Looking ahead at 2024 - A message from the State President

At the beginning of last year, I said that 2023 was our chance to put our narrative of ‘care, commemoration, and camaraderie’ into action. I’m proud of the effort that has been made to do this.

Of course, the longstanding tradition of our volunteers providing compensation and wellbeing advocacy continued to underpin what we do to provide care. It is important that I recognise that you, those involved in that advocacy work, have been dealing with an increase in demand from veterans at a time when you were already challenged. Please look after yourselves, we need you. It is hard to provide care for others if we haven't taken care of ourselves. 

RSL Queensland State President Major General Stephen Day DSC AM

We formally opened our first Veteran & Family Wellbeing Centre in Cairns last August – with the Far Northern District, RSL Queensland and Mates4Mates collocated – to provide a one-stop-shop for health and wellbeing support for veterans and their families. Can I also draw attention and recognition to the work that has been underway for many years at the South Eastern District Wellbeing Centre at Greenslopes. The quiet efforts of the team there started well before the idea of wellbeing centres became popular. 

Queenslanders saw and felt our focus on commemoration, with services and ceremonies hosted across the state to remember and honour our current and ex-serving veterans and their families. We specifically focused on ensuring the next generation learned of the importance of the ‘ANZAC spirit’ – offering a schools-based initiative such as Postcards of Honour and Draw to Remember to give children the chance to learn about the importance of commemoration from local veterans in their area, while also expressing their learnings or personal stories through art.  

Our third focus area – camaraderie – saw support provided to a growing number of current and former Australian Defence Force members and their families around the state. I want to acknowledge the work that has been done by the Brisbane North District to provide mentoring support to a number of current serving ADF members. And I’m proud of the efforts each Sub Branch made and continues to make to ensure local veterans and their families remain connected to the League. The variety of connection activities on offer for members to participate in and lean on for support is commendable and I hope to see this expand in 2024. 

My sense is that the idea we are in the business of ‘care, commemoration and camaraderie’ is starting to get traction to shape the external understanding of what we actually do. It will take some years yet, but if it’s what first comes to mind when people think of the RSL then that will be a good outcome for us. 

In 2024, there are two particularly significant occasions on our commemorations calendar that we will be marking; the 80th anniversary of D-Day Landings on 6 June and the 25th anniversary of the deployment of INTERFET to East Timor on 20 September. More information on how the League can commemorate these anniversaries will be available closer to the date.  

This year, the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide will release its final report. The report will be one step in a longer process to ensure the needs of veterans, and their families, are better addressed in order to reduce the troubling level of suicides in our community. We will continue to follow the process closely and provide updates when and as we can.  

Turning to governance. We start the year by welcoming a new Chair to the District Council of State Presidents, Garry Player. I’d like to extend my personal thanks to the outgoing Chair, Les Nash, for the selfless dedication and straight forward common-sense approach he has brought to RSL Queensland over many decades. Thank you, Les, and good luck Gary.  

There will be a State election in October of this year. We need to have a position to take to the government and opposition in the lead up to the election. Our policy officer, supported by others, has looked at the support available in Queensland alongside what is done in other States. In short, though we compare well to other States, the problem is that too many veterans don't know what support is available and if they do, access can be a challenge. We believe that solving for awareness and access is where we should ask the government/ opposition to focus. This idea will be discussed over the coming months, mainly through District meetings/AGM, so that we arrive at something that is useful.  

Finally, our overarching goal for 2024 remains unchanged; continue advocating for our veterans in their communities and provide practical support to them and their families across Queensland. 

To all of you, thank you for your continued support as we enter our 108th year.  

Major General Stephen Day DSC AM
State President
RSL Queensland