RAR ASSOCIATION MEETS AT THE SCHOOL OF INFANTRY SINGLETON

The Royal Australian Regiment Association (RARA) held its National Council Meeting 28th to 29th November 2014 in the Australian Army Infantry Corps Museum. Presidents from the RAR State Associations and RAR Battalion Associations met under the chairmanship of its National President Michael Von Berg.

Once a Soldier

The Association represents over 100,000 current and former servicemen, who served in one of the Regiment’s twelve Battalions since its formation in 1948, and their families.

 

The Regiment (RAR) provides the Regular Army’s infantry component of ADF deployment overseas. It has a distinguished history of service in Japan, Korea, Malayan Emergency, Indonesian Confrontation, Vietnam, Somalia, Rwanda, East Timor, Iraq, Solomon Is and Afghanistan.

 

The Council reviewed its performance in achieving its Aims:

  • to perpetuate the mateship created in service with the Regiment,
  • to preserve the memory of those who died and
  • to protect the interests of the Regimental Family (its men and their families) to Government.

 

The major discussion issues included its representative roles to Government:

  1. directly as a member of The Prime Minister’s Advisory Council on Mental Health, and DVA’s Consultative For a – The ESO Round Table and The Younger Veterans – Contemporary Needs Forum (YVF) , and the RSL’s Defence Personnel and Families Committee (DPFC)

 

  1. Indirectly as a member of the Alliance of Defence Service Organisations’ (ADSO) Fair Go Campaign to protect the entitlements and well being of the Defence Family: principally its active engagement with the:
    1. ADF’s WRA pay dispute,
    2. Unfair and inequitable indexation of military superannuation MSBS payments and exclusion of under age 55 DFRDB superannuates from their benefits, and
    3. Veterans’ disability pension payments.

 

The DVA Repatriation Commissioner, Major General Mark Kelly (also Colonel Commandant of the RAR and RARA) addressed the meeting on DVA matters.

 

Michael von Berg reported that the discussions were robust and the outcomes have set the Association’s future direction and its engagement with Government. He said “The RARA has proven itself to be a serious and professional advocate for serving soldiers and former members of the Regiment and their families.”

 

To view Summaries of the RARA Board Meeting click here

 

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