The veteran bringing change to the RSL

Old men sitting around a bar, drinking beers and telling war stories.

That is the image the leadership of the Returned and Services League has tried to shed in recent years, an image which excludes women and families, and sells the organisation short.

No one is leading the charge harder than RSL WA State president Graham Edwards, 68, who said it was time to start passing the torch to the next generation.

REPLAY: Anzac Day dawn services from Kings Park and Gallipoli

The RSL is the biggest service organisation in Australia, providing advocacy, welfare and mateship to current and former defence force members.

It also plays a huge part in co-ordinating commemoration services from a national to a local level.

For that to continue, it must adapt to the changing times and attract younger servicemen and women, including those returning from the Middle East.

ANZAC COMMEMORATIONS FROM GALLIPOLI TO KINGS PARK

Regional sub-branches, in particular, have to adapt faster and smarter because many of them face the added challenges that come with a shrinking population.

“We’ve made deliberate attempts to change a negative image a lot of people had about the RSL,” Mr Edwards said.

“They think of a bunch of old blokes sitting around drinking but that doesn’t reflect what the RSL is all about.

Graham Edwards as a young an in Vietnam

“We have to be a lot more family-friendly and we have to reach out to women, who make up a fair percentage of the service community.”

Since becoming president in late 2012, Mr Edwards has pushed for an evolution in the culture of the RSL, but he hasn’t acted alone.

He said many of WA’s 130 sub-branches were benefiting from engaging with the community through new channels, such as social media.

The Karratha sub-branch had recently built a big children’s playground next to their hall — not something traditionally associated with the local RSL.

The RSL WA hosted a women’s forum in Perth last August and they will do the same again this year.

It’s all part of an effort, driven by the former State and Federal MP, to keep the organisation relevant for the sake of its current and future members.

“We’ve tried to change our profile by better connecting with social media and people whose means of communication and gaining information go beyond reading our magazine,” Mr Edwards said.

Afghanistan veteran David Singer. Picture: Sharon Smith/The West Australian

“We’ve had to buy in some of the expertise and rely on some of the younger people we have.

“I’ve got no bloody idea about a lot of that stuff but it’s been really important and it’s interesting how a lot of people of my generation are really keen to buy into it.

“Some of our sub-branches are very active now because they’re engaging more effectively with families in their community.”

The changing image of the RSL in WA has been documented in a weekly series in The West Australian this year.

Mr Edwards, who will remain president until 2017, said the series had prompted people to join up and given sub-branch committees inspiration.

The stories of Afghanistan veteran David Singer, 24, and Operation Slipper veteran Hannah Amigh, 28, are proof the organisation is still relevant to young and old.

When Mr Singer joined the RSL in 2013, he was relieved to find a network of people who knew what life was like in the army.

He returned from Afghanistan without any noticeable post-war problems, but he knows that could change and he knows others are struggling.

The University of WA psychology student and Red Cross volunteer is now the vice-president of the North Beach sub-branch.

Ms Amigh, on the other hand, was not in a good place when she left the Royal Australian Navy.

A tour to the Middle East in 2010 and humanitarian missions to the Philippines and Indonesia in 2012 had taken their toll, physically and mentally.

The former leading seaman found support in the RSL, which pointed her in the direction of last year’s Invictus Games in London, an event set up by Prince Harry to help rehabilitate physically or mentally wounded soldiers.

Now in the final stages of completing a Bachelor of Emergency Management and Disaster Response, Ms Amigh enjoys her Friday nights in the “homely” environment of the Cockburn sub-branch.

Mr Edwards said he believed the RSL in WA was getting stronger, partly because of the growth in the overall commemoration movement in the lead-up to the centenary.

But if it was to survive in the longer term, without the gambling income enjoyed by RSL’s in other States, the ranks needed to be bolstered with youth.

“It’s time for us to be looking for younger people to come through and there are some fantastic young people out there willing to pick up the challenge,” he said.

“It has worked, but we’re up against it here in the West because we don’t have that critical mass that they have in some of the garrison towns of the Eastern States.

“We don’t have access to the lucrative income from poker machines and other things they have in the Eastern States.

“Over here, we stand or fall on our good name.”

As a Vietnam veteran who lost both his legs when he stepped on a landmine, he knows how important it is to have access to the emotional and financial support of the RSL.

He also knows his generation will need the support of the younger members, as he and his peers have been there for the ageing veterans of the world wars.

His vision for the future involves a redeveloped Anzac House, an indomitable Anzac spirit and a thriving network of community-focused sub-branches and advocates across WA.

“If we want the strong voice of the RSL as advocates to continue, if we want to ensure that the spirit of Anzac lives on in terms of Anzac Day services, we need to ensure that the RSL stays strong,” he said.

“That will depend on whether we are capable of adjusting and meeting those challenges, whether we’re capable of remaining relevant to younger generations without ever turning our backs on tradition.

“We know that younger people are welcome, but we need to make sure they know they’re welcome.”