The RSL survival guide: A new model emerges for an old institution

While the branch in the next suburb over has folded, Coburg RSL is thriving thanks to its live music, scarf sales and army of volunteers.

On a narrow strip of Sydney Road in Melbourne’s inner north, the RSL doesn’t rely on pokies or whale-sized seafood platters to stay afloat.

It sells veteran-style scarves and has the mantra, “all welcome”, from babies to local hipsters and elderly veterans. The sub-branch’s membership numbers have grown from fewer than 200 to close to 1000.

“Brunswick RSL has folded, but we have survived by embracing our community,” says 44-year-old president Michael Pianta, a solicitor by day who once served in East Timor and Afghanistan.

At 107 years of age, Coburg RSL is a survivor. But some of Victoria’s 261 sub-branches are in strife due to dwindling funds, ageing members and bureaucratic burdens. Kew RSL was recently suspended for failing to support veterans and their families, while the Pascoe Vale sub-branch went into administration this year.

There are three classes of RSL venues in Victoria, quipped one RSL member: wealthy ones with gaming licences, clubs with liquor licences, and those that are lucky to have premises at all.

RSL Victoria is the state’s largest and oldest veteran charity. Collectively, it is one of the state’s biggest landowners and has about 192,000 members.

But a new report has found its survival is far from guaranteed.

Earlier this month, the RSL released a consultant’s report, which found that some sub-branches were too small or poor to deliver meaningful services to veterans.

The report said the state office was also struggling financially because of the increasingly complex demands of veterans, which encompass mental illness, housing, legal troubles and elder abuse.

And it warned RSL Victoria was overly reliant on revenue from its 52 pokies venues, which are at risk from the state government’s long-awaited gambling reform package.

“Financially, the current state is fragile and not sustainable. However, without a viable state branch, the sub-branch network will cease to exist,” the report said.

It recommended forcing sub-branches to hand over more revenue to the state RSL office. The charity should also increase engagement with younger veterans, solicit bequests from current members, and switch from an incorporated association to a company limited by guarantee, the report said.

RSL Victoria’s new president, Dr Mark Schroffel, has thrown his weight behind the report, although discussions with sub-branches regarding funding and the future of venues are just beginning. “We need to have their support because ultimately, it’s their organisation,” Schroffel said.

Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett is a member of the amalgamated Camberwell “Pompey” Elliott RSL sub-branch in Melbourne’s east, which has a car wash to boost revenue. He said RSL Victoria faced a “massive challenge to remain relevant” to younger generations.

“The RSL, does it have a future? Yes. But unless they’re careful, the number of branches will continue to decline,” he said. “We live in very different times, and as much as I hate to say it, I’m not sure the RSL has moved with the times.”

At Coburg RSL, young reservist Johannes is not a member because he is busy working two jobs. He said he didn’t expect to become heavily involved in the near future.

“I’m 100 per cent supportive,” he said. “More broadly, things like country fire stations and Men’s Sheds and those sorts of community groups – because this is a community group at the end of the day – the people who get involved are retired.”

Beyond the report’s recommendations, others say RSL Victoria should extend its memberships to police officers, paramedics and SES workers, get out of pokies and sell some sub-branches’ land to councils.

But Schroffel said the head office could not decide to sell off sub-branches to reinvest the proceeds. “It’s not our property,” he said. “Those independent sub-branches, they and their members actually own those buildings.”

Schroffel said membership fees could increase for the first time in 10 years, and the RSL was open to selling its pokies venues, potentially to not-for-profit racing organisations.

Alliance for Gambling Reform chief executive officer Martin Thomas said RSLs were designed to be a safe space for veterans and their families, yet international research showed veterans suffered a higher rate of gambling harm than non-veterans.

“With their new president, we would be calling on the RSL to start that change to remove pokies machines from their venues, or at the very least to be at the vanguard of a carded play system that we know from all the evidence greatly reduces the harm that happens,” he said.

Journalist and anti-pokies activist Stephen Mayne said RSL Victoria’s sub-branches were worth at least $1 billion, according to council valuations.

“They should close all the pokies venues, sell off a few – Box Hill is worth $70 million on its own – and then live off their investments and all operate like Hawthorn, Camberwell and Templestowe and many other successful, traditional RSLs. Find yourself a benevolent council landlord and operate with the support of your council.”

Peter Whitelaw is a member of the Melbourne sub-branch, the original RSL in Australia. The Spencer Street club is trying to attract young veterans by having guest speakers, networking events, mentoring and co-working spaces.

“I think the primary thing that we are wrestling with is that the RSL is dominated by seniors, of which I am one, and there’s got to be a generational change,” Whitelaw says. “That’s fundamental to the future of the RSL.

“Fundamental change has to occur on a number of fronts. One of those is really focused on getting younger veterans engaged with the RSL and carrying it forward.”

But Schroffel said the RSL was not about seeking membership, but providing service, adding that the organisation was as relevant as it had ever been for the people it supported.

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