Office of Australian War Graves

The Office of Australian War Graves (OAWG) is a branch within the Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs. The branch was initially a stand-alone agency, formed 1 January 1975. In 1980, the War Graves Act 1980 (Cth) formalised the position of Director War Graves within the Department of Veterans' Affairs.[1] The OAWG acts as Australian agent for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.[1]

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the OAWG generally fall within the following five areas.[2]

  • Processing of new official commemorations
  • Maintenance of war cemeteries, plots, individual graves, post-war commemorations and battle exploit memorials
  • Management of major projects at overseas locations
  • Provision of research services for commemorative information, and
  • Issuing permission to use the relevant Service badge.

The OAWG is also responsible for the maintenance of some 20,000 graves of Commonwealth war dead in 76 war cemeteries & plots and in numerous civil cemeteries, as well as Memorials to the Missing listing over 3,000 names throughout Australia, Norfolk Island, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

Directors of War Graves
Name Period Ref.
K. F. Macdonald 1978 – 3 May 1981
Hon. Lance Barnard AO 22 June 1981 – 9 April 1984 [3]
Peter Young 9 April 1984 – 1 October 1985 [4]
Alf Clarke AM 1 October 1985 – 19 June 1991 [5]
Air Vice Marshal Alan Heggen AO 19 June 1991 – 3 October 1997
Air Vice Marshal Gary Beck AO 3 October 1997 – August 2005
Major General Paul Stevens AO 2005 – 2010
Brigadier Chris Appleton CSC December 2010 – November 2015
Ken Corke December 2015 – present

See also

Further reading
  • In Remembrance: The Work of the Office of Australian War Graves (2010) ISBN 9781877007613[6]

References
  1. "About Office of Australian War Graves". Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs. Archived from the original on 14 June 2009.
  2. "Office of Australian War Graves: General Information". Archived from the original on 27 September 2006.
  3. "APPOINTMENT OF DIRECTOR OF WAR GRAVES". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (G20). Australia. 19 May 1981. p. 14. Retrieved 21 May 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. "Veterans' Affairs War Graves Act 1980 APPOINTMENT OF DIRECTOR OF WAR GRAVES". Commonwealth Of Australia Gazette (G17). Australia. 8 May 1984. p. 1610. Retrieved 21 May 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "Veterans' Affairs War Graves Act 1980 APPOINTMENT OF DIRECTOR OF WAR GRAVES". Commonwealth Of Australia Gazette (G31). Australia. 6 August 1985. p. 2963. Retrieved 21 May 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. "In Remembrance: The Work of the Office of Australian War Graves". worldcat.org. OCLC. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
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