APOD has collaborated with members from the defence and veteran community, and Mitsubishi Motors Australia, to talk about the importance of recognition for the defence and veteran community.
August, 2022
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Australian Partners of Defence (APOD) is the official defence discount program in Australia. We are partnered with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, providing thousands of exclusive offers and benefits from our business partners to Australian Defence Force personnel, their families, and the veteran community.
APOD works with businesses of all different shapes and sizes to put in place discounts and benefits as a way of saying thank you for your service to defence and veteran families.
Watch the video to know more:
Lance Mossop did a tour of Vietnam with the Third Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment in 1971. Trained as a machine gunner, he carried the machine gun on the full tour of Vietnam. Lance says, “In our era in the seventies, we weren’t recognised.
“It’s good to know that some of those big (and small) companies are out there supporting us”
We were shunned and we weren’t very friendly with the civilian population because of the War.” He believes that it’s good to know and see that there are companies out there that recognises his service, which is a great thing. “It’s good to know that some of those big companies, and some of the small companies are out there supporting us”, mentions Lance.
According to Lance, a lot of veterans went through hard times in the early days not being recognised. He concludes, “But to be recognised by these companies is great. And to have APOD on board to help service personnel purchase cars, fuel, etc. is a great concept to be recognised after all these years.”
Dan Pronk is an army veteran and served as a regimental medical officer in the infantry and Special Operations units. Dan says, “During my time as an army doctor, I had the opportunity to deploy on multiple occasions, with assignments in East Timor with an infantry battalion and then went to Afghanistan for four tours with Special Operations.”
“I don’t feel any sense of entitlement for having served. But it’s nice when that service does get recognised”
“Which is why it’s awesome to see APOD linking companies that want to recognise currently serving military members and veterans by offering them discounts and special offers,” says Dan.
“We are very proud of the work that the Australian defence personnel and veterans do in supporting the country, and we are very proud to serve those who serve us in keeping our country safe,” Shaun commented.
“Australian Partners of Defence gives us a unique opportunity as an organisation to recognise and honour those who have served this country, those who have given of their time, who have stood up for the values of this country, who have served this country during times of disaster.”
As an ex-serviceman himself, Shaun is proud to be associated with the defence community and what they are, and what their values are. “They are there for Australians, they are there for all of us in times of need. They support us in disasters, they stand for democracy, they stand for freedom. But they’re also tough, resilient, adventurous. They overcome any challenges that get thrown at them,” commends Shaun.
“We are very proud of the work that the Australian defence personnel and veterans do in supporting the country, and we are very proud to serve them”
Shaun concludes by saying, “We are really privileged and honoured to be able to partner with the Australian Partners of Defence in being able to give something back to the people who have served us and have served this country. So we are really honoured to be part of this relationship with APOD.”
Chantelle is a current serving ADF member who also volunteers with Disaster Relief Australia (DRA). One of their significant business partners is Mitsubishi Motors Australia, which supplies vehicles that allow them to go and support communities.
According to Chantelle, there are so many businesses that want to support the current serving defence and veteran community, and they’re all there on the APOD platform.
“It’s important for businesses to recognise the service of the Australian Defence Force community and the sacrifice they’ve made to our country because they’ve invested a lot, in terms of deployment service and the impact to a family going through training, moving around the country, and more. There’s a lot of an unseen impact on defence and veteran families that the general Australian on the street would have no idea about,” Paul commented.
APOD’s really proud to partner with Mitsubishi Motors Australia. We’ve been partnered with them for over 12 months and it provides veteran and defence families access to savings on purchasing a vehicle. It’s an amazing company in terms of a brand to be partnering with and to put in place the offer that we have. They really value and recognise the APOD members, and the defence and veteran community.
“There are over 500,000 veteran families across Australia. We’ve got a long way to go in reaching those families and provide everyday savings to them”
We know that we have over 100,000 members, but we know that there’s over 500,000 veteran families across Australia. We’ve got a long way to go in reaching those families that we don’t know about and they don’t know about us. So if we can help make that connection, give that little bit of recognition back and continue to make this program grow and be sustainable, that’s what we’re about," said Paul.