, swap ideas, train and make sure that they’re connected.”

Ohlin flagged how RSL sub-Branches have embraced the RSL NSW Sport & Recreation Program to organise inclusive community events and foster links among veterans.

He indicated the impressive growth of the program by explaining how both the number of sub-Branches and individual participants have increased since the pilot in 2022.

In a clear show of support for the program, a dozen different sub-Branches signed up during Congress.

RSL NSW President Mick Bainbridge remarked on how the program's rapid growth “has never been more apparent than this year's City2Surf”.

“Two years ago, just eight members signed up for the fun run,” he said. “This year, RSL NSW had the event's largest veteran and family member team, with 300 participants crossing the finish line at Bondi Beach.”

The Hon Chris Minns MP, Premier of NSW, who addressed the Congress on its third day, thanked RSL NSW for its support via the NSW Veterans’ Employment Program, which he said has helped more than 3,000 veterans find work since 2016.

Delivery of Services

David Anderson, Executive General Manager, Veteran Services at RSL LifeCare Veteran Services, explained the breadth of the organisation’s provision of services to veterans and families across the state, with the support of RSL NSW.

“Together, we’ve set new records for … supporting veterans and their families, including the delivery of health, housing, employment, financial [and] wellbeing assistance, as well as DVA claims and advocacy services.”

Critical to this has been the expansion of the Veteran and Family Hubs network – which will soon see new hubs established in the Tweed-North Coast, Queanbeyan, Hunter and Hawkesbury regions – and how RSL sub-Branch support, made via the RSL NSW Veteran Support Fund, has been critical to delivery.

Anderson also stressed how the organisation will adopt relevant recommendations from the Royal Commission, in particular recommendations 86 and 88, which relate, respectively, to ongoing funding for Veteran and Family Hubs, and a national funding agreement on veterans’ wellbeing.

Plans are underway to relocate the Homes for Heroes service from Sydney’s Northern Beaches to the Inner West, a decision which is designed to ensure closer links between the service and the National Centre for Veterans’ Healthcare; and also to reconfigure the program so it is co-designed by veterans.

Planning for the future

Congress sessions not only explored what RSL NSW has achieved across the past 12 months, but also presented a vision for the future.

Ohlin outlined upcoming initiatives that prioritise wellbeing, advocacy and support. This includes but is not limited to:

• The development of an ex-service organisation (ESOs) ecosystem directory, to provide awareness of the range of ESOs that exist
• A Community Liaison Officer pilot, a role which is designed to provide local sub-Branches assistance with: organising events, including for current Defence personnel and via the Sport & Recreation program; establishing partnerships with Defence bases; sub-Branch outreach; and the delivery of training

More information about these and other initiatives will follow soon.

The 2024 Congress shone a light closer than ever before at how RSL NSW is working to support veterans and families, considering at all times how to strengthen the organisation’s core tenets of community, mateship and commemoration.

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