Report to Government

Merchandising

5.15Merchandise must be fully in line with the solemn spirit and dignity of the commemoration. Any resulting surplus to government from a merchandise program must go towards an appropriate Anzac Centenary legacy program.

5.16According to the Australian War Memorial, which has a retail arm selling quality souvenirs, Australians want lasting mementos of important events like the Anzac Centenary. The Board supports production and sale of a small but appropriate range of merchandise. The following principles should apply to Anzac Centenary merchandising:

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  The national Anzac Centenary program for 2014–2018 should produce a range of associated official merchandise.
  
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  This official range should be small, limited and discrete.
  
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  The reputation and best interests of the Anzac Centenary program should be paramount when selecting the range of official merchandise. The risk of damage to both the program and the Government should be low.
  
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  The official merchandise should be appropriate and dignified and should not debase the commemorative nature of the Anzac Centenary program. All official merchandise should be in keeping with the spirit of the Anzac Centenary program and not commercialise the Anzac Centenary.
  
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  The official merchandise should appeal to a range of age groups and sections of society.
  
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  The use of the Anzac Centenary program logo on official merchandise should be in accordance with the logo guidelines agreed by the Government.
  
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  The sale of official merchandise at Anzac Centenary program activities should not jeopardise the sanctity of those events.
  
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  Any revenue gained through the sale of official merchandise should be set aside and provided to an appropriate legacy, such as a scholarship program for children of contemporary veterans.
  
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  A unified and coordinated approach for official merchandising for the Anzac Centenary should be adopted and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs through its various interdepartmental mechanisms should pursue this aim.
  
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  The current legislative protection of the word ‘Anzac’ provides a useful mechanism to control merchandising associated with the Anzac Centenary and this must be maintained.
  
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  State, territory and local government authorities should endorse their own merchandising principles having regard to the principles endorsed by the Board and agreed to by the Government.
  

5.17If the proposal to produce and sell appropriate Anzac Centenary merchandise is agreed by the Government the next step should involve development of a tender process to engage a specialist merchandising company appropriate for the Anzac Centenary.

Funding and other support for self-generated local community commemorative initiatives

5.18The Board has no doubt that the Anzac Centenary will be a powerful and unifying occasion, facilitated by initiatives that actively foster the participation of all Australians. The Board feels strongly that the Centenary program has to balance major national projects with significant outreach through the empowerment of communities to commemorate and remember their own history of service and sacrifice in ways of their choosing.

5.19The Board fully endorses the Government’s decision to establish an Anzac Centenary local community grants program providing $100,000 to each federal electorate ($15 million in total), available during 2013–14. The program is designed to help local communities commemorate the Centenary in ways of their own choosing.

5.20The Board considers that in developing their own commemorative events, local communities should be able to draw upon other material assistance in addition to the funding support provided by government grant programs. The Exhibition in a Box initiative should prove very valuable. Also, the Board encourages national, state and territory institutions to support local communities by developing Anzac Centenary outreach programs. For example, visits by experts from universities and cultural institutions (including historians), and Australian Defence Force visits (e.g. by servicemen and servicewomen).

Competitions and prizes

5.21A valuable way to encourage grassroots participation in the Centenary is through competitions and prizes aimed especially at local groups, such as schools and children, local sporting clubs and through local media and libraries. These competitions should have a strong local content, such as writing, painting or filming local military and commemorative sites and events, or involving local community clubs. They may have a strong educational element aimed at children, e.g. identifying how Australia’s military heritage is reflected in local place names. While many of these competitions will be funded by their organisers, the guidelines for an expanded local grants program should allow funding support for locally initiated competitions and prizes. The Board also notes that some states and territories run statewide competitions and prizes with an Anzac theme, and may increasingly do so as the Centenary approaches. The Board supports such competitions and prizes.

6Future role of the Board

The aims of this chapter are to outline the Board’s views on:

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  the future role of the Board
  
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  its future structure and operation.
  

Future role of the Board

6.1The future role and structure of the Board will be decided by the Government. What is presented in this chapter are the views of the Board based on its assessment of functions that are still required during the Anzac Centenary period, where it believes it has a contribution to make.

6.2Once the Government has taken decisions on the basis of this report, the role of the Board will clearly change. The Anzac Centenary implementation phase will expand. The amount and tempo of Anzac Centenary activity will increase markedly and will continue until 2018–19. While the nature of the Board’s work will change, there will be much to do to ensure the program is delivered successfully, on time and on budget. The agency that will have prime responsibility for implementation will be the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. The Board is an advisory body and does not see a direct implementation role for itself; however, there are still key roles it may play, based on its skills and experience. These include:

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  public information, communication, an ambassadorial role and community outreach—informing the community about the upcoming program of Anzac Centenary events, delivering presentations etc
  
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  assisting successful delivery by a strategic-level check that the program is on track, in terms of timely and successful project delivery and key themes and messages etc, in support of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs
  
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  facilitating a whole-of-governments approach across the three levels of government and internationally. As states, territories, local government and other countries develop their programs, it will be essential to ensure a cooperative approach to coordinating relevant events
  
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  strategic advice to the Government on priorities for the disbursement of donated funds collected in the Anzac Centenary Public Fund
  
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  specific as-required advisory tasks—assisting as an additional resource in areas where implementation may be complex.
  

6.3The Board sees the transition from its current functions to proposed new functions as evolutionary, simply reflecting how its main tasks should change as the Anzac Centenary moves from its strategic program developmental to implementation phase.