Media releases
The Hon Darren Chester MP
Minister for Veterans' Affairs
Minister for Defence Personnel
Media release
Thursday, 5 November 2020
Grants help preserve Australia’s wartime heritage
Community groups and organisations across the country committed to preserving Australia’s wartime heritage will share in more than $1 million in funding through the Saluting Their Service Commemorative Grants Program.
Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Darren Chester said the recipients of this round of grant funding were making a vital contribution to preserving our military history and bringing the community together through projects and activities that commemorate our service personnel.
“Community-led commemorative projects play a very important part in helping Australians learn about the crucial role of our service personnel and recognising their courage and sacrifice in serving our nation,” Mr Chester said.
“These grants will assist local communities, from funding restoration work and flagpole installations, to supporting theatre performances and online commemorative websites, which are just some of the projects receiving support this round.”
The coronavirus pandemic represents a significant challenge for many grant recipients. The Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) recognises the impact on projects due to social distancing and other public health measures in place across the country.
“There are a number of challenges that need to be overcome this year, in particular for those wanting to hold events and commemorative activities, and we as a government are aware of the need for extra support for recipients and have made provisions for that,” Mr Chester said.
“DVA is committed to working with recipients who are affected to extend their funding agreements so they have more time to complete their projects, or find alternative options.”
“These projects will leave a lasting legacy in communities and educate the next generation — helping to solidify the memory of Australian service men and women.”
Further information on the Saluting Their Service grants can be accessed on the Saluting Their Service Commemorative Grants Program page. For a list of recipients, see below.
Media contacts
Rachel Tharratt: 02 6277 7820
DVA Media: 02 6289 6466
Office of the Hon Darren Chester, Canberra ACT
Saluting Their Service grant recipients
| Electorate | Recipient | Funding description | Amount $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canberra | Officer Training Unit Class 1/70 care of William Moss | Enable a performance at Old Parliament House commemorating National Service and the ‘marble draw’. | $10,000 |
| Canberra | University of New South Wales | Create an interactive commemorative website entitled ‘Australians in Bomber Command’. | $102,180 |
| Total Grants — ACT — 2 | Total $112,180 | ||
| Electorate | Recipient | Funding description | Amount $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barton | Arncliffe RSL Sub‑Branch | Restore the Arncliffe Park memorial. | $8,240 |
| Blaxland | International Maarif Schools of Australia Gallipoli Campus | Install a flagpole at the Turkish Maarif school, Auburn. | $2,000 |
| Cook | Miranda Public School | Enable the research of Indigenous service personnel’s involvement in all wars, conflicts and peace operations since the Second World War. | $6,750 |
| Hume | Goulburn Agricultural Pastoral and Horticultural Society Incorporated | Purchase and install a flagpole at the Goulburn Recreation Area Showgrounds. | $2,000 |
| Hunter | Kearsley Community Dawn Service Incorporated | Purchase indoor flagpoles for Kearsley Community Hall. | $470 |
| Lyne | Gloucester RSL Sub‑Branch | Update an honour board to include the names of local service personnel who served during the Second World War and subsequent wars, conflicts and peace operations. | $4,000 |
| New England | Uralla Historical Society Inc. | Curate a museum display incorporating information and memorabilia of local service personnel who served during the First World War. | $9,308 |
| Page | Ulmarra P&C Association | Install two new flagpoles at the school. | $2,000 |
| Parkes | Sunset Strip Progress Association Incorporated | Construct a wall to mount a replicated honour roll and install a new flagpole at the Sunset Strip war memorial. | $6,862 |
| Parkes | Trangie United Services Memorial Club Ltd. | Restore and repair a period cannon from the Second World War | $6,600 |
| Parramatta | New South Wales Lancers Memorial Museum Incorporated | Purchase wartime nurse uniforms for the secondary schools history program. | $1,511 |
