Not Shrinking, But Shifting: Why the RSL Must Prepare for a Larger Veteran Community, Not a Smaller One

By: Eamon Hale - Future Forward for RSL Victoria

Within parts of the RSL and the public, a myth is growing that the Returned and Services League (RSL) must inevitably shrink.
The argument goes that veteran numbers are declining, with the Second World War generation largely gone and the Vietnam War generation entering their twilight years. Many assume that because they associate veterans with older men, the veteran population is in terminal decline, and with it, the RSLs relevance.

A defeatist attitude is set in and some within the League and the broader community suggest the RSL should therefore reduce its ambition.

But that view ignores reality. It is built on outdated assumptions: a narrow, obsolete definition of what a veteran is; an ignorance of how many have served in the Australian Defence Force in recent decades; and an underestimation of the strategic changes and challenges facing Australia in the years ahead.

In fact, the RSL should do the opposite of reducing. It must reform, rebuild, and ready itself for an increase, not a decline, in veteran numbers. The real question is whether the RSL will be ready to support them when they need it.

Read the full article on Eamon Hale’s website:

The choice is clear: retreat into nostalgia and decline, or embrace reform and remain relevant.
Change is already happening.

Let us, as a community, meet it head-on.