Anticipation has built over the months for many members excited and waiting for the unveiling of the wall of poppies at the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway. Through our recent Digests, newsletters and online posts, we’ve shared the Poppy Project and its collaborative, remarkable initiative, directed by Kokoda Walkway Board Director, Jennifer Collins AM.

This beautiful project has finally come to life with the hard work and skill of our members and the community, allowing all of your hand made poppies to decorate the tree in the memorial garden at the track, the memorial honoured to Bruce Kingsbury VC who was killed protecting the village of Kokoda in Papua New Guinea in WW2 and also a wall of poppies.

The heart of the project consisted of over 7,500 handcrafted poppies, lovingly created by our members and community from NSW, ACT, QLD, many of them being war widows and their families. These small yet powerful symbols of respect have come together to form an art installation that honours the sacrifices of veterans and their families.

A thank you to those who collaborated

The Poppy Project was supported by a network of club coordinators and Kokoda staff who provided participants with wool, patterns and reply envelopes to make the crafting process seamless. This project could only come to life and be this successful with the help of our members and the community across the states. Each and every participants unique poppy is accumulated with the thousands of others to create the memorial garden and wall of poppies.

This initiative has demonstrated not only the enduring gratitude felt towards veterans but also the strength of community ties, as individuals from all across Australia worked together for this meaningful cause. Now every person passing through the track are able to stop and appreciate the beauty and hard work it took to create the wall.

The project has touched the lives of many, including one of our member Yvonne, a war widow, and her sister Jennifer, who together crocheted poppies for the installation. Their dedication goes beyond crafting as Yvonne connected with her local RSL Club in Old Bar, NSW, to share the story of the project and its significance.

During her search, she discovered Major Scott Babington, an RSL member who frequently leads treks along the Kokoda Track. Major Babington has since become an ambassador for the project, honouring the memory of four local men from the Manning area who gave their lives on the Kokoda Track. On his next visit to Papua New Guinea, he plans to place poppies on their graves as a gesture of remembrance.

A community united in Remembrance

The display of poppies will stand as a stunning visual tribute to those who served and their families. Each handcrafted poppy embodies not only the gratitude of those who created it but also the stories and connections formed through this shared effort.

Projects like this remind us that honouring the past is a collective responsibility and an opportunity to unite communities through acts of care and remembrance.

If you’d like to see the project, make sure to visit the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway to view the sea of poppies and poppy wall, knowing that many of your own handcrafted efforts are in that artwork.

The post The poppy project brought to life first appeared on Families of Veterans Guild.

The ACT election is around the corner, and at Families of Veterans Guild, we are wondering, are veterans and their families really a priority for the ACT Government?  

Over the last four years we have seen: 

1. Ongoing under resourcing of veteran liaison services at Canberra Hospital. 
2. Failure to advocate for a Canberra based veteran wellbeing centre despite the heightened number of veterans in the ACT community. 
3. A growing problem and disconnect between the number of volunteer advocates and the demand for services with training barriers. Given the nature of claims advocacy in the ACT, this means that the support capacity in the system is significantly reduced for ACT based veterans and their families.  
4. Ongoing red tape surrounding DVA and local GPs. Limited access to practices available through Gold Card Medicare arrangements, with less doctors in the ACT taking on veterans and widows, yet administrative arrangements remaining high. 
5. Ineffective engagement of the veteran sector and a lack of community building resulting in the underservicing of veterans and their families and limited opportunities for local organisations to support this community.  
6. The delivery of a Veteran and Families Expo in 2024 which was not trauma informed and lacked proper engagement and consultation within the ACT veteran community.  

We need a much stronger voice and leadership representing veterans and their families in the ACT, particularly in the wake of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. This is a community that is some 70,000 strong and as a recent study noted is a “national priority population. ”1  Yet the observations over the last 4 years seem to indicate that this population is not being seen or serviced as a priority population within the ACT. 

What is needed?  

1. Appropriate resourcing of the veteran liaison services at Canberra Hospital.
2. A veteran and family wellbeing centre within the ACT, centrally located or in the northern suburbs. 
3. A veteran and family minister within the ACT who will advocate federally for and about service access issues being experienced within the ACT such as:  

• • • • The increasing DVA administrative burden on local GPs. With less doctors in the ACT willing to take on more DVA patients this puts greater pressure on other health services funded by the ACT Government.  
      • The barriers and challenges being faced by DVA claims advocates within the ACT due to the inaccessibility of the advocacy training program.   