| Paterson | Lions Club of Raymond Terrace Inc. | Contribute to the ‘Art Bollard Project’ which will commemorate local service personnel from Raymond Terrace. | $1,800 |
| Paterson | Tomaree Museum Association Incorporated | Digitise Second World War materials related to Port Stephens for publication on the Tomaree Museum website. | $10,000 |
| Riverina | Coolamon RSL Sub‑Branch | Restore two First World War captured German guns and reposition them at the Coolamon War Memorial. | $8,700 |
| Riverina | Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council | Contribute to the upgrade of Albert Park Memorial precinct upgrade. | $10,000 |
| Riverina | National Servicemen’s Association Wagga Wagga and District Incorporated | Erect a Light Horse Memorial in the Wagga Wagga Victory Memorial Gardens. | $150,000 |
| Riverina | Temora Aviation Museum Incorporated | Enable an interactive online self-guided virtual reality tour of the museum. | $51,360 |
| Robertson | Central Coast Council | Restore the Woy Woy War Memorial. | $10,000 |
| Warringah | Friends of Freshwater Incorporated | Contribute to stage three of the Soldiers Avenue of Honour refurbishment project. | $10,000 |
| Total Grants — NSW — 19 | Total $301,601 | ||
| Electorate | Recipient | Funding description | Amount $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lingiari | St Philip’s College Alice Springs Limited | Construct a wall and mount interpretive signage which commemorates the service and sacrifice of local military personnel. | $10,000 |
| Total Grants — NT — 1 | Total $10,000 | ||
| Electorate | Recipient | Funding description | Amount $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brisbane | 42 For 42 Incorporated | Install a new war memorial garden with statues and information panels adjacent the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane to commemorate Australian service personnel who served during the Afghanistan conflict. | $90,000 |
| Capricornia | Emu Park RSL Sub‑Branch Inc. | Install a plaque to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Second World War on the Emu Park cenotaph. | $755 |
| Dawson | Whitsunday Regional Council | Replace the existing Proserpine cenotaph at the Proserpine Entertainment Centre to commemorate the First and Second World Wars and the Korean War. | $67,000 |
| Fadden | North Gold Coast RSL Sub-Branch | Install additional plaques to commemorate Australian service personnel at the Helensvale Remembrance Park. | $6,000 |
| Flynn | Boondooma Museum and Heritage Association Inc. | Install additional commemorative plaques for First World War Soldiers and a new memorial garden at Boondooma Homestead. | $7,831 |
| Flynn | Bororen State School | Install two flagpoles in the school’s war memorial garden and conduct landscaping. | $3,000 |
| Groom | Friends of 42nd Street Memorial Incorporated | Redesign and publish a brochure on the Battle of 42nd Street. | $4,811 |
| Kennedy | Silkwood State School | Install two plaques and a flagpole at the school to commemorate Australian service personnel in all wars, conflicts and peace operations. | $2,236 |
| Lilley | Battle for Australia Commemoration Committee (Qld) Inc. | Contribute to costs for the Battle for Australia 75th anniversary commemorative event at Chermside Historical Precinct. | $5,400 |
| Maranoa | Roma RSL Sub-Branch | Contribute to the Roma cenotaph precinct upgrade. | $10,000 |
| Maranoa | Roma RSL Sub-Branch | Contribute to the construction of new permanent glass display cabinets to display uniforms and Vietnam war memorabilia. | $10,000 |
| Maranoa | Taabinga State School | Upgrade the existing memorial area in the school grounds and restore the monument. | $10,000 |
| Rankin | Greenbank RSL Sub‑Branch | Contribute to the refurbishment the Greenbank RSL Sub-Branch memorial gardens. | $96,000 |
| Wide Bay | Murgon RSL Sub-Branch Inc. | Construct a statue of a Second World War digger next to the memorial clock tower to commemorate service personnel from the surrounding districts. | $43,950 |
| Wright | Forest Hill Primary P&C Association | Restore the Forest Hill State School First World War honour board. | $6,550 |
| Total Grants — QLD — 15 | Total $363,533 | ||
| Electorate | Recipient | Funding description | Amount $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide | Adelaide Community Healthcare Alliance Incorporated | Construct a life size sculpture of a nurse in uniform on a park bench with a Digger’s hat on her lap and a welcoming outstretched hand. | $10,000 |
| Adelaide | Friends of the Prospect Library | Create a memorial walk to commemorate service personnel from the area who lost their lives in the First World War. | $3,045 |
