Rosebery RSL Club temporarily closes as it is placed into voluntary administration
An RSL on the West Coast has shut its doors after being placed in voluntary administration.
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An RSL club on the West Coast has shut its doors and has been placed into voluntary administration.
The Rosebery RSL Club was temporarily closed on March 11, and insolvency, restructuring, and forensic accounting firm Rodgers Reidy was appointed administrator for the sub-branch.
The Rosebery RSL Sub-Branch is an incorporated body and its own entity, meaning state headquarters has limited powers over the club.
In response to the temporary closure, RSL Tasmania CEO John Hardy said “this sort of news is never great”.
“I don’t want to see a single sub-brach close; I don’t want to see any of them close. I want them all to do what our forefathers wanted them to do,” Mr Hardy said.
“The reality is some of them will sadly have to close. But I do think we’ll be stronger on the other side of this.
“We’ve currently got 49 sub-branches in Tasmania, and they are pretty evenly spread.
“I think some of the sub-branches are starting to realise that they may choose to be chapters instead, and I think that’s a better solution for them because they can still do commemoration, they can still do mateship, but they don’t provide veteran services.”
In January, the Circular Head RSL Club shut its headquarters due to rising costs and a lack of volunteers.
“Circular Head is probably going to come out of this in a better position than they went into,” Mr Hardy said.
“That sub-branch will very likely survive and will probably start to operate within what it can do within manageable boundaries.
“But these are voluntary organisations, and they do need to be supported by their local communities.”
Mr Hardy said that the years of the traditional sub-branch were over.
“The RSL is here for three reasons; it’s here for commemoration, it’s here for mateship, and it’s here for veteran services.
“If you look like a duck, walk like a duck and quack like a duck, you’ve got to be a duck.
“I honestly believe the general public would sit there and nod their head and say ‘you’re right, that’s what they should do’.
“Well, that’s what we need to do, and that’s what we’re doing.”
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