What are the opening hours?

Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Friday 9am - 5pm

Families of Veterans Guild - owned by Australian War Widows NSW Ltd

Home
Australia
Chatswood, NSW
Families of Veterans Guild - owned by Australian War Widows NSW Ltd

Call Directions Website Contact the organization

Australian War Widows NSW was originally established in 1946.

The Families of Veterans Guild is owned and operated by Australian War Widows NSW Ltd and is an inclusive non-for-profit organisation whose focus is to provide war widows, defence and veteran families with a voice and a community With a recently expanded constitution, the AWW NSW can now provide support to much larger segment of the veteran community, including spouses/ partners parents, grandparents, children and siblings of veterans. AWW NSW is currently developing a new service offer to support all of those who are now part of its community.

05/11/2026

If you’ve been thinking about trying mindfulness but haven’t known where to start, this is worth looking into.

We’re hosting a free six-week online mindfulness course for war widows and veteran families, starting 10 November. Each Tuesday evening from 7pm to 8pm, Lydia Vorona from Living Aware leads an hour-long session on Zoom, including two guided meditations and time for questions. The content is drawn from the evidence-based Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program, so it goes beyond tips and into real practice.

Over six weeks you’ll cover what mindfulness actually is, how stress affects the body, and how to bring these practices into everyday life. Whether you’re new to mindfulness or want to build on something you’ve already started, it’s a solid way to finish the year and head into 2027 with something that sticks.

Places are limited and it’s free for families of veterans. Register now at the link below.

familiesofveterans.org.au/mindfulness-course-veteran-families

03/11/2026

On 3 November 1942, Australian troops raised the flag over Kokoda after months of some of the most gruelling fighting of the Second World War.

The Kokoda campaign ran from July to November 1942 across the Owen Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea. Australian soldiers, many of them young and undertrained, held the line against a far larger Japanese force in conditions historians describe as the most desperate endured by Australians in the Second World War. 641 Australians lost their lives. Alongside them, Papuan men carried the wounded, guided the troops and kept the supply lines moving through impossible terrain. They are remembered as the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels.

Today we remember those who fought, those who were lost, and the families who waited for them.

Lest we forget.

03/11/2026

Today marks an important step forward for Australia’s veteran community.

The Families of Veterans Guild welcomes the Australian Government’s announcement of $7.4 million over four years to establish and support an independent national peak body for ex-service and veteran-serving organisations, delivering Recommendation 89 of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Su***de.

The Guild has strongly supported the establishment of an independent peak body and has been actively involved in its development. We have consistently advocated for a body that strengthens sector-wide collaboration, improves coordination and gives our diverse sector a strong and effective collective voice.
We have also been clear that veteran families, including war widows, must have a meaningful and independent voice within this new structure. Their experiences, needs and pathways to support are not always the same as those of veterans themselves, and their perspectives must remain visible as the peak body takes shape.

This is an important opportunity to build a stronger, more connected and collaborative sector, and ultimately achieve better outcomes for veterans and their families.

We congratulate Matt Keogh, the Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs, Nick Booth and everyone across the veteran community who has contributed to getting this work to this point.

We look forward to continuing to play our part as this important reform moves from design to reality.

Read more: www.dva.gov.au/peak-body-eoi

02/11/2026

We recently made a submission to the Senate inquiry into DVA-funded health treatment, and we want our community to know what we asked for and why.

Three things stood out as changes that would make a real difference. Removing the two-year time limit on additional support for bereaved partners, because grief does not run to a deadline. Extending Gold Card eligibility for children of deceased veterans until age 25 regardless of study status, with ongoing mental health access after that. And broader mental health treatment for veteran families, so that where someone needs psychological or psychiatric treatment beyond Open Arms counselling, they can access it.

The principle behind all three is straightforward. Support should follow need, not an arbitrary rule or a birthday on a form.

Read more about our submission and what we’re asking for.

familiesofveterans.org.au/standing-up-better-support-widows-veteran-families

01/11/2026

War Widows Day has passed for another year, but the stories don’t stop here.

The War Widows Honour Roll is a living record of Australia’s war widows. Every name added keeps a woman’s story of love, service, grief and resilience from being forgotten, and preserves her legacy for the generations who come after her.

