Commando News Australia Edition 14 2018

COMMANDO WELFARE TRUST
NOVEMBER 2018 REVIEW
By MAJ Steve Pilmore OAM. RFD. (Retd.) ACA National Vice President
& Commando Welfare Trust (CWT) Executive Officer
Inception
The Commando Welfare Trust (CWT) was officially
launched in 2010 when it became clear that there were
aspects missing in the existing support structures for the
family of a serving member lost his life in Afghanistan.
While the Department of Defence, the Department
of Veterans Affairs, the Returned and Services League,
Legacy and other organisations provide significant and
valued support, they are often unable to provide the full
support required by soldiers and their families due to
the limited parameters within which such welfare
organisations are authorised to operate; administrative
approval processes that delay responsiveness; the
difficulty of identifying situations of need; and limited
dispensable resources.
Progress since inception:
Since the beginning in 2010 the progress of the CWT
has been consistent, supporting families where and as
required, yet remaining financially strong due to a wellmanaged
asset portfolio.
The CWT is a perpetual trust (no prescribed
cessation date) which exists to support the welfare of
members who are Qualifying Persons in accordance with
the Deed of Trust, and their dependen.
As a guiding principle, the CWT is designed to
provide assistance, within available resources, to
qualifying persons where gaps exist in existing support
mechanisms. The trust is not designed to replace sup -
port provided by Defence or the Department of
Veterans’ Affairs. The trust aims to be objective, trans -
parent, fair and consistent in its provision of support to
qualifying members.
The primary focus of the CWT is the education,
development and wellbeing of the children of pers on nel
affected by such tragedies. The Trust Deed also
provides for additional support beyond this core
purpose.
Supported units:
Under the terms of the Trust Deed, personnel from
the following units may qualify for support:
• 1 st and 2 nd Commando Regiments
• Parachute Training School
• Special Operations Training and Education Centre
• Special Operations Headquarters
• Special Operations Engineer Regiment
• Special Operations Logistics Squadron
• Elements of 6 th Aviation Regiment supporting
SOCOMD units
• Headquarters Special Operations Command.
In addition, members of units providing direct support
to SOCOMD operations are also potentially eligible for
support - for example 4 Squadron RAAF who provide
Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs) as well as the
Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle drivers from the
1 st Armoured Regiment.
The approval support process
Qualifying personnel are recommended to the CWT
Trustees by a Military Advisory Board (MAB) as potential
beneficiaries at the same time providing sufficient
advice to allow the Trustees to determine the level of
financial relief the recipient should be allocated. In
accordance with the Deed of Trust, the MAB does not
possess any authority other than to provide confirmation
of the facts and then recommendations for persons
qualifying as beneficiaries.
The MAB is comprised of the Commanding
Officers/Officers Commanding and Regimental
Sergeant Majors/Squadron Sergeant Majors of the
Special Operations Command (SOCOMD) units, which
are supported by the CWT.
Key documents
Since the formation of the CWT, four key strategy
documents have been formalised following in-depth
study and advice from both inside and outside of the
Command. These documents are:
1. Marketing Strategy – June 2013
2. Corporate Strategy – August 2013
3. Corporate Investment Strategy – October 2013
4. Corporate Communications Strategy – November
2013
These strategies identify the key responsibilities and
objectives and in particular, set out the guidelines for
soliciting funds and/or accepting funds on behalf of the
CWT as well as determining when and what level of
funds are to be paid to a beneficiary.
The four basic strategy documents are always being
revisited and updated by the Trustees, as the support
environment dictates.
Trust Structure: The CWT Board consists of a
Chairman, Deputy Chairman, a current Special Opera -
tions senior officer plus six additional trustees com -
prising of two legal professionals, an accounting/
financial professional, two public relations/advertising
executives a senior business executive and a senior
public servant – the Chairman. It should be noted that
the Trustees are not remunerated from Trust funds.
The Trust also employs a Trust Executive Officer.
Major General Tim McOwan AO, DSC, CSM was
appointed the inaugural Patron of the Trust and the Hon
Dr Brendan Nelson AO has recently joined him as a
CWT Patron.
56 COMMANDO NEWS ~ Edition 14 I 2018