The Australian War Memorial Council committed in August 2022 to ‘a broader and deeper depiction and presentation of the violence perpetrated against Indigenous Australians'. The Memorial confirmed earlier this year (after an FOI battle) that the August 2022 determination was indeed Memorial policy.
The Memorial's Annual Report 2024-25 was tabled in the Parliament in late October 2025. Around the same time, the Memorial released the separate Year in Review 2024-25. Both documents are now on the Memorial's website.
Defending Country wondered what these documents said about the Memorial's Australian Wars policy, including its implementation. The answer to that question is 'not much'.
Annual Report 2024-25 (84 pages)
On pages 32-33 there is 'Outcome 1.1.5: Continue the commitment of the Australian War Memorial to raising awareness of, and to acknowledge and respect, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service for Australia and experiences in all wars and conflict' (emphasis added).
The 'Target' here is, 'Extend and continue [to] implement the Australian War Memorial’s Reconciliation Action Plan; Innovate Maintain and continue to engage with the Australian War Memorial’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Group Analysis'.
The Report mentions monthly meetings of the Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) Working Group, raising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags to be flown permanently, the appointment of Ms Lorraine Hatton (Quandamooka, Indigenous Elder of the Army), to the Memorial Council, adoption of the Australian Museums and Galleries First Peoples Roadmap, a Cultural Safety and Diversity Audit Report and Implementation Plan, and commissioning of an external consultant to develop Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property protocols and education for Memorial staff.
The Memorial continues to purchase and commission Indigenous artworks 'to tell the stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service' in the Defence force. There were regular screenings of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander films for staff.
There were two meetings of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Group for Gallery Development content and design advice, as well as a workshop to share the Cultural Safety Audit findings with the group.
Despite these commendable initiatives, however, the Report contains no references to the Memorial's Australian Wars policy as set out in the August 2022 Council determination. The words emphasised above - 'experiences in all wars and conflict' - seemed to hint at an interest broader than Indigenous uniformed service; not so.
Year in Review 2024-25 (104 pages)
The First Nations highlight comes from curator Garth O'Connell on page 93:
I’m descended from both sides of the Frontier Wars. There is a lithograph in the collection that depicts my father’s family being shot and massacred at Waterloo Creek on 26 January 1838 ... For decades it was displayed without a caption, and that was our truth, hidden in plain sight. But in my time here, it has totally changed. The Memorial has gradually embraced it and is absorbing this knowledge and forming it up over time. Our public want to see this sort of truth telling, they want the real Australian story. [The lithograph has been used many times on the Defending Country website.]
The document contains passing mentions of Captain Reg Saunders, including a picture of his relatives (page 15), the Anzac Day First Nations ceremony (43), a Royal Visit to the For Our Country memorial (78), Great War postcards sent back by Indigenous servicemen (90), and the Defending Country Indigenous Art Acquisition Program supported by Boeing (104). On page 39 there is a picture of an unnamed, presumably First Nations, soldier playing the yidaki (didgeridoo) on Remembrance Day.
The photographs in Year in Review are outstanding but links are lacking from those passing mentions to the Memorial's policy commitment on the Australian Wars. Indeed, there is no mention of the policy at all.
Strategic Plan and Corporate Plan
These documents are also on the Memorial's website.
Strategic Plan 2023-2028, 12 pages, dated 2023
This document included four ‘Strategic Pillars’, the first of which was ‘Commemorate, reflect and understand Australian experiences of war and service’.
Hanging from that pillar were four dot points. The third dot point read, ‘Advancing the public’s understanding of military history and its connection to the present’ (emphasis added).
The fourth dot point read, ‘Expanding and deepening our collection, gallery displays, research and online content relating to Australia’s frontier violence’ (emphasis added).
Including the words ‘Australia's frontier violence’ in this document was an advance. But those words were not in the dot point referring to 'military history'. Apparently, the Memorial did not see frontier violence as part of our military history, even though it led to the deaths of perhaps 100 000 people.
Nor was ‘Australia's frontier violence’ given a ‘connection to the present’. So much for the intergenerational trauma visited upon today's First Nations Australians by that violence.
'Military history' had a connection to the present, presumably because military people and others involved suffered trauma later. 'Australia's frontier violence' was allowed no such connection.
Corporate Plan 2025-2029 (2025-2026 update), 18 pages, dated 2025
The evidence in this document suggests the Memorial in 2025 has very little interest in its 2022 Australian Wars policy:
. the word 'Indigenous' appears just once in the document, in reference to the work of the Memorial's Indigenous Liaison Officer (page 1);
. the words 'frontier conflict' or 'Frontier Wars' or 'frontier violence' appear not at all;
. the chart on page 17 does not include 'First Nations' or similar as a 'Key Stakeholder' of the Memorial, though it does include these 11 stakeholders: Australian Defence Force; Ex Service Associations; Federal Government; Department of Veterans' Affairs; Council Staff Volunteers; ACT Government; Visitors (onsite/online); Schools/Education(onsite/online); Memorial Supporters (Public, Corporate, Philanthropic);Cultural Sector; Tourism Sector.
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.
Picture credit: Aboriginals fighting against the Europeans invading their natural homes: Myall Creek massacre 1838 (Samuel Calvert c. 1870/Wikimedia Commons)
Earlier related posts: https://www.defendingcountry.au/news/fobbing-off-doesnt-cut-it-correspondence-with-the-war-memorial-about-the-australian-wars; https://www.defendingcountry.au/news/difficult-knowing-what-to-make-of-memorial-council-appointments---but-heres-hoping
Defending Country will publish (subject to our Editorial and Moderation Policy) without amendment any comment the Memorial or the Minister or the Department of Veterans' Affairs wish to make on this post.
More from
General
category