If you are a war widow, or if there’s a war widow in your life, a mother, grandmother, or a friend, we’d love you to add a name and story to the roll. Share a memory, a moment, the person she is or was.

Add a name to the War Widows Honour Roll: familiesofveterans.org.au/war-widows-honour-roll

30/10/2026

On this day in 1917, the Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade charged into history at Beersheba.

As the sun set over the desert, 800 men of the 4th and 12th Light Horse Regiments rode at full gallop directly into Turkish artillery and trenches. Using their bayonets as swords, the momentum of the charge carried them through the Turkish defences. Beersheba fell, its vital wells were secured, and the road to Jerusalem was opened.

It has been called the last great cavalry charge in history, and the finest.

Behind every rider was a family at home who would not know the outcome for weeks. 109 years on, we honour all who rode that day, all who did not return, and the families who carried their memory forward.

Lest we forget. 🌿

Photo credit: Australian War Memorial - "The Charge of the Light Horse at Beer-sheba". A hand-coloured print of the famous photograph said to depict the charge of the 4th Light Horse Brigade at Beersheba on the 31 October 1917, taken by a Turk whose camera was captured later in the day.

29/10/2026

Eighty years of the Guild means thousands of stories from war widows right across Australia.

Some are stories of women who raised their families on their own, or cared for a husband through the long effects of his service. Others are about the friendships made at social clubs and the phone calls that came on the hard days. Many of these stories were never written down, and they live on in the memories of the people who knew these women best.

War Widows Day has passed, and we’re still collecting them. If you’re a war widow, or you’ve known one who made a difference in your life, add her story to the War Widows Honour Roll today. A few lines is enough, and it doesn’t need to be polished. Every story becomes part of 80 Years of Stories and is kept for the generations who come after us.

Share a story: familiesofveterans.org.au/war-widows-honour-roll

If you’d like a hand putting it into words, call us on (02) 9267 6577.

27/10/2026

Yesterday, war widows, their families and friends gathered at the Cenotaph in Martin Place for War Widows Day. This year marks 80 years since war widows in NSW first came together, at a public meeting on Castlereagh Street in June 1946.

In 1957, war widows were left standing to one side at a Remembrance service. When it was over, they laid their wreath on their own. Yesterday, the Governor of NSW, ministers and community organisations laid wreaths in their honour.

War widows then came forward to lay wattle at the Cenotaph for each other. Board Director and war widow Lyn Bye gave this year’s address. She told the stories of the women who built the Guild, from Jessie Vasey’s first letters to the clubs that still meet across NSW today. Her Excellency then read a tribute to Shirley McLaren OAM, who joined the WRAAF in 1951 and was widowed at 39. At 94, she still keeps her promise not to forget.

Thank you to Her Excellency the Governor of New South Wales, to Minister David Harris MP for hosting our luncheon at Parliament House, the Premier Chris Minns, the Royal Australian Navy Band Sydney, HMAS Kuttabul, our staff and volunteers, and every war widow who joined us.

Read more about the day: https://familiesofveterans.org.au/war-widows-day-2026/

Eighty years on, together, we still stand.

26/10/2026

🫶

26/10/2026

Today in Sydney we gathered to commemorate the contributions of Australia’s war widows.

Whilst our 5th War Widows Day was observed last week, we held our service today at the Cenotaph in Martin place, sharing the stories of our war widows at the most sacred place, and in the most public of ways.

Thanks to days like today, the stories of our war widows continue to be told, and their contributions acknowledged and understood by many more.

Hearing the stories of our war widows resonating throughout the city, one can only think how much our founding members would be proud of a day like today.

Thank you to The Hon David Harris MP, NSW Minister for Veterans, for hosting a lunch at Parliament of NSW to celebrate 80 years of war widows standing with each other in NSW. And thank you to The Hon Chris Minns MP for spending some time with our war widows today as well.

Address

9 Help Street
Chatswood, NSW
2067

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

+61292676577

Website

https://www.familiesofveterans.org.au/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Families of Veterans Guild - owned by Australian War Widows NSW Ltd posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.