The Veterans' & Families' Centre

30/09/2026

💙 WELCOME GARRY BEVEN OAM

We are incredibly proud to welcome Garry Beven OAM across to Launceston Legacy and The Veterans’ & Families’ Centre.

For Garry’s current clients, it is business as usual. Garry will continue supporting you through your DVA claims journey with the same care, knowledge and commitment he has always provided.

📞 Garry: 0435 861 201
📧 [email protected]

Over the coming month, Garry will be in touch with his existing clients to update any paperwork required to reflect the organisations he now supports.

Looking for help with your DVA claims journey?

Reach out to The Veterans’ & Families’ Centre on 03 6454 1899 or contact Garry via email.

Garry will also be mentoring our amazing and growing team of advocates, sharing his years of knowledge and experience to help us continue building strong, caring and knowledgeable advocacy support for veterans and their families.

Garry may not personally take on every new claim, but his experience and guidance will be right there behind our advocacy team.

Great advocates supporting veterans, backed by experienced advocates who are willing to share what they know. ❤️
We are incredibly lucky to have you with us, Garry.

Launceston Legacy × The Veterans’ & Families’ Centre

Working together for veterans and families.

28/09/2026

Have you used the MOVET service yet?

Ready to book your next trip? Find out more and book MOVET here: https://theveteransandfamiliescentre.org/movet/

The Veterans' & Families centre is a positive place where we can share information and help each other.

26/09/2026

What's happening at the Center this coming week?

26/09/2026

🇦🇺 AFGHANISTAN 25 — 11 OCTOBER 2026

This year marks 25 years since the commencement of Australia’s service in Afghanistan under Operation Slipper.

For many in our veteran community, Afghanistan isn’t simply a chapter in Australia’s military history. It is somewhere they served. Somewhere their mates served. Somewhere that changed lives and families forever.

On Sunday 11 October, commemorative services will be held at the Hobart and Launceston Cenotaphs at 1100, giving Tasmanians the opportunity to come together, reflect and recognise those who served.

There will also be a National Commemorative Service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, commencing from 1000, with the official service beginning at 1030 For those who cannot attend in person, the national service will be broadcast live across Australia by the ABC and available on ABC iview.

More than 35,000 Australians served in Afghanistan or in support of operations across the Middle East Area of Operations. The Australian War Memorial records 47 Australian Defence Force personnel who died as a result of their service in Afghanistan, and 263 Australians were wounded.

But numbers will never tell the whole story.

They don’t capture the friendships, deployments, homecomings, families waiting at home, or the physical and psychological impacts that some continue to carry today.

On 11 October, we remember them all.

Those who served.
Those who didn’t come home.
Those who came home changed.
The families who served alongside them in their own way.
And the mates who continue to look after one another today.

Whether you join us at a Tasmanian Cenotaph, attend the Australian War Memorial, or watch the national commemoration from home, take a moment to remember.

25 years on, their service matters, their stories matter, and we remember.

Lest We Forget. 🇦🇺

Launceston RSL Australian War Memorial

24/09/2026

Our big news!📣

A Growing Partnership Built on Shared Values

The Veterans’ & Families’ Centre has developed a strong and meaningful relationship with Legacy Launceston over the past year. Sometimes it takes a tragedy to bring together organisations that share the same values and commitment to supporting veterans and their families.

In one of the darkest moments for a young veteran family following the loss of a loved one, our two organisations came together with a single focus: how could we best support this family during their time of need?

Through countless emails, phone calls and meetings, we wrapped the strength of two volunteer-led boards around the family. In doing so, we discovered just how closely aligned our organisations truly are.

Since then, that connection has continued to grow.

Dr Andrew Clarke described the relationship as one where the two organisations simply “dovetail”.

“Legacy and the Veterans’ & Families’ Centre have different histories and areas of expertise, but our purpose is very much aligned. Our organisations dovetail beautifully, where one organisation’s support finishes, the other can often step in. Together we can provide a much stronger network around veterans and their families.”

That connection is also reflected within our own team.

During a casual “Cam’s Corner” conversation, our recently appointed Fleet Manager, Taj Whelan, revealed that he had grown up as a Legacy Kid.

“I already knew Taj had lived experience of military service, but learning that he grew up in a deeply connected military family and was a Legacy Kid himself confirmed we had recruited the right person for the role,” said Jo Lovell, General Manager of the Veterans’ & Families’ Centre.

In May, the Veterans’ & Families’ Centre was proud to host a wonderful Legacy North West luncheon, further strengthening the bonds between our organisations. The connection has become so strong that several of our board members, staff and volunteers have proudly taken the step of becoming Legatees themselves.

