Key Points
- Dawn services were held across the country to commemorate the contribution of Australian defence personnel.
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese led the tributes in Canberra.
- Mr Albanese also acknowledged Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who donned the khaki.
Australians in their thousands, young and old, have gathered as one across the nation to commemorate Anzac Day on the 108th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings during World War I.
Governor-General David Hurley led the tributes to veterans, offered in solemnity and reverence in major cities and small towns alike, reflecting on his own service in the armed forces.
Marking 30 years since Australian peacekeeping efforts in Somalia, the former army general was one of 120 veterans who took part in Canberra's Anzac Day march at the Australian War Memorial.
Mr Hurley led the 1RAR battalion as part of Operation Solace in Somalia and said the more than 1000 participants in the capital's parade all had a shared bond.
Australian Governor-General David Hurley and New Zealand High Commissioner Annette King lay a wreath during ANZAC Day commemorations at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
"On Anzac Day, we come together to honour those who have served, those who continue to serve and the families that support them."
Services and marches nation-wide also marked 50 years since the end of Australian involvement in the Vietnam War and 70 years since the end of the Korean War.
"Although the Vietnam and Somalia operations were different in scale, duration and intensity, they are very strongly linked," Mr Hurley said.
"They are linked because it was Vietnam veterans who taught the Somalia generation of servicemen and women our military skills and what it means to wear your country's uniform."
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who gave the address at the Canberra dawn service, said Australians universally honoured the contribution of past and present defence personnel.
Dignitaries, Australian and New Zealand soldiers attend a ceremony in recognition of the fallen during the Gallipoli campaign at the Cape Helles British memorial site, in the Gallipoli peninsula, near Canakkale, Türkiye. Source: AP / Emrah Gurel/AP
"It is a collective act of remembrance, reflection and gratitude - one carried out by multiple generations of Australians and devoted to multiple generations," he said.
"As we gather here, in towns and suburbs across the country, and in former battlefields across the world, we are surrounded by their names and the places that made their final claim on them, laid out in an atlas of grief.
"If we are to truly honour our veterans, we owe them something more than just gratitude. Just as they stepped for us, we must step up for them."
The prime minister said it was also important to acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who donned the khaki "fought harder for Australia than Australia was sometimes willing to fight for them".
Members of the public at the Anzac Day Dawn Service at Martin Place, Sydney. Source: AAP / Bianca De Marchi
"The values for which we stand are more enduring than any conflict, as long as we have - like our forebears - the courage and commitment to defend them always," he said.
Packed shoulder to shoulder, crowds surrounded the Shrine of Remembrance in the heart of Brisbane to lay wreaths and pay their respects.
In Sydney, thousands more crammed into Martin Place for NSW's longest-running service, while a similar turnout in Melbourne endured the dark and cold in a display of solidarity.
"I'm really proud of my father, he passed away eight years ago," said Sydney woman Glenda Rixon, wearing the medals of her late dad Henry who was an infantryman in Korea.
"It's a special day. We used to always watch him march."
Services have also marked Anzac Day across the world, including in New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Türkiye and France.
