The Joint Committee was formed in the late 1970s by the Cretan Association of Sydney & NSW, the 2/3rd Field Regiment, the 6th Australian Division represented by Major General Sir Ivan Dougherty, Major General Ian Campbell, Major General Allan Murchison , Steve MacDougal, Bill Jenkins and Lew Lind.
Its aim was to commemorate the Australian campaigns that were fought on the Greek mainland and later on Crete and to honour the Australian soldiers and their Greek allies by keeping their memory alive.
For over 30 years this committee has been hosting a ceremony on the anniversary of these campaigns, held at Martin Place, Sydney, on or around 20th May.
In 1979 the Greek Sub-Branch of the RSL were invited to join the committee and in 1980 their secretary Evangelos (Angelo) Efstratiadis OAM became its chairman.
In 2001 James Jordan, the current chair accepted the position.
Originally, the Joint Committee was also associated with the: Federation of Naval Ships Association: Naval Association of Australia (NSW Branch); Ash eld RSL Sub-Branch and National Serviceman’s Association (NSW Branch) and the New Zealand Sub-Branch of the RSL.