          4. The ACT Government to change the way it connects with and engages the veteran and family community. The ACT Government needs to:  

• • • • Enhance awareness of local health and social services amongst veterans and their families through providing a service provider toolkit and competency training.  
      • Drive stronger sector coordination and collaboration by appointing an ACT Veteran Community Coordinator who would at minimum collect, report and coordinate the collation and publication of data about the veteran and family community sector.   
      • Implement sustainable funding arrangements (including establishing funding pathways) for local veteran and family support organisation to help them build capacity and capability and deliver services to the local veteran and family community.   
      • In partnership with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, supporting and commissioning research into areas relevant for the wellbeing of veterans and their families in the ACT and nationally.  
      • Deliver a professional and trauma informed expo for veterans and their families. 

What do you think? Let us know by emailing our lead Advocate, Renee Wilson at ceo@fov.org.au 

The post Are veterans and their families a priority in Canberra?  first appeared on Families of Veterans Guild.

A significant step toward system reform was made on 3 July when the Veterans’ Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Bill 2024 was introduced into Parliament. For so long this piece of work has been deemed too difficult and unpopular therefore nothing has changed. 

We are glad to see that finally really change is on its way. However, it is important to recognise that this Bill is merely the first step to a much larger body of reform work, including within the legislation itself.  

The Bill has now been referred to the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade  
Legislation Committee who is to report by 03 October 2024. We have been invited to make a submission.  

Having already canvassed views of the families of veterans and having a clear position in terms of the amendments we would like to see made to the framework, we will use this opportunity to reiterate the positions and arguments made in our earlier submission.

The post Veterans Legislation Update first appeared on Families of Veterans Guild.

The AVCAT Tertiary scholarships are open to children and grandchildren of Australian ex-serving veterans. Applications close in 3 days time!  

Scholarships provide up to $4000 per year, for three years, to full-time students at uni, TAFE or a registered training organisation. Many Scholars have been supported to further their study and set themselves on their career path. It offers incredible financial relief and significantly lightens the burden that tertiary study can present. 

AWW NSW proudly supports AVCAT Scholar Megan Beecher, who is currently studying for a Bachelor of Primary Education (Dean’s Scholar). To learn more about Megan’s story, read here.

Applications are open and close at midnight this Sunday 31 October. For more information about eligibility and the application, visit avact.org.au.

The post AVCAT scholarships closing soon! first appeared on Families of Veterans Guild.

“Just remember that there\’s a very big strong family of community out there for you.”

Recently, Renee Wilson CEO of Australian War Widows NSW had the opportunity to interview Rachel McGrath, wife of triple Paralympic gold medalist, Curtis McGrath.

They discussed what it is like to be the wife of a veteran and athlete, staying motivated and managing the highs and lows that life brings it.

Rachel also shares an important message for veteran families.

Thank you Rachel for your time and for sharing your thoughts with us.

The post Interview with Rachel McGrath first appeared on Families of Veterans Guild.

In 2020, Megan was the recipient of the AVCAT Australian War Widows NSW Scholarship. The support provided by AWW NSW to Megan continues throughout her Bachelor of Primary Education (Dean’s Scholar) study until 2023. 

Megan’s grandfather, Major Arthur McDermott (Grandpa Mac, as he was to Megan and her brothers) was a veteran, serving in the Australian Army from 1951 – 1975.

The challenges of the pandemic have not escaped Megan. Megan studied online, battled ill health of her own, and split her time between her home in Griffith and with family in Berry (where Megan has eventually moved) to help her Mum care for her Nanna, who was undergoing palliative care. Sadly, her Nanna passed away at home on August 18th. A very sad day, yet poignant as it was Vietnam Veterans Day, the 55th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan; where her husband (Megan’s Grandpa) was posted at Nui Dat with 1st Australian Task Force as Second-in-Command of 1st Field Regiment of the Artillery.

Megan has shown immense strength and resilience to still achieve 1 High Distinction and 2 Distinctions from her studies in semester 1.

Megan also undertook a three-week professional placement through the University of Wollongong with Griffith Public School, this was an incredibly valuable experience for her as she learned a lot from the very talented staff and eager students.

Megan is very grateful for the support AWW NSW provides. It offers incredible financial relief and significantly lightens the burden that tertiary study can present. Megan’s focus and tenacity are to be commended.

In Megan’s words:

“The constant, underlying motivation of; ‘would Grandpa Mac be proud?’ has seen me come to understand that educating children is a heart-warming joy, amazing privilege, and great responsibility. In the same way Grandpa Mac taught me; as teachers, we are not responsible for preparing students for something – it is our job to help students prepare themselves for anything!”

AWW NSW is very proud of Megan’s achievements amongst her own personal challenges and those endured throughout the pandemic.

We look forward to hearing more about Megan’s academic journey and wish her better health.

The post AVCAT Scholar Megan Beecher first appeared on Families of Veterans Guild.