Rethinking legacy: Jennifer Staines on why she serves on the RSL board

On Veteran Families’ Day in South Australia, Parbery Senior Manager Jennifer Staines reflects on how she’s helping to modernise the RSL as Chair of RSL SA, NT & Broken Hill. She also shares the deeply personal connection to service that drives her commitment to supporting today’s veteran community.

The Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) is often imagined as a legacy organisation, grounded in ANZAC tradition, honouring World War veterans and stewarding solemn ceremonies. That legacy remains important. But the RSL SA, NT & Broken Hill know, and I now help lead, is also forward-facing, modernising and deeply relevant to today’s serving and ex-serving defence personnel.

As Chair of RSL SA, NT & Broken Hill, I bring both personal and professional insight to the Board table. My connection to Australia’s defence community is lifelong. I was raised on RAAF bases, the daughter and granddaughter of Air Force personnel. Later, I married a P-3 Orion pilot and experienced the rhythms of military life as a spouse, relocations, deployments and life lived on and around the base.

When we moved to Hong Kong and my husband transitioned to commercial aviation, I saw a different side of service life, the uneasy transition. We lived among a close-knit community of former military pilots from around the world. Some adjusted well, but others struggled with the change in routine, no more high-adrenaline sorties, no shared military structure and a very different style of corporate leadership. Who you were and what you did in uniform no longer mattered. The shift was more than logistical, it was deeply personal. It shaped my belief that service doesn’t end with discharge. And support shouldn’t either.

Before I was appointed to the Board, I had already worked closely with the RSL, providing high-level, pro bono strategic communications support, helping reposition the organisation to better connect with modern veterans, policy leaders and the broader public. In 2024, I was honoured to be elected Chair.

Alongside my communications background, I bring more than two decades of experience working across the defence, government, and industry sectors, including roles with the Future Submarine Program (SEA 1000), the Royal Australian Air Force, and, more recently, the Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG), through my position at Parbery. This intersection of defence insight and strategic governance is where I believe I can offer the greatest value.

The RSL is evolving. Programs like Reach Out Wellbeing mark a new chapter, providing tailored, trauma-informed support for veterans and their families, built around trust, accessibility and dignity. We are also strengthening our focus on employment pathways, peer connection, and engagement with underrepresented veteran groups, including women, younger veterans and multicultural communities.

My role as Chair involves ensuring this work is supported by strong governance, sound partnerships and a clear strategy. The Board’s focus is long-term, to safeguard the RSL’s mission while modernising its delivery.

The RSL is often perceived through the lens of the past, defined by its World War roots. But the reality is far more dynamic. Today’s membership includes current serving personnel, recent veterans, reservists and multigenerational families like mine. Both of my brothers continue to serve and now, two of my daughters are preparing to join the Air Force.

On ANZAC Day, I watched those same daughters volunteer on the Torrens Parade Ground, engaging with veterans who were their age when they went to war. It was a deeply grounding moment. My grandfather, a Pathfinder pilot, flew 52 missions over Europe, each one with the power to change his destiny and ours. That legacy continues, but it doesn’t live in history books alone. It lives in action.

I serve on the Board of RSL SA, NT & Broken Hill not just to honour the past, but to help shape the future. I work alongside an exceptional President, a skilled Board and an operational team deeply committed to the veteran community. Together, we are focused on making the RSL more than a commemorative body. We’re building it into a responsive, inclusive and trusted support organisation for those who have served, and those who continue to serve.

Because legacy isn’t just what we remember. It’s what we choose to build next.