The Newport RSL Sub-branch has been suspended for 12 months due to ongoing governance concerns.
RSL Victoria announced the suspension on Friday, October 3, citing a lack of transparency and accountability relating to stalled construction works at the Newport Sub-branch.
The Newport RSL has been closed since June 2023 when construction work began on the Market Street site.
However construction stalled in August 2024 when a stop work order was issued and has not recommenced since.
RSL Victoria president Dr Mark Schröffel said the decision to suspend Newport came after spending more than a year seeking assurances from the sub-branch committee that it would improve poor governance practices relating to the project.
“Decisions like this are never easy, however the efforts of the RSL must be focused on supporting veterans and their families,” Dr Schröffel said.
Newport sub-branch committee member Jason Smith said the suspension was very disappointing, accusing RSL Victoria of not being up front about what the issue was.
“They expressed that they had concerns in the sub-branch, we asked for clarity as to what those concerns were and they have not specified,” Mr Smith said.
While conceding “we got a little bit ahead of ourselves” in beginning construction work with volunteers, Mr Smith said the club had since self-reported to council, provided financial statements to RSL Victoria and was in the process of contracting a builder and resuming construction.
“The stop work order will be lifted once we have a building permit issued,” he said.
“The building permit is conditional on us having a signed contract with a builder.”
Veteran and Newport RSL member Ian Peek said he and others had been raising concerns with the committee about transparency, accountability and governance at the sub-branch for nearly two years.
“The responses from the committee to these concerns, where they have responded at all, have been wholly unsatisfactory,” Mr Peek said.
“We look forward now to working with RSL Victoria to recover what we can from this disaster to achieve the best outcome for veterans and their families.”
The Altona and Sunshine RSL Sub-branches will provide support to veterans and their families in the meantime.
