Report to Government

Contribution of women and families

Recommendation 8

The Board recommends that improved awareness and understanding of the contribution of women in the armed services and on the home front be promoted through all relevant initiatives of the Anzac Centenary program:

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  for example, representing women who served during war and conflicts and strongly representing them in all Anzac Centenary material
  
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  over the past century women have made an increasingly active and direct role in Australia’s defence
  
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  women and families have often shared the effects of, and supported, those with wounds and injuries (paragraphs 2.21–2.23).
  

Australian Remembrance Trail

Recommendation 9

The Board recommends the Australian Remembrance Trail along the Western Front be accompanied by a comprehensive education and communications campaign to inform Australians of the opportunities to visit and learn about Australia’s experience of war on the Western Front. Visitors to the Australian Remembrance Trail will be able to view the principal areas in which Australians fought, visit high-quality interpretative centres presenting Australian material, and access related sites of Australian interest. The interpretative materials presented assume no prior knowledge of the subject and will be available in a mix of traditional and digital media formats both for travellers and those at home, providing ample opportunity for education and contemplative reflection (paragraphs 2.24–2.29 and Figure 2 on page 37).

Digitisation of repatriation records

Recommendation 10

The Board recommends that the repatriation records of a sample of First World War returned servicemen and servicewomen be digitised to make them more accessible, especially for Australian researchers and historians, and for the families and descendants involved:

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  Australian servicemen and servicewomen who returned to Australia at the end of the First World War, and had formal contact with the repatriation authorities, generated repatriation records
  
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  a sample drawn from the survivors of those servicemen and servicewomen who initially left from Albany in late 1914 for Egypt, Gallipoli and later to the Western Front would be highly poignant and informative
  
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  the precise composition and size of the sample to be determined following a scoping study (paragraphs 2.30–2.32).
  

Mental health research and treatment

Recommendation 11

The Board recommends that one of the principal and most fitting legacies of the Centenary should be to equip Australia to play an even stronger leadership role in evidence-based mental health research and treatment in order to support effective treatment for affected veterans:

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  options include the establishment of an Australian Centre of Excellence, not only conducting research into posttraumatic stress disorder but facilitating treatment and prevention
  
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  corporate donations collected in the Anzac Centenary Public Fund may contribute to the value that could be added by this proposal (paragraph 2.38).
  

Documentaries and programming

Recommendation 12

The Board recommends that a range of high-quality documentaries, other programming and content for all forms of transmission, including social media, be promoted to inform Australians of all aspects of the Anzac history and legacy:

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  there should be maximum cooperation with all media organisations proposing initiatives in this area
  
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  the national role of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) should be acknowledged through support for the ABC and Screen Australia to develop history documentary programming to commemorate and raise awareness of the Anzac Centenary
  
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  a particular emphasis should be placed on the collection and telling of the personal stories of individuals involved in the conflicts in which Australia has participated—the servicemen and servicewomen themselves and also others, such as people on the home front (paragraphs 2.39–2.46).
  

HMAS AE2

Recommendation 13

The Board recommends that a level of protection and preservation should be given to the submarine HMAS AE2 as a war relic of historical importance to Australia:

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  the means of protection and preservation are scalable and could be initiated by installation of a navigational buoy to alert vessels of its position, coupled with establishment of a no-fish/no-anchor zone with the cooperation of Turkish authorities
  
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  community awareness about the submarine’s role should also be improved through educational initiatives
  
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  funding for the educational initiatives could be provided from the Anzac Centenary Public Fund (paragraphs 2.47, 2.48).
  

Indigenous Australians

Recommendation 14

The Board recommends that the role of Indigenous Australians in the Australian Defence Force deserves greater recognition and this should be promoted through all relevant initiatives of the Anzac Centenary program. For example, it may be appropriate to examine the evidence on the issue of belated recognition of Indigenous members of the services who were denied medals and whether, during the Anzac Centenary, a formal inquiry might be conducted into how any injustice could be rectified (paragraphs 2.33, 2.34).

Australians from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds

Recommendation 15

The Board recommends that improved awareness and understanding of the contribution of Australians from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds in the Australian Defence Force be promoted through all relevant initiatives of the Anzac Centenary program:

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  for example, representing a broad array of cultural groups in the portrayal of personal stories, as migration patterns have changed over time and the stories need to appeal to both older and newer migrants
  
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  we need only look at the Roll of Honour at the Australian War Memorial to illustrate the multicultural diversity of Australia’s defence forces and the service and sacrifice made by servicemen and servicewomen from many cultural and linguistic backgrounds (paragraphs 2.35–2.37).