A decline in young ex-servicemen volunteers within the Returned Services League (RSL) of NSW has prompted concern for the future of Australia’s oldest veteran charity.

Across the state, the RSL's local branches are responsible for organising around 600 ANZAC Day events, however, with almost 90 per cent of these volunteers now over the age of 55 and more than 30 per cent of those aleady exceeding the average life expactancy, RSL NSW believes that events like ANZAC Day may be under threat.

“The ANZAC tradition is a valuable part of Australia’s history, but now we need to fight for its future,” said RSL NSW President, Ray James OAM.

“This year’s commemorations are safe in the hands of our incredible members, but we need to take action now to keep these events going– and that’s where younger veterans can help."

He is calling on younger veterans to join the RSL NSW ranks.

The organisation’s struggle to engage younger ex-servicemen has echoed throughout the state, with Coonabarabran RSL sub-branch President Kevin Barrington saying the numbers aren’t what they could be. 

“We have young veterans that are prepared to march but I would have to say regrettably we don’t have veteran involvement of any significance,” Mr Barrington said. 

“We have quite a few reservists who have served and are entitled to be service members of the sub-branch, but there are a lot of veterans around town that we don’t see,” he said. 

Similarly, the sub-branch at Narromine has shared some concerns over their future. 

Narromine’s memorial club manager Bob Walsh said that the sub-branch’s AGM last week saw a necessary change in leadership. 

“The people that are heavily involved in running the sub-branch, they’re not getting any younger. People involved in Vietnam haven’t dropped out of the organisation, but definitely out of executive roles within the sub-branch,” Mr Walsh said.

Almost 90 percent of these volunteers are now over the age of 55, of which more than 30 per cent are over the average life expectancy age.

Despite fears of the organisation’s future, it seems that the community engagement still remains strong. 

“The sub-branch still runs the ANZAC Day march and it’s very well attended. After the dawn service we’ll have anything upwards of 200 people back here for breakfast,” Mr Walsh said. 

In Coonabarabran, Mr Barrington said the sub-branch is highly involved with local schools. 

All of the schools commemorate ANZAC Day in their own way…we all feel that we’ve still got a very significant role to play,” Mr Barrington said. 

With over 800 ex-servicemen organisations across the country however, Mr Barrington said that the declining numbers within local sub-branches aren’t necessarily indicative of the importance of ex-servicemen and their role in events like ANZAC Day, but the choices available to them in their communities. 

“There was a change in the RSL Constitution that probably affected our branch for the better, but it did see some of our auxiliary members drop off,” Mr Barrington said. 

The state organisation’s reputation was damaged following revelations of former RSL NSW president Don Rowe using the organisation's funds for personal gain, a three year investigation that ended in 2020 when Mr Rowe won an appeal that over-turned the fraud convictions.

Despite the final result, the drawn-out case made it more difficult to retain and recruit members to the Returned Services League, even in more remote communities.

“There’s all sorts of upstart organisations forming and that’s why they’ve emerged. I’m happy to support those organisations. We are all competition in a sense, but there is a more important aspect to them,” Mr Barrington said.