Despite a perceived decline in the size of regional RSLs, many in the Wimmera have managed to retain and even grow their membership.
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The Nhill RSL is one such sub-branch. In the past 10 years, the RSL has grown in membership to, at last count, 39 members.
Nhill RSL secretary Rhys Webb, the son of a New Zealand air force veteran, said he has seen a resurgence of participation in ANZAC and Remembrance Day events from schools in the area.
"I have only been secretary since 2016, and we have seen a huge resurgence of people coming out and supporting the RSL," he said.
"The schools are definitely engaging more than what they might have been in the past and are teaching more about history.
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"Particularly with Nhill, we have got so many families that if you look at our war memorial, everybody would have one person who served in the first or second world war."
Mr Webb said part of the RSL's struggle was changing perceptions on what a veteran could look and sound like.
"It was always, we would go and see the little old man or woman who were in the war, but now it is people who are not much older than you or I that have come back from the war and have lost an arm or a leg," he said.
"We have had to change our thinking about that."
He said finding a way to engage with a younger, and more diverse group of veterans was the key to ensuring renewed interest in the organisation.
This came down to changing with the times. Mr Webb drew a parallel with the RSLs treatment of Vietnam veterans - with the organisation having to change the way it conducted veterans welfare to engage the returning soldiers.
"Vietnam was probably the event which changed our whole outlook on veterans welfare," he said.
"What happened was that you had World War I and II veterans that said to Vietnam veterans that they weren't in a real war."
"The younger veterans coming through are now the ones that need the help the most now, particularly after the fall of Afghanistan. That really has affected a lot of their mental health."
Much of the Nhill RSLs success in growing its membership base came with engaging schools and youth.
Beyond involving the surrounding schools in its ANZAC and Remembrance day ceremonies, the Nhill RSL has put younger members into its leadership ranks.
Mr Webb himself was once the youngest RSL secretary in Victoria, at 24 years of age.
"I think that the RSL, like a lot of clubs, needs to change. We are quite fortunate because I feel that a lot of our younger people want to keep engaged with our sub-branch. But I think as an organisation it needs to modernise," he said.
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"The problem with it is, and it is the same with any club or organisation, is that when you have older people who have been in the job for a long time they lose touch with reality and lose focus of what their job is."
"It has changed, there are less World War II veterans now, Korea and Vietnam veterans are getting older, and then of course we have the younger ones."
So too has the role of the RSL changed. Mr Webb said the aspects of veterans affairs covered by the RSLs of yesteryear were now being managed by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
"There is definitely a place for the RSL in our society, but we have to change a bit. That is the problem, it is not adapted for younger people at the moment, but it is changing and you are definitely seeing younger people step up to roles on boards and as presidents," he said.
"Probably in the next five or six years it will have to revamp itself. It is the same with everything - it is not just RSLs. They need to understand what young people want.
"We still have that perception of the little old man or woman, but now it is young people."
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