About the Office of Australian War Graves

We establish and maintain war cemeteries and war graves in Australia and overseas. We commemorate eligible veterans who have served our nation.

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Who we are

The Office of Australian War Graves (OAWG) recognises the service of members of the ADF who die in war.

We also commemorate eligible veterans who survived war service, but who later died from service-related injuries or conditions. Find out about official commemorations.

As an agent of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), we maintain war cemeteries, individual war graves and memorials for members of the Commonwealth forces who died during the First and Second World Wars.

There are over 69,000 Australian war dead in identified graves around the world and another 33,000 are commemorated on Memorials to the Missing.

In Australia, there are:

• over 13,000 war dead buried in war and civil cemeteries
• just over 1,000 named on Memorials to the Missing
• some 220,000 commemorated in OAWG Gardens of Remembrance.

We build and maintain official memorials overseas on behalf of the Australian Government.

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What we do

Veteran’s who died as a result of their war service are commemorated equally and individually by name on one of the following:

• a grave marker
• a commemorative plaque
• an inscription on a memorial.

Grave markers, plaques and memorials are maintained for all time.

We can:

• arrange a grave marker, plaque or memorial for a veteran
• give you permission to use a veteran’s service emblem on their grave on behalf of Defence
• help families find the grave or commemoration of a veteran
• send families a photo if they can’t visit the site
• provide details about those who have served in war or conflict through our nominal rolls.

We produce a range of publications and resources.

Take a look at a selection of our publications. These include:

• War Cemeteries within Australia
• Office of Australian War Graves Information Brochure
• Australian Remembrance Trail
• Adelaide River War Cemetery
• Guide to Australian Memorials on the Western Front in France and Belgium
• Australian Memorial Park, Fromelles
• Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France
• The Sir John Monash Centre
• Hellfire Pass Interpretive Centre and Memorial Walking Trail
• Sandakan Memorial Park, Malaysia
• Australian War Memorial, London
• OAWG Gardens of Remembrance.

If you are unable to read or download content from these pages, please contact us or call us on 1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372).

You can stay up to date by following us on:

• Twitter
• Facebook.

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How you can help

We gratefully accept any donations to support the work of the Office of Australian War Graves.

You can choose to donate for a specific purpose, such as maintaining our Gardens of Remembrance.

We will send you a letter to formally acknowledge your donation. We will also provide a receipt. Please include your contact details when you are making a donation.

You can contact us if you would like to make a donation through an online bank transfer. Or you can send your cheque or money order to:

The Office of Australian War Graves
GPO Box 9998
Brisbane QLD 4001

Please make the cheque out to ‘The Office of Australian War Graves’ and mark it ‘Not negotiable’.

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