| Adelaide | Legacy Club of South Australia and Broken Hill Incorporated | Contribute to costs associated with the Legacy South Australia Remembrance Walk and photographic display. | $10,000 |
| Barker | Southend Progress Association Inc. | Install a flagpole to fly the Aboriginal Flag. | $1,800 |
| Grey | Laura Community Development and Tourism Association Incorporated | Construct six metal artworks to commemorate local service personnel for installation at the Laura Community War Memorial. | $10,000 |
| Sturt | 6 RAR Association | Publish a book entitled ‘History of the Sixth Battalion Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR) Volume I 1965–1970’. | $10,000 |
| Total Grants — SA — 6 | Total $44,845 | ||
| Electorate | Recipient | Funding description | Amount $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Braddon | Devonport RSL Sub‑Branch Inc. | Commission an artist to paint a mural dedicated to the service and sacrifice of Australia’s service personnel in all wars, conflicts and peace operations. | $3,500 |
| Clark | Australian Federation of Totally and Permanently Incapacitated Ex‑Servicemen | Restore a First World War honour board for display at North Hobart Football Oval. | $4,000 |
| Franklin | Kingborough Council | Upgrade the Kettering Cenotaph. | $500 |
| Total Grants — TAS — 3 | Total $8,000 | ||
| Electorate | Recipient | Funding description | Amount $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Casey | Badger Creek Hall Committee of Management Incorporated | Publish 67 biographies on First World War service personnel from the Badger Creek community. | $2,000 |
| Casey | Dandenong Ranges Music Council Inc. | Produce two short music videos to commemorate Australian service personnel involvement in the Vietnam War. | $10,000 |
| Casey | Wandin North Primary School | Install a new flagpole in the school's memorial garden. | $915 |
| Gippsland | Yinnar Primary School | Install a flagpole at the school. | $2,000 |
| La Trobe | Nar Nar Goon RSL Sub‑Branch | Install new plaques and plinths dedicated to local service personnel and the tri-services at the Nar Nar Goon RSL Memorial Park. | $9,854 |
| Macnamara | Victorian Association of World War 2 Veterans from the Ex-Soviet Union | Contribute to the construction of a new memorial to commemorate Arctic Convoys of the Second World War. | $10,000 |
| McEwen | Sunbury Cemetery Trust | Construct a Light Horse Brigade soldier and horse monument at Sunbury Cemetery. | $10,000 |
| McEwen | Upper Plenty Mechanics Institute Hall Association Inc. | Replace two honour boards from the First and Second World Wars. | $9,650 |
| Monash | Major Projects Foundation Ltd. | Conduct a survey and media campaign of S.S Cambridge to create community awareness of the service and sacrifice of the Merchant Navy during the Second World War. | $26,943 |
| Total Grants — VIC — 9 | Total $81,362 | ||
| Electorate | Recipient | Funding description | Amount $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Durack | Shire of Bruce Rock | Construct a new memorial dedicated to the service and sacrifice of Australian military personnel in all wars, conflicts and peace operations. | $25,000 |
| Moore | Returned and Services League of Australia — WA State Branch | Contribute to the restoration of the Joondalup War Memorial. | $10,000 |
| O’Connor | Albany RSL Sub-Branch | Contribute to costs associated with the commemorative event for the 75th Anniversary of the end of Second World War. | $2,315 |
| O’Connor | Country Women's Association of Western Australia | Construct a structure to house information panels commemorating the service and sacrifice of local military personnel who served during the Second World War. | $7,120 |
| O’Connor | Shire of Kent | Upgrade the Pingrup War Memorial to commemorate local service personnel who served during the First and Second World Wars. | $6,305 |
| Perth | Returned and Services League of Australia — WA State Branch | Update the West Australian State War Memorial with missing names, and make alterations to current names on the memorial. | $83,715 |
| Swan | Canning District RSL Sub‑Branch | Install an additional flagpole in the Sub-Branch’s commemorative garden. | $2,000 |
| Total Grants — WA — 7 | Total $136,455 | ||
Open Arms — Veterans and Families Counselling provides support for current and ex-serving ADF personnel and their families. Free and confidential help is available 24/7. Phone 1800 011 046 (international: +61 1800 011 046 or +61 8 8241 4546) or visit www.OpenArms.gov.au