In This Section
About the SASR Trust
The 12th June 1996 was a very black day in the history of the Australian Defence Force during peace time.
Eighteen of Australia’s finest soldiers died that night, 15 of these soldiers were from the Australian Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment, Swanbourne WA. One further soldier was rendered paraplegic and many more were seriously injured. Eleven children were left without fathers.
WA people are very proud and parochial when it comes to the SAS Regiment. West Australians have grown up driving past Campbell Barracks in the leafy beach suburb of Swanbourne. In the aftermath of the tragedy a retired Perth business man got together with some of his business colleagues and spoke of forming a Charitable Trust to assist the families of the deceased SAS soldiers and the family of the paraplegic soldier.
The (then) Chief Justice of Western Australia, Hon David Malcolm AC QC accepted the position of Chairman of this new Trust. An approach was made to His Excellency MajGen Michael Jeffery AC CVO MC who was at the time of the tragedy the Governor of Western Australia. General Jeffery accepted the position of Patron of the Trust. Our mission was then and still is to provide relief to current and former members of the SAS Regiment and their dependants who become deceased or permanently disabled in or as a result of operational service or in training.
On 4th October 1996 at Government House Perth WA His Excellency launched the Special Air Service Resources Trust in front of invited guests, members of the Regiment and 2 widows from the Blackhawk tragedy and their young children.
The Trust Chairman and six Trustees present at the first Board Meeting and are still members of the Board. Sadly in 2009 our Founding Trustee Jeff passed away but not before he had seen his dream turn into a reality. Our Trust currently provides support to 21 beneficiaries, 19 of which are children and 2 disabled soldiers. Jeff’s dream was to make a difference to the families of the deceased or disabled soldiers.
The Chairman & Board of Trustees believe the best gift we can give to the children of these brave SAS soldiers is quality education. Not only does the Trust cover the costs for educational needs including books, uniforms, shoes etc it also covers “after school” activities such as sport, music and dance. Should additional tutoring be required the Trust is there to cover those costs. It is our strong belief that by providing these children with the best education we reaffirm to them we too share their loss and acknowledge the sacrifice made by their brave fathers. The young beneficiaries are covered until they reach the age of 25 years. This will allow them to go on to pursue a University or Tertiary education should they wish to with the Trust supporting them financially.
We are indebted to the support given to the Trust by some of Australia’s best schools including St Mary’s Anglican Girls School (WA), St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls (WA), Aquinas College (WA), Guildford Grammar School (WA), John XX111 College (WA), St Mark’s Anglican Community School (WA), The Armidale School (NSW), Presbyterian Ladies College Armidale (NSW) and The Geelong College (Vic).
The Trust does not have an expiry date. It is there for as long as there is a Special Air Service Regiment. The Chairman, Trustees and Trust Manager are there to provide support to the members of the SAS and their families whether they are on operational service or in training.