Commemorate the service of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander veterans.
The service starts at 10.40am and will be livestreamed on our Facebook Page.
The Pool of Reflection
Join us for the 19th anniversary of the Indigenous Veterans Commemoration Service on Friday 30 May from 10.40am.
The service is open to the public and starts at 10.40am, with general public viewing areas available around the Pool of Reflection.
For those unable to attend in person, the service will be livestreamed on the Anzac Memorial Facebook page.
Guest Speaker
Each year, an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander service man or woman is invited to speak at the ceremony. The 2025 speaker is Lieutenant Colonel Joseph West.
View the past speakers via the menu below.
View the past speakers
2024 – SQNLDR Patricia Thompson, Air Force
2023 – Lt CDR Sam Shephard, Navy
2022 – LTCOL James (Jim) Sinclair RFD, Army
2021 – WGCDR Jonathon Lilley, Air Force
2020 – Mr Harry Allie BEM, Air Force
2019 – CPO Tina Elliott, Navy
2018 – Pte Wayne Fourmile, Army
2017 – FSGT Patricia Withers, Air Force
2016 – Mr David Williams Rtd, Navy
2015 – WO1 Colin Watego, Army
2014 – LS Lateika Smith, Navy
2013 – FSGT Don Taylor, Air Force
2012 – CAPT Chloe Dray, Army
2011 – Lt Beimop Tapim, Navy
2010 – SQNLDR Lisa Jackson Pulver, Air Force
2009 – LCDR Bert Clape, Navy
2008 – Norman Laing, Army
2007 – Mr Harry Buckley, Second World War Veteran
School Information
Registered schools are recommended to arrive by 10.20am. The ceremony will conclude at 12.00pm. More information including how to register your school, is available here.
A schools resource pack is available to download. The pack contains resources for primary and secondary students to commemorate the service and sacrifice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander veterans. Download the pack.
History
The annual Indigenous Veterans Commemoration Service continues to gather momentum since its inception in 2007, in uniting Australians to remember and honour the service and sacrifice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander veterans. The exceptional guest speakers and their remarkable stories continue to inspire our youth, indigenous and non-indigenous alike.
Since the Boer War, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have fought for Australia. It is known at present that at least 1000 First Nation peoples served in the First World War. Of these, 13 are known to have been killed in action fighting at Gallipoli, five of which have no known graves.
After the First World War, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander veterans found their war service did not bring an end to discrimination. It is estimated 3,000 Indigenous Australians served in the Second World War, and in proportion to population, no community in Australia contributed more to the war effort than the Torres Strait Islander people. Around 745 of these joined the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion formed specifically to defend the Torres Strait.
The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who served in the First and Second World Wars varies greatly. As ethnicity was not noted on enlistment documents an accurate figure will never be known, it has been suggested that more than 3,500 of them served in these conflicts.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples went on to serve in Korea, Malaya, Borneo and Vietnam in the years after the Second World War. Since Vietnam, they have served with the Australian Defence Force in conflicts and other operations around the world.
And today Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are proudly serving in all branches of the Australian Defence Force.
