This year, Mates4Mates celebrated its fifth birthday.
We’re honoured to support those who’ve served our nation in their time of need and provide them with mateship as they continue to serve our country in Defence of the civilian world.
In 2012, Australia was 11 years into the Afghanistan war and many veterans had returned from deployment as different people – physically and mentally injured and struggling to fit in to the civilian world.
By the time the campaign ended in 2014, 26,000 Australian soldiers had deployed to the Middle East, 41 of them were killed in action.
For those who survived, leaving the battlefield didn’t necessarily mean the war was over, with many about to face even bigger challenges at home.
It was this sobering reality that lead to the foundation of Mates4Mates at the end of 2012.
RSL Queensland identified Aussie veterans needed support, particularly those who suffered physical or mental injuries as a result of their time in Afghanistan.
Due to the sheer length of the Afghanistan campaign, the RSL knew these veterans needed their own space, with likeminded people, to reconnect and rebuild.
The Afghanistan campaign was not only long but was at a peak of Australia’s military involvement and all three services were involved in multiple postings around the world, so the need for support was growing.
After speaking to veterans, the importance of supporting the family unit became a priority, and so the unique model of our Family Recovery Centre (FRC) was born.
The first Mates4Mates FRC was opened in Albion in March 2013 and the Townsville and Hobart centres followed in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
Our idea was simple, to provide a holistic approach to recovery in a supportive and nonjudgemental space, through five core service streams; Psychological Services, Physical Rehabilitation and Wellbeing Services, Education and Employment Services, Rehabilitation Adventure Challenges and Social Connection activities; and to make these services available to the veteran’s immediate family as well.
After opening our doors, veterans from other conflicts and generations reached out, and it became clear the struggles our Afghanistan veterans were facing echoed throughout the ADF, from Vietnam to Iraq, all the conflicts and peacekeeping missions in between, as well as those who were just working on day-today exercises.
Since the first Mate walked through the doors, we’ve continued to go from strength to strength, and currently support nearly 3,000 Mates and family members across the country.
As the awareness of who we are and what we do continues to grow, so does the willingness of our veteran community to reach out for support.
In 2017, we conducted 4,700 psychologist appointments and 13,000 physical rehabilitation and wellbeing service connections.
Across the year, we had over 25,000 face-to-face contacts with Mates and their family members and nearly 450 applications were received for our Rehabilitation Adventure Challenges.
When you’ve just left the Defence Force it can be hard to find your way in the civilian world and that’s where we come in.
Although a young organisation, we understand the Defence way of life, and many of us have walked the same path as our veterans do when they leave Defence.
We know it can be hard, but we’re here to help.
