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On my first Anzac Day as National President, I will begin where every one of us begins on the twenty-fifth of April — in silence, before the dawn, thinking of the ones who didn't come home. The League exists because a generation of Australians decided that remembrance was not enough on its own; that those who served, and the families who served alongside them, deserved an organisation that would stand with them for life. More than a century later, that promise is still ours to keep. It’s a promise with two halves. The first is the one the nation sees most clearly. Around 580,000 Australians alive today have worn the uniform, and the overwhelming majority are thriving — running businesses, leading communities, raising families. Veterans are not a cohort to be managed. We are an asset to be backed. The second half is the one we must never let the first obscure. There are some that struggle with injury, loss, and the silence that comes after service. The RSL's first duty is, and will always be, to the most vulnerable among us. That is non-negotiable. A modern RSL holds them together and champions the contribution of the many while never looking away from the needs of the few. To every veteran reading this, the RSL is still here, shoulder to shoulder with you, as it has been for more than a hundred Anzac Days, and as it will be for every one that follows.
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