For much of his career, journalist and Soldier On Ambassador Hugh Riminton reported from places where Australian troops were deployed – including Somalia, Rwanda, East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan. He travelled with them, embedded alongside them, waited on airstrips and filed from makeshift workspaces. His role was to observe closely and explain clearly.
‘I saw a lot to like about Australian diggers,’ Hugh says. ‘It wounded me to see them suffer from their service.’
The suffering he refers to was not confined to what could be photographed.
‘You become aware that the harm isn’t only what you can see,’ he says. ‘It follows.’
From reporting to responsibility
Over time, that pattern became difficult to ignore. Physical injuries were immediate and documented. The psychological impact was often slower, less visible and more complex. It extended beyond the individual, into families and relationships.
‘I think we know a lot more now about the mental health burden that goes with service overseas,’ Hugh (pictured, left, in Kyrgyzstan in July 2025) says. ‘The Royal Commission has given us no excuse not to know.’
When Soldier On was established more than a decade ago, its initial focus was on physical injury. That shifted quickly.
‘It very quickly became apparent that the real need was in the mental health space,’ he says. ‘Not to diminish those with physical injuries – but the need was there for better mental health support. And that expands across not just the veteran, but their family and loved ones.’
He describes what happens when that strain goes unaddressed.
‘One of the things which is genuinely tragic is when you see veterans struggling and that struggle takes a shape which puts pressure on family members. Families start to break down. We know this story far too well. The suffering starts to expand outwards.’
With many of the veterans he encountered in Somalia, Rwanda and East Timor now well into middle-age and Afghanistan veterans also moving into the same stage of life, Hugh says that, for some, what they experienced decades earlier is only now surfacing.
‘Some of these things are only now starting to manifest themselves,’ he says. ‘We need to be fully aware and alert.’
His own involvement with Soldier On began in a television studio at Parliament House. John Bale and Kevin Wilson had come in to speak about a new charity they were trying to establish after their friend Mick Fussell was killed in action. They had intended to raise funds for wounded survivors but found there was no clear structure through which to direct support.
‘The minute they walked out of the studio, I said, “Anything I can do to help.”’
He wrote a cheque, emceed early events and began attending meetings. In time, he joined the Soldier On Board and became an official Ambassador.
‘If there’s anything at all you can do to put your shoulder to the wheel to make that a little bit easier, you have no option but to do it.’
This March, he is also taking part in the organisation’s annual March On challenge, setting a fundraising goal and logging his kilometres across the month.
Although he doesn’t yet have a fixed number in mind for this year, he intends to.
‘I set myself a fundraising goal, but my goal is to supersede that,’ Hugh says.
March On asks participants to complete 96 kilometres across March while raising funds to support veterans and their families. Hugh treats it as practical and measurable participation to support and raise awareness around veteran mental health but says the symbolism of walking the length of the Kokoda Track adds extra meaning.
When asked whether his own experiences in conflict zones left a mark, he answers directly.
‘Oh, I think so. Yes. I mean, yes, they have.’
Hugh doesn’t elaborate on specifics.
‘It would be dishonest for me to say that I came through my own experiences scot-free,’ he says. ‘I’ve been very lucky at being able to live, I think, a good peaceful life in my internal world, but it hasn’t always been easy and hasn’t always been easy for people around me.’
Hugh refers to the way many journalists experience trauma, danger and moral injury from the repeated exposure to events that challenge personal and professional boundaries.
But there is no attempt to draw direct comparisons between journalism and military service. His point is narrower. Proximity to conflict carries consequences. Repeated exposure carries consequences. Those consequences do not always appear immediately.
That understanding shapes how he views March On.
‘Very few people escape that over time,’ he says.
But there is no attempt to draw direct comparisons between journalism and military service. His point is narrower. Proximity to conflict carries consequences. Repeated exposure carries consequences. Those consequences do not always appear immediately.
March On
That understanding shapes how he views March On.
‘We need to do all we can to help people at the beginning of that – empathetically, supportively, with good humour and patience,’ he says.
For Hugh, participating in March On is a practical expression of that view. The kilometres accumulate. The funds raised are directed to programs designed to intervene early and support veterans and their families before strain becomes crisis.
This March, he will log most of his kilometres close to home, with early morning laps of Centennial Park and the same circuit repeated until the distance adds up.
‘It’s a good place to think,’ Hugh says. ‘You just get on with it.’
Register for March On today to walk or run 96 km throughout March. Every step supports Soldier On’s programs for veterans and their families.
