General News
28 April, 2026
Guardians of the Spirit continues to grow
A growing informal movement hoping to preserve the Anzac spirit longterm “can’t be stopped” according to its local founder.
Former infantryman and local resident Phil Daniel started Guardians of the Spirit in 2022 so all service people could march under a symbolic banner regardless of their deployment or service history.
Together they are united by their enlistment and grounded in a name and service tag provided by the informal group.
“You might forget birthdays, wedding anniversaries, but you’ll never forget your number,” he said.
In their first year, Guardians of the Spirit provided 11 badges — now Mr Daniel said they’ve topped a thousand.
“It was terribly presumptuous but it had to be done,” he said about the movement’s start.
The reason why is a dwindling number of veterans on Anzac Day.
According to Maryborough RSL president Wayne Sproull it’s a trend seen locally this year.
“The service crowd was down a little bit ... and surprisingly enough not all of them are RSL members,” he said.
RSL Victoria state branch chief executive officer Sue Cattermole told the ABC sub-branch’s needed to appeal to the wider community to boost membership numbers and maintain traditions.
“We do have to recognise we don’t have the same veteran numbers that we had post-Vietnam War,” she said.
“We need to increase our engagement with family members and with the broader community.”
Mr Sproull said there was a growing number of people that choose not to march on Anzac Day.
Guardians of the Spirit aims to bridge that gap, and to some extent they have, Mr Sproull said most people who wear their badges locally aren’t a part of the RSL.
“I know they’re here because I see them on Anzac Day,” he said.
The first time Mr Sproull marched for himself was while wearing a Guardians of the Spirit badge.
“When you wake up in the morning and put the badge on, that gives you something to focus on,” he said.
Mr Daniel said the first time he marched in forty years was Anzac Day in 2021.
However, time fostered isolation and he felt “almost ashamed” for marching.
“Civvies will never know what it’s like,” he said.
Guardians of the Spirit came from this experience and by Anzac Day next year ,Mr Daniel hopes to have sent out 5000 badges helping people feel they belong.
“It had to be done otherwise we’re going to lose Anzac Day and the centrepiece of Anzac Day is the march,” he said.
“They’re going to be appearing in Anzac parades everywhere.”