With many of the Returned and Services League's members on the older edge of the scale - almost 90 per cent of RSL volunteers are over the age of 55 - it's clear the movement needs to boost involvement from new generations.

Indeed, in the years since COVID has disrupted dawn services, the Wollongong sub-branch has lost its president and secretary.

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The gap between the war in Vietnam and those in the Middle East was more than a generation. But the Wollongong sub-branch has two Middle East veterans - Ben Golding and Josh Neden - among multiple younger veterans, including the first woman in its history, on its committee.

It's not just about organising dawn services and the Anzac Day march, but being around to welcome comrades into the community. It was this concern for veterans' welfare that caused Mt Keira's Corporal Golding to get involved when he returned from Iraq, where he served as a medic with the 2nd Commando Regiment.

"We've had a big push in Wollongong to get some younger people involved and we're reflecting that with the makeup of our committee where there's quite a few young veterans," he said.

"That's helping to guide the way we're moving forward with different events which are shaped more towards younger veterans.

"I was a medic in the army so I was always involved with the welfare of other military members. I wanted to keep that going when I left Defence ... so I put my hand up and said I wanted to be part of the welfare component of our committee."

A more casual "catch-up" dinner is now held aside from the usual formal meetings, while digital communication platforms are up and running.

Sub-branch secretary Peter Lipscomb said the club had been deliberately investing in renewal - as it needed to - over the recent pandemic-affected years.

"Recruitment is an issue and the ageing population is an issue - the average age of our members is around the 69 years old mark," he said. "We still have a few World War II veterans but they are getting older. When our committee took over a couple of years ago we were conscious of this.

"These ceremonies are put together by volunteer members. At the last ANZAC Day ceremony that was held outside the Cenotaph, the president was Peter Poulton, the secretary was Joe Davidson, they've both passed away in the past two years. They ran the dawn services for a long time."