The nation’s most important site of commemoration will ignore the concerns of non-religious veterans and again impose religious worship on attendees and viewers of next month’s Anzac Day Dawn Service.

In a letter to the Rationalist Society of Australia (RSA), the Australian War Memorial has confirmed that it has not made any changes to the format of the Dawn Service, despite calls for secular reform from non-religious veterans.

The decision follows the War Memorial’s meeting with a delegation of non-religious veterans last year, plus a number of complaints in the media, and a petition approaching 2000 signatures that calls for secular reform of the Dawn Service.

At a meeting in June last year, three veterans told the War Memorial of how the imposition of Christian worship in the annual event alienated them and many of their fellow veterans, and urged the War Memorial to follow the example set by Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance, which hosts a largely secular Dawn Service.

Earlier this month, the RSA wrote to the War Memorial seeking an update about the format of the upcoming 2026 Dawn Service and questioning whether the taxpayer-funded institution had made changes in response to feedback from non-religious veterans.

In a letter to the RSA, Sarah Hitchcock, Branch Head of Public Programs at the War Memorial, confirmed that no changes had been made.

Despite the event being held on its grounds, the War Memorial claims it is not responsible for the content of the event.

“The RSL (ACT Branch) determines the format of the Dawn Service held at the Australian War Memorial. As such, I can confirm that the Memorial has not made changes to the Service structure,” said Ms Hitchcock.

As the RSA has reported each year in recent times, acts of Christian worship dominate the Anzac Day Dawn Service, with a number of Christian prayers and hymns recited, and a large section presided over by a Christian chaplain.

In its letter this month, the RSA also asked the War Memorial whether a Christian chaplain would again be featured, or whether one of the Defence Force’s non-Christian chaplains or a secular wellbeing officer would be instead.

Ms Hitchcock said the Defence Force’s chaplaincy capability was responsible for determining which of their staff would be allocated.

“In 2026, the ADF Chaplaincy has allocated an Air Force Chaplain to the Memorial,” she said.

The ACT Branch of the Returned & Services League (RSL) has shown no desire to reform the Christian Dawn Service to make