A new brand in service of defence families
A message from the Families of Veterans Guild (formerly Australian War Widows NSW)
The Families of Veterans Guild, a new brand name for our organisation that has been known as Australian War Widows NSW, was formally launched on 23 April 2024.
The Families of Veterans Guild is an inclusive not-for-profit organisation whose mission is to provide the defence and veteran family community with a voice, facilitate access to services and entitlements, and support its social and emotional wellbeing.
With more than half a million families of veterans in Australia, and only a small segment currently eligible for support, we are filling existing gaps in the veteran support landscape. We do this by offering a place and support to those who are not eligible elsewhere: e.g. families who are not bereaved or parents of veterans.
We advocate for the inclusion of all families of veterans in the system of support and seek to ensure that, from the moment a veteran puts on a uniform, they know that their families will have a home and a voice regardless of what their future holds.
We know that service in the Defence force and its impacts have changed significantly since our beginnings in 1946, and we are responding to those changes and community expectations. Our brand change is not about forgetting our war widows, it is about ensuring their legacy continues and that war widows remain seen, heard, supported, and that Australia never forgets.
As our founder Ms Jessie Vasey CBE OBE said almost 70 years ago: We are now becoming an older women’s group and I feel that if we remain as such the organisation will die. We must become an inclusive group...
It takes a village to provide holistic and quality support to the families of our veterans throughout their entire life journey. It is only when we as a community work together that we can fill existing gaps and improve the lives of the families of our veterans.
We all have a role to play in supporting those who stand behind those who stand for us.
Are you a veteran’s family? A defence family? A war widow? Do you want to help, support or learn more?
Visit our new website (www.familiesofveterans.org.au) or email us at guild [at] fov.org.au (guild[at]fov[dot]org[dot]au) and join our movement today.
Image: Members and friends of the new Families of Veterans Guild