Bill Roberts OAM – AVCAT Board

We wanted to get to know our board members a little better. Our board works so hard for AVCAT giving us their time, skills and experience. We asked them to tell us their stories and how that motivates them to give so much of themselves to AVCAT and the ex-service community. Bill Roberts OAM, JP tells us in his own words.

By Bill Roberts OAM, JP

I served in the Australian Regular Army from 1963 to 1971, and served with the 4^th Battalion, Royal Regiment (4RAR) in Malaysia/Borneo between August 1965 and August 1967, during the Indonesian Confrontation. I also served with 4RAR/NZ (ANZAC) Battalion in South Vietnam between June 1968 and June 1969.

Following my discharge in 1971 I was employed by the New South Wales Police Department in a clerical capacity working at various Police Stations as an Inspector’s Clerk in the Sydney region over several years and not long after that as a senior clerk at a number of Police Establishments/Sections such as the Firearms Registry, Modus Operandi Section and Police Radio Operations and Transport Branch where I was the Senior Administrative Clerk to the Executive Chief Superintendent.

In 1995 I was medically retired from the Police Service due to my military service-related disabilities, and shortly thereafter I was granted a Special Rate Pension from the Department of Veteran’ Affairs.

In 1995, following my medical retirement I volunteered my services with the then Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia (VVAA) at Granville, later to be redesignated as Vietnam Veterans Peacekeepers and Peacemakers Association of Australia (VVPPAA).

From 1995, and continuing to the present day, I have been involved in advocacy work with the VVPPAA. I have been the Senior Vice President of VVPPAA since 2005. In June 2018 I was elected as the National President of the Vietnam Veterans Federation of Australia (VVFA), of which VVPPAA is an affiliate, and re-elected in June 2019.

I was awarded an Order of Australia (OAM) in 2013, for my services to Veterans. In 2010 I was sworn in as a Justice of the Peace, New South Wales.

I have also been a Director on the Board of Directors of the Totally and Permanently Incapacitated Veterans’ Association of New South Wales (T&PI) Limited, since 1999.

In 2005 I was nominated by the Vietnam Veterans Federation to be its Representative on the Board of Directors of AVCAT, a position which I have held to this day.

I am aware of the importance of good sound tertiary education, and that children of Veterans should be able to access this, especially those who are capable and are in necessitous circumstances.

I have been extremely proud to be part of group of very dedicated Representatives/Directors of the Ex-service Organisations that sponsor the various Bursaries of which AVCAT administers. The Directors and those involved in the administration and selection process of these bursaries are committed to ensuring, where possible, that the most deserving and needy children are awarded a scholarship which will no doubt help them to achieve the education level and vocation to which they aspire.

Being part of a team that is committed and dedicated to helping these children achieve their goals, inspires me to continue with my support with AVCAT.

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