The president of one of Victoria's biggest RSL sub-branches says the organisation is failing to deal with a "liquidity crisis" that could send it broke.
A qualified accountant, Lucas Moon is the president of the Hawthorn sub-branch, and says the RSL head office was millions of dollars in the red even before the COVID-19 crisis.
He claims that reassurances from the RSL Victoria CEO Jamie Twidale that the organisation is in the black are lacking in transparency.
"The RSL is a $400 million company with a billion dollars worth of assets and we've got a highly paid CEO carrying on like a pork chop," Mr Moon said.
Mr Moon put his hand up to become the treasurer of RSL Victoria at its AGM on the weekend, but he says his bid was disallowed on a questionable technicality.
He says while many other branches are running at a loss, the Hawthorn branch has raised $50,000 for bushfire charities during 2020, as well as $50,000 for veterans' welfare.
But Mr Twidale says media reports that the organisation could be headed for insolvency are completely untrue.
He concedes the pandemic has not been good for the veterans' organisation, with pokies and donations revenue drying up.
"The second wave definitely had a big impact," he said.
"2021 will be a tough year."
The organisation made provision for $2 million in doubtful loans to its sub-branches in 2019.
RSL sub-branches have lost almost a year's worth of hospitality revenue since clubs were forced to close in March, while RSL revenue from charitable donations dropped by about a third in 2020.
A recent Ernst and Young report commissioned by the RSL has found the organisation is over-reliant on a limited number of revenue streams, and its corporate structure is too complicated.
In 2018 the national charity regulator found RSL Victoria had several governance problems, including around financial management.
