Our cafe's reopening has received a tremendous response from our community. So much is going on at Homebase, from connection activities to navigation sessions. Banjos goes from strength to strength and has become a staple in many veterans' lives, which is so rewarding to see. We’ve got Invictus Australia commencing an indoor rowing program on 14 October. The next Veterans Business Alliance Career Networking Night is again on the third Friday. The following month, Phil Thompson OAM, MP, will officially open the Path of Remembrance. We have had a fantastic response from stallholders of all kinds at our Oasis Market Collective on Saturday, 29 November. We’ve broadened the scope of the markets and will have literally something for everyone. We’ve supported several encouraging initiatives as part of Operation COMPASS that enhance support for Townsville. We all need to get in and help the Queensland Government write a Veterans Strategy. We are less impressed with the progress on the Royal Commission recommendations, but encouraged by community-minded organisations seeking to help us raise money to sustain our efforts by renting space to raise funds not yet available from the Royal Commission. It's great to see Wounded Heroes arrive in town.

We’ve had a tremendous response from our community in support of the reopening of the cafe. Thank you all. It’s been so good, in fact, that we are contemplating opening on another day of the week, but we’ll give it a bit more time to confirm. The Morning Magpie have opened Dirty Boots Cafe on Tuesdays and Fridays from 0630h. They sure know how to make great coffee. Love it.

There have been so many programs run at Homebase, especially after hours. Some of them include Sunset Yoga’s nine-week program and Creative Connections. One popular activity has been the Oasis Guitar Social Strings Group, which meets every Friday. Of course, activities like the Cobra Project continue to thrive. The Evergreen lecture last month was also well attended. More of these to come.

Banjos has gone from strength to strength, especially with the great coffee from The Morning Magpie. The increased participation of community service groups has also been welcomed by attendees, who appreciate the opportunity to learn while socialising. At the last Banjos, we learned that Invictus Australia is launching a brand-new Indoor Rowing Program at Homebase commencing on 14 October.

Path of Remembrance will be officially opened by Phil Thompson, MP, at 0930h on Friday, 14 Nov. Come along and honour the people whose names are identified on a paver in the path. For those who can, we encourage the wearing of medals to this event. And our last Oasis Market Collective for 2025 is on Saturday, 29 November. We have had a tremendous roll-up of stall holders. Homebase will be packed with ideas, information and activities for all.

Last month’s VBA Career Networking Night was well-attended by approximately 15 veterans and partners researching education and job opportunities. There will be another on Friday 17 October at 1700h for about an hour. Meeting those who own, manage or work for businesses that value veterans and partners is a great way to find out what you don’t know about a job/career change. Our use of the skills capturing software application, AUKUS (Skilliphy) has also proven helpful and is developing rapidly. It's a great way to begin your job search.

Several Operation COMPASS initiatives are moving forward. The launch of the Joint Regional Wellbeing Plan for NQ 2025-28 was conducted at Homebase last month. It is an outstanding initiative that will make our referral operations easier. A great initiative identified as sorely needed in Townsville has commenced. Universal Aftercare is a tailored, non-clinical service for people who have experienced a suicidal crisis or attempted suicide. See the link at the bottom of this ONtarget.

The Queensland Government is preparing to develop a Veterans Strategy and is seeking support from all interested parties. They have a forum this month, one of many around the state, to gather feedback and ideas. We hope to see as many of our community members as possible support this forum. Let’s help them get this right as it's the foundation for what they can do to support our veteran community.

We’ve seen the first Anniversary of the Royal Commission final report come and go. Of those that have been implemented, most relate to passing legislation, setting up more organisations, and writing terms of reference. We were hoping some action would have been taken to change the lives of veterans and families on the ground where they live and work, but we will clearly have to wait longer. One recommendation that has had some work done and is of particular interest to the Veterans’ and Families’ Hubs Network across Australia is a new Wellbeing Agency, that will be responsible for the wellbeing of the whole veteran community, not just those with a compensation claim or pension with DVA.

We have begun the process of renting out space to like-minded organisations to increase our fundraising efforts. At Ease Community Nursing now occupy a building. We are very pleased to have an organisation so closely aligned with the work we do, which supports us by renting space. We are still actively seeking like-minded community organisations to utilise space we have available for hire/rent at Homebase. With the shift of most connection activities to the evenings, we have space available to hire during working hours. We have introduced a new platform to help streamline the search for availability and space at our amazing Homebase, called SpacetoCo. The link is available on our website.

It’s great to see Wounded Heroes come to town. They have been high on our referral list for a long time. They have supported many veterans and families in their areas of expertise, particularly in crisis funding alongside the Bravery Trust. Their Op Shop and cafe is fantastic.