Respect and perception.
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This was the message from Launceston’s dawn service.
Royal Australian Navy Captain Lisa Batchler returned to her hometown to give the guest speaker address in front of about 7500 people.
“I’ve been back for two or three Anzac Days previously, but this is the first time I’ve been here in an official capacity,” she said.
“It’s lovely to be home, and mum and dad are pleased.”
This year’s Anzac Day theme is ‘By the Left’. Traditionally a marching command, the phrase ‘By the Left’ is being used to encourage female veterans to march together to raise awareness for their contribution to the defence force.
While Captain Batchler had never been questioned when wearing her medals on the left, she “knows a number of people who have”.
“The perception of a young army soldier, in a uniform, carrying a rifle was perhaps the stereotype in World War I, but now veterans come in all different shapes and sizes; male, female and from a number of diverse cultural backgrounds,” Captain Batchler said.
“You could see people from a number of different countries of origin serving in the defence force today.
“It is just about breaking down what a veteran looks like.”
Captain Batchler’s career in the Australian Defence Force began when she was awarded a defence scholarship during her final year at St Patricks College.
Since graduating from the Australian Defence Force Academy in 1990, Captain Batchler had served in the navy in various role and aboard various ships but she said her role as commanding officer on HMAS Harman was the “most rewarding”.
“We did a lot of ceremonial activity, a lot of Anzac Days, a lot of school visits, a lot of those sort of community engagement activities, which I find particularly rewarding,” Captain Batchler said.
“My experience with Anzac Day is we are seeing more and more people turn out to support not only their own family members but other people in the military.”
Captain Batchler now works as the executive director logistics systems. Her role includes the sustainment of current logistics systems’ applications, provision of deployed logisitics support, logisitics policy and processes, and logistics business input to the Enterprise Resource Planning program.