DFWA News & Updates

UPDATE is an occassional newsletter produced by the Defence Force Welfare Association (DFWA) containing items which are of interest to the Service and ex-Service community. It is distributed to politicians, media outlets, senior Service officers and DFWA Branches. Branches are encouraged to distribute UPDATE to Association members and other interested people or organisations.

DFWA Update December 2016

A special Christmas message of goodwill is extended to all. This Update is all about providing a quick review of the past year with its limited visible successes but with an ever growing ability of the DFWA/ADSO team to influence Government decision processes. And for that same team to be the catalyst for greater cooperation among the whole body of ESOs to work more closely together on key issues in a way that has rarely ever been seen before. Arguably, the lack of success can be in no small part attributed to the churn within the ranks of Ministers holding a Defence Personnel or Veterans Affair portfolio. And to the Government’s preoccupation with budget deficits, perhaps a rightful pre-occupation but one that completely disregards the professed statements of numerous Prime Ministers to the effect that ‘…………if as a nation we send you to fight, and when you come back, the nation will look after your welfare and that of your family’. That sentiment, indeed a promise, is hardly one that can be abrogated from one budgetary cycle to the next. 

This Update is also all about re-affirming the objectives for 2017.