Does anyone really know how much gallery space the War Memorial will have when the Big Build is finished?

Space talk

During 2023 we compiled some figures on the amount of gallery space the Australian War Memorial would have after it completed its Big Build. The calculations our sister website Honest History derived and publicised were based directly on figures provided by the Memorial. (The figures came after Honest History had advised the Memorial of an important error in figures the Memorial had provided to the Parliament. The Honest History website published the correct figures.)

The three key figures were: 9954 sq. m. gallery space in pre-redevelopment Memorial; 7748 sq. m. new gallery space produced by redevelopment; 17 702 sq. m. total gallery space after redevelopment.

Almost two years after we published these figures (with the knowledge of the Memorial), Memorial Director Anderson gave different figures during a Senate Estimates hearing: 'We have 9½ thousand square metres. We are currently 6,000 square metres [presumably, extra]. When we get to the end of this, we will be 15,000 square metres of gallery space.' Assuming that the Director's 9½ thousand is an approximation of the 9954 of 2023, the new gallery space is no longer the 7748 of 2023 but the Director's 6000 and the total is no longer the 17 702 of 2023.

‍Writing to Defending Country on 12 January 2026, the Memorial said 'at the completion of the Project in 2028 the Memorial will have an approximate total 15,500m2 of exhibition space across the Main Memorial Building, New Anzac Hall and Anzac Atrium'. So, let's settle for 15 500, which is 2202 less than the 2023 total.

'That number', the Memorial went on, 'is consistent with what we’ve told Government since the start of the Project'. If that is the case, Defending Country is puzzled at the difference between the 2026 figures and the ones provided to Honest History in 2023, well after 'the start of the Project'. Why was Honest History in 2023 given figures that were inconsistent with those previously given to the government?

Does space even matter?

The Memorial has said more than once that space is not the only measure of the importance the Memorial attaches to subject matter, including the Australian Wars. As indicators, Director Anderson at Estimates in December referred to a proposed conference at the Memorial later this year on 'Imperialism and Resistance', an article in the Memorial's WM magazine, and the Memorial's travelling exhibitions. Defending Country looks forward to the Conference and perhaps a travelling exhibition on the Australian Wars. The WM article as published is mostly a rehash of analysis by various authors on whether these wars were really wars.

A more sustained analysis of what the Memorial intends, by space allocation or other measures, can be derived, not from the Director's rushed remarks at Estimates but from the Memorial's corporate documents. In November 2025, Defending Country analysed the Memorial’s current strategic and corporate plans and its most recent annual report. Our conclusion:

Strategic and corporate plans normally set out how an entity intends to implement its policies. Annual reports and reviews chart progress towards policy goals. Plans for and progress towards implementing the Memorial's August 2022 "broader and deeper" Australian Wars policy are missing from the documents analysed above. Indeed, so is the policy itself.

The Director’s remarks in Estimates need to be compared with that analysis. (Earlier in 2025, Defending Country had to use the FOI process to get the Memorial to admit that it even had a policy on frontier conflict.)

On space allocation finally, recent information (13 January 2026) from the Memorial suggests that the allocation for the Pre-1914 galleries is still somewhere around 400 sq. m. - 'Approximately 400m2 is set aside under the current concept for the Pre-1914 galleries' - though the Director at Estimates seemed unsure:

Senator SHOEBRIDGE:  So, out of 15,000 square metres, you have decided that you would allocate 200 square metres to the Frontier Wars?

Mr Anderson:  It could well be more, Senator.

Senator SHOEBRIDGE:  You just told me 200.

Mr Anderson: I said it could be more, Senator. I said that the team will decide what goes into the pre-1914 galleries and the space that's allocated. It could be 400.

If 400 sq. m. were to be devoted to the Australian Wars, it would mean that 2.6 per cent of total gallery space (400 sq. m. as a percentage of 15 500 sq. m.) would be on the Australian Wars. If, on the other hand, the Memorial continues to confine the Australian Wars to Pre-1914 Gallery West (after punting some minor nineteenth century expeditions into Gallery East) the figure falls to 1.3 per cent (200 sq. m. as a percentage of 15 500 sq. m.). How's that for 'broader and deeper'?

Damned lies and statistics - or a way through?

Is the Memorial having a bit each way on these numbers? Why is the tiny Pre-1914 galleries space allocation to the Australian Wars seemingly fixed while the total gallery space number has changed markedly over time and depending on the audience? Does anyone really know how much gallery space the War Memorial will have when the Big Build is finished?

Defending Country has spent many months keeping up with the Memorial's manoeuvring on the Australian Wars (use our Search engine or look at the posts in Appendix A here). We'd love to turn our attention instead to considering a firm, brave plan from the Memorial that delivers Memorial Council Chair Kim Beazley's trifecta on the Australian Wars - substantial space, separate gallery, dignity of resistance. Over to you, Director.

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Defending Country will publish (subject to our Editorial and Moderation Policy) without amendment any comment the Memorial wishes to make on this post.

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‍Picture credit: from the Memorial's 2019 plan, included in a 2021 paper to the Memorial Council, released to Senate Estimates in 2023. Gallery West is on the left of the plan.