Now, after a year of working alongside each other, we are excited to announce the next chapter in our partnership.

The Veterans’ & Families’ Centre will now operate from the Legacy Launceston office every Thursday and Friday from 9:30am to 2:00pm.
59 York St, Launceston

Veterans and family members are invited to drop in, have a complimentary coffee, access support services or simply sit down for a friendly chat with our Wellbeing and Compensation Advocates.

For us, this partnership isn’t about duplicating services. It’s about organisations knowing their strengths, working together and making sure veterans and families don’t have to navigate support alone.

Two organisations. Two volunteer-led boards. Shared values.

One veteran community.

Together with Legacy Launceston, we look forward to continuing to build practical support, genuine connection and care for veterans and families across Northern Tasmania.

20/09/2026

Here’s what’s happening at The Veterans’ & Families’ Centre this week! ❤️

Another week of connection, support, good conversations and plenty happening across our veteran community.

Whether you’re dropping in for a cuppa, seeing Dr Clarke, connecting with the amazing Open Arms Peer Team, grabbing a Team Veteran shirt, checking out the Poppy Shop or hiring an e-bike, our doors are open! Open Arms - Veterans & Families Counselling

And keep an eye on Thursday in Launceston… we’ve got some exciting news coming! 👀

Saturday, pull on your Team Veteran shirt and join parkrun in Burnie, Devonport or Launceston. Walk, run, connect or simply come along and belong. Invictus Australia Burnie parkrun

🌺 Different journeys. Same destination. A stronger tomorrow.

14/09/2026

💗 Sometimes the right words arrive at exactly the right time.

Here at the Veterans’ & Families’ Centre, we are incredibly lucky to have an amazing team. People who care deeply, who show up for one another, and who stand beside our veterans and families through the good days and the really hard ones.

Today, a wonderful friend of our Centre dropped in a copy of The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy. Such a simple, thoughtful gift and one that already feels very at home here.

Today’s words from the book that mean so much to us are:

“What is the bravest thing you’ve ever said?” asked the boy.
“Help,” said the horse.

Those few words capture so much of what we believe.

Asking for help takes courage.
Accepting help takes courage.
And sometimes simply walking through our door takes more courage than anyone else will ever know.

We are proud to be a Centre where nobody has to have all the answers, nobody has to pretend everything is okay, and nobody has to walk the difficult parts alone.

We are incredibly grateful for the beautiful people who remind us why this little Centre and the community around it is so special. 💗

It’s okay to say, “Help.”
We’re here.

13/09/2026

Sundays done right. 🌺

Being present. Getting hands-on. Having a yarn. And making something pretty special together.

Today at Gravelly Beach Metal Works, 18 veterans and friends joined us across two sessions to create three beautiful metal poppies.

Each poppy will have its own story and destination. Some will find a home in gardens, some will become part of the Tasmanian Veterans Association retreat poppy garden, and others will be available for purchase through the Veterans’ & Families’ Centre Poppy Shop.
Tasmanian Veterans Association

But today was about much more than making poppies.

It was about connection.

We met new veterans, caught up with familiar faces, worked alongside one another and, importantly, had conversations about what veterans and families would like to see happening in the veteran space.

Sometimes the best conversations don’t happen around a meeting table. They happen while your hands are busy, the coffee is flowing and people simply have the time and space to talk.

18 people. Two sessions. Three beautiful poppies. Plenty of conversations and new connections.

That’s a Sunday done right. ❤️🌺

A huge thank you to everyone who came along and to Gravelly Beach Metal Works for creating such a welcoming space for our veteran community.

Gravelly Beach Metalworks
Tassie Metal Art

11/09/2026

💙⚓ How bloody proud are we of this incredible woman!

A huge congratulations to Amy Vickers Navy veteran, founder of Well Beyond Service, and the 2026 Tasmanian AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award winner! 🇦🇺

After 26 years of service in the Royal Australian Navy, Amy has continued serving others in a completely different way.

Through Well Beyond Service, she has created something incredibly special in regional Tasmania a place whether you’re transitioning from Defence, emergency services and volunteer service can step away, reconnect, rebuild confidence and rediscover who they are beyond the uniform.

And now that work has been recognised on a much bigger stage.

Amy received the Tasmanian Award and a $15,000 Westpac grant to help expand Well Beyond Service and reach even more women across regional Australia.

For those of us in the veteran community who know Amy and understand the heart behind what she is building, this recognition is so deserved.

We are incredibly proud of you.

You served.
You transitioned.
And now you’re creating a pathway for others coming behind you.

That is service beyond service. 💙

⚓ Bravo Zulu, Amy.

Amy Vickers spent 26 years in the Royal Australian Navy, rising to ...