At the going down of the RSL

The appointment of Lieutenant Commander Sam Jackman, 48, as the Returned and Services League (RSL) national chief executive, is 25 years too late.

RSL clubs across the nation are closing amid severe financial stress and in some cases, mismanagement. In 2004, the RSL had 240,000 members nationally. Today there are less than 117,000, as the World War II and Korean War veterans pass on.

In South Australia, the future of the RSL is dire with less than 9,000 members. It is expected that only 20 of the 110 SA sub branches will survive the next ten years. In 2012, the median age of the South Australian RSL membership was 82.

There is also a push for clubs in debt to sell up and capitalize on rising real estate prices.

Founded in 1916 during the First World War, the RSL caters to the needs of returned servicemen. It's a proud and iconic institution - a pillar of Australian patriotism.

Young people are drawn to the authenticity of the Anzac Day parade - more so than their Boomer parents. They recognize that it was the courage of young men and women about their age, who through duty and sacrifice, helped defend Australia from invasion during the Kokoda campaign.

This is a powerful story but the RSL has gone missing in action. Most clubs don't want to modernize; they don't want to serve restaurant meals, provide live music or cater to young people. They want to be left alone.

The old vets are right to protect the regimental standards, the honour rolls, and the symbols of the fallen. But the RSL is living in the past. Those young people - their great grand children - are the future of the RSL and probably its greatest supporters.

Brigadier Tim Hanna, the RSL SA state president SA, called on members to befriend potential new chums, although admitted there were problems.

"I have stood at the front door of some RSL premises and (have) been greeted with looks which belong in a horror movie," Brigadier Hanna said.

Of course the real horror is no movie. Few of the 45,000 Australians who served in Iraq and Afghanistan have joined the RSL. Many believe it has failed to provide practical support to young veterans, some of whom bear the deep mental and physical scars of combat.

New groups such as Soldier On, Young Diggers and other non-affiliated RSLorganisations, provide direct aid to veterans from recent conflicts and also assist their families and partners.

Critics say the RSL has been focused on membership at the expense of providing practical support to young veterans.

The President of Young Diggers, John Jarrett, said the RSLs were "bottoming out".

"They only help the young guys and girls when they can get the publicity. They have short memories. They keep asking us how do we attract young membership and I say to them 'listen to them and give them what they need.' But that costs money."

The RSL SA hired local advertising agency KWP! in 2012 to boost numbers with limited success. It also recently hired a communications advisor.

The RSL shot itself in the foot by not rolling out the welcome mat to returning Vietnam soldiers in the 1960s and 70s. Vietnam Vets also had to fight post-traumatic stress and cop snide comments from some RSL members who said their war was not a 'real war'. The Vietnam Veterans' Association of Australia was formed in the 1980s.

The RSL is a case study for CEO's and HR managers on how not to let their workplaces or membership bases become geriatric institutions.

The average age of a South Australian public servant is almost 50.The central challenge of policymakers is to replenish the large number of skilled workers who will retire. More NGOs and charities with ageing membership profiles will go the way of the RSL over the next ten years.

In my home town of Adelaide, two local RSL clubs though won't be defeated. A membership drive by the Semaphore RSL and backed by the local community, has turned around a $40,000 debt. It now has 300 members, up from 95 in September 2012.

The rebranded club uses web marketing to promote functions and it has introduced live music, curry nights, singles nights and eight ball. The Semaphore RSL is not incorporated with the state RSL.

The Port Noarlunga Christies Beach RSL has also seen the light and is providing live entertainment. It has a popular menu that is pulling in customers from near and far and there's not a pokie machine in sight.

The RSL is an excellent example of what happens when organisations don't change with the times. We know a lot about the social effects of population ageing in organisations. The most dangerous is the ostracisation of new ideas and the rise of an anti-democratic orthodoxy dedicated to the perpetuation of group think - even to the point of extinction.

The moral of the story is to recruit both young and experienced people across a diversity of backgrounds and set achievable targets.

RSL clubs that go on the offensive will survive. Their young members will carry forward the battle standards, the symbolism and the stories of our fighting men and women, which for so long, was the domain of the old RSL. More power to them.