www.awnw.com.au
Issue #307 – Wednesday, 11 November, 2015
Albury Wodonga’s largest circulating newspaper
Firies have lift-off ... FIREFIGHTING aircraft have landed at Albury airport as the 2015 bushfire season kicks off early, with officials predicting a dicey fire season could be ahead. MORE ON PAGE 4
RSL’s call to arms By ERIN SOMERVILLE
Wodonga RSL President Kevyn Williams would like to see more support for struggling young service personnel. 146713 Picture: ERIN SOMERVILLE it affects people.” The Wodonga RSL has spent $50,000 this year supporting young families of service personnel on the Border that have been discharged from the army for mental or physical reasons. For many service personnel affected by post-traumatic stress, experiencing the horrors of war and seeing first-hand life in a war-torn country can make it hard to re-adjust to life back
home. Mr Williams said the loss of work, discipline, and routine for a discharged service person could often exacerbate their fragile well-being. “When a solder is broken, they still need to be paid, but when they are discharged for medical reasons they all of a sudden find themselves unemployed. “There is still a lot left that they can offer.”
The Defence Force was contacted for comment, but was unable to provide a response before publishing deadline. Despite the reported significant rate in young soldiers suffering, Mr Williams said few of them were members of an RSL club. He said many ex-servicemen and their families had benefited from the support the club offered. “There’s an emphasise through the
RSL that we are not a place to congregate and have a few beers. “It’s a place to congregate for friendship, family, and support.” “Young people think it’s for old people, but it’s not. “We have spent a lot of money at the RSL trying to bring it back in line with the 20th century. “We have 150 new members in the last two years.”
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A BORDER RSL president has called on the defence force to provide better support for its injured personnel. Wodonga RSL President and Hume Veterans’ Information Centre volunteer Kevyn William’s call comes as the nation prepares to pause at 11am on Wednesday to remember all Australians who have died in conflict. But he says a personal war is still raging for many disabled and discharged service personnel living on the Border. The Hume Veterans’ Information Centre handles around 6000 files for veterans in northeast Victoria and southern New South Wales, and regularly sees many forms of post-traumatic stress and depression affecting ex-servicemen. “We are seeing a lot of young soldiers that have breakdowns,” Mr Williams said. Many of the soldiers Mr Williams sees have sustained physical injuries or post-traumatic stress disorder that has led to their discharge from the armed services, which can lead to difficulty in returning back to civilian life or finding fulfilling work. “I’d like to see the armed services retain some of these disabled people and find meaningful work for them rather than discharging them and forgetting about them,” he said. “Young soldiers that have a breakdown are all of a sudden billed with post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and depression and it makes it very hard to function in the real world because they’ve been labelled with that disability. “When they go for employment, they are usually asked if they have a disability and they have to admit they have had post-traumatic stress or an injury. “Every case is different, and when you are talking about post-traumatic stress there are varying degrees of how