Joondalup City RSL: new name confirmed for Ocean Reef RSL sub-branch

THE Ocean Reef RSL sub-branch has changed its name to Joondalup City RSL.

President Rick Green said they held a morning tea on May 31 to formally issue the charter for the name change.

“This takes our namesake from being Ocean Reef, a suburb of Joondalup to being Joondalup City, all of Joondalup due to the growing membership and also the only sub-branch in the area,” he said.

Secretary Ken Beven said the sub-branch had a relatively short history compared to the Wanneroo-Joondalup RSL.

“As the population of Perth moved further north the only established sub-branch in the area was Wanneroo, which was established in the early 1920s and the war memorial was chartered in 1921,” he said.

“North Beach to the south and Nollamara to the east was probably the closest of the other sub-branches.

“Ex-service personnel being discharged in the ‘80s and ‘90s, moving to the developing suburbs in the northern corridor and wanting to join the RSL had limited sub-branches to choose from.

“A majority of which joined the City of Perth, while others joined Wanneroo, North Beach (established 1945), Nollamara (1957), and Quinns Rock (2000).”

“Joondalup started to become the ‘city of the north’ towards the late ‘80s, early ‘90s.

“It was during this time that the Wanneroo RSL decided to add Joondalup to its name, as the whole area was administered by the Wanneroo Shire Council.”

Mr Beven said the Wanneroo-Joondalup RSL erected the war memorial in Central Park, Joondalup in April 1996, and two years later, the City of Joondalup was established after the split from Wanneroo.

“With the rapid growth in the area some local ex-service members decided that it would be appropriate to start a sub-branch in the new growth area along the coast within the City of Joondalup,” he said.

“Our sub branch was originally chartered as Beaumaris Beach on July 2, 1997 and then re-chartered as Ocean Reef on November 24, 2005.”

Mr Beven said the sub-branch was re-chartered a second time on May 31 as Joondalup City RSL sub-branch and was currently the only sub-branch within the City of Joondalup.

“Our sub-branch is targeted towards the younger veterans as our meeting times are every second Wednesday of the month at 7.30pm,” he said.

“This enables the young, still working veterans to attend our meetings which will still be held at the Ocean Reef Sea Sports Club.

“With the increase of current Australian Defence Force and ex-service personnel moving to the area, we have a large catchment area from which we can continue to grow our membership numbers and continue to support all service and ex-service personnel and their families.”