A range of commemorative ceremonies will be delivered, including three major ceremonies (Anzac Day Dawn Service, Anzac Day National Ceremony, and Remembrance Day ceremony), other ceremonies linked to key anniversaries, a school wreath-laying program, and the daily Last Post ceremony.

​1.1.1 Deliver major commemorative ceremonies and events as scheduled

​Target: ​All major commemorations delivered as scheduled

Analysis:

Anzac Day

The Memorial delivered alternate Anzac Day commemorations on 25 April 2020. For the first time since the Second World War, the ceremonial program was unable to proceed due to COVID-19 restrictions with 15 invited guests attending the Dawn Commemorative Service in the Commemorative Area.

The National Ceremony and veterans’ march were also affected and did not take place.

In recognition that people could not visit the Memorial in person on Anzac Day, nor place a poppy on the Roll of Honour, an online hub Anzac at Home was developed to support personal commemoration, The Virtual Poppy Wall received 2,162 poppies posted by members of the public (as at 26 April 2020).

Anzac at Home user survey indicated that

· 83 per cent of those viewing were doing so alone, with 13 per cent viewing with family.

· 49 per cent had no connection with the Australian Defence Force. Twenty-seven per cent were family or friend of an ADF member or veteran, 12 per cent current or former ADF, and ten per cent were veterans.

On Anzac Day, there were more than 1.66 million website page views, a 50 per cent increase on last year.

The web pages most viewed were the Anzac At Home pages, viewed more than 500,000 times on Anzac Day, with the main landing page having 73,001 visits during the six-day campaign leading up to Anzac Day.

· 78 per cent of visitors to the Anzac at Home webpages said that the content exceeded their expectations, 35 per cent “far exceeded” their expectations.

Remembrance Day

An estimated 2,700 attended Remembrance Day National Ceremony in November 2019. This is 9,300 less than 2018, where the National Ceremony marked the end of the First World War commemorative program.

​Source: Australian War Memorial attendance records and Australian War Memorial online Anzac at Home user survey.

​1.1.2 Deliver minor commemorative ceremonies and events as scheduled

Target: ​All minor commemorations delivered as scheduled

Analysis:​ In a private ceremony on 10 November 2019, the names of Squadron Leader (Chaplain) Garry Doecke and Leading Seaman Cameron Gurr were added to the Roll of Honour.

A total of 7,483 visitors attended one of the 25 minor commemorations or ceremonies that were conducted at the Memorial between 1 July 2019 and 24 March 2020.

Source: Australian War Memorial attendance records

1.1.3 Deliver daily Last Post ceremonies including online streaming

Target: Last Post Ceremony delivered daily

Analysis: ​

Target: Last Post Ceremony delivered daily

Analysis: ​ The Memorial’s Last Post Ceremony (LPC) was affected by major events of early 2020 including bushfires and the closure of the Memorial due to COVID-19.

Total number of LPCs conducted was 266, 19 of which were moved to Anzac Hall due to poor air quality associated with the bushfires.

During the closure period, streaming of archived ceremonies assisted in highlighting anniversaries and important occasions that would have been commemorated if the Memorial were open. This practice continued until the revised pre-recorded LPC launched on 4 June.

Total attendance at the Last Post Ceremony for this financial year was 88,455, with 477,532 online visitors through Facebook and YouTube.

Source: Australian War Memorial attendance records