Club rightly taken to task over attitudes to vets’ welfare

THE RSL has long been trusted to manage the welfare of its veterans and there’s no denying the invaluable service it provides for those left vulnerable following service.

But as the pokie take of the Geelong RSL continues to hover at $3 million annually, veterans are rightly asking why a greater share isn’t being diverted to welfare.

An estimate from the Geelong RSL president reveals the equivalent of less than 5 per cent of the sub-branch’s annual pokies take is spent on welfare from in-house funds. Ultimately there may be more funding for welfare from outside sources such as RSL HQ.

But the alarming disparity between Geelong RSL’s pokies take and its welfare spend — an issue that reaches into other RSLs — raises the question: Has it lost touch with its founding purpose to care for and service the members of the Australian Defence Force?

Faced with dwindling veteran membership — particularly among those who have served in the past 30 years — a balance must be struck to keep operations profitable, service welfare and appeal to the new generation of veteran.

The closure of the East Malvern RSL this week and the uncertain future of the Kew RSL bring into focus what can go wrong when enough attention is not paid to running a tight ship.

Locally, the bright lights and bells of pokie machines seem to be a saviour in the minds of the Geelong RSL management after it successfully acquired licences for 30 additional machines last year.

Rightly the state’s gambling regulator is holding up a number of hoops the Geelong RSL must jump through to add 30 machines to its operation.

One condition states the RSL must donate $30,000 annually to Geelong schools on top of money it already donates to the community.

While others stipulate it must bolster its welfare department, and complete renovations to better separate pokies from other services.

The added weight on the RSL’s bottom line the significant renovation will bring is likely to again raise questions about veteran welfare spending.