On Sunday 28 June 2026, around 100 guests gathered at the Ivy Ballroom in Sydney for the inaugural Post Vietnam Conflicts and Peacekeepers Luncheon, a new commemorative event established by the Rose Bay RSL sub-Branch.

The luncheon was created to recognise veterans who have served on operations since Vietnam, and those still serving today. For many of them, service has meant multiple deployments across a career rather than a single campaign, and the luncheon was our way of saying that all of it counts.

Australians have been deployed on operations almost continuously since the end of the Vietnam commitment. Australian peacekeepers have worn the blue beret in the Middle East, Namibia, Cambodia, Somalia, Rwanda, Bougainville, Timor-Leste and Solomon Islands, and Australia’s peacekeeping tradition reaches back to 1947, when the first Australian military observers deployed with the United Nations. Alongside that work sits operational service in the Gulf, Afghanistan, Iraq and on border and maritime operations closer to home.

That service is often long, often quiet, and often spread across a whole career. Australian Peacekeepers Day is marked each year on 14 September, but a single national day of recognition can only do so much. The sub-Branch established this luncheon to bring that community together locally, in a room where people who have shared the same experience could sit down with one another.

We were fortunate to be joined by two outstanding guest speakers: Brigadier Vince Williams, CSC (Ret’d), Acting President of RSL NSW, and Commander Kathryn Jones, RAN, Commanding Officer of HMAS Watson.  Our thanks go to both for giving their time and for speaking so well to the occasion.

Thank you to everyone who attended and made the day what it was, with around 100 of you turning out to support it. Thank you also to the Merivale team at the Ivy Ballroom for their hospitality, and to the sub-Branch volunteers who planned, organised and ran the luncheon.

Most of all, thank you to the veterans and serving members in the room. The purpose of the day was to acknowledge your service, and to do it while you are here to hear it said.

The Rose Bay RSL sub-Branch looks forward to hosting this luncheon again next year.