RSL branches cast net wider to reverse membership slip

Victorian RSL branches are embracing diversity in a bid to stop declining membership.

The organisation has lost more than 2500 members in the past two years.

The Footscray RSL is gearing up for Anzac Day commemorations.

The Footscray RSL is gearing up for Anzac Day commemorations.Jason South

While some members question what the Returned and Services League is doing to recruit new members,other branches are looking to their local communities,recruiting soldiers who fought alongside Australia,as well as Australian veterans.

Footscray RSL president Long Viet Nguyen is well known in his area for saving the branch from closure in 2011,when he encouraged more than 100 Vietnamese veterans to join.

Most of the branch’s members live locally,but because of its status as the only branch with a majority of members who are from a Vietnamese background,some live up to 50 kilometres away in the southeastern suburbs of Springvale and Noble Park.

“The Vietnamese,they wanted to join because we can talk together and speak in Vietnamese,that’s why they join,” he said.

A full crowd will finally be allowed to return to Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance for ANZAC Day after a two-year hiatus.

Peter Doody,vice president of the Footscray RSL and one of a handful of branch’s Australian-born Vietnam veterans,joined the club eight years ago after his branch in nearby Maribyrnong closed due to declining membership.

The Footscray branch is more than 100 years old. “He saved it from extinction,” he said of Nguyen.

Hawthorn RSL vice president Eamon Hale said his branch was serving its members by focusing on what veterans need.

The branch’s 300 members,ranging in age from 19 to 73 years,have served in conflicts from Vietnam to Afghanistan.

Hawthorn RSL vice president Eamon Hale and president Lucas Moon.

Hawthorn RSL vice president Eamon Hale and president Lucas Moon.Supplied

The Hawthorn membership is also diverse,with some from allied British and American forces who served alongside Australian soldiers. Ten per cent of the branch’s members are also women,a cohort they’re hoping to grow.

Hale,a 35-year-old veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns,said that despite his club’s proactive approach to recruiting members,RSL Victoria was not doing enough to increase service memberships.

“They don’t want to acknowledge this massive issue,” he said.

RSL service memberships are available to current and former members of the Australian Defence Force or people with a minimum of six months’ service in the allied armed forces.

Footscray RSL vice president Peter Doody and president Long Viet Nguyen.

Footscray RSL vice president Peter Doody and president Long Viet Nguyen.The Age Jason South

Hale said he had seen the benefit of an inclusive and more-accurately representative RSL at his club and hoped others follow suit.

“The RSL should be a representation of modern Australian Defence Force,” he said.

Hale said he was concerned that the “most-deployed servicemen and women since the Second World War” were not being actively supported post-service.

“People don’t see a reason to be members[of an RSL branch] anymore,” he said.

RSL membership has dropped from 25,810 to 23,257 in Victoria in the past two years.

RSL Victoria said the COVID-19 pandemic was a contributing factor to the drop,as people couldn’t renew their memberships in person.

A spokesperson said the organisation “welcomes both current and ex-serving members of the Australian Defence Force,and those from affiliate allied nations”.

“RSL Victoria’s service membership is a wonderful reflection of the spirit of inclusivity enshrined in our constitution on which we pride ourselves.”

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Najma Sambul is a reporter at The Age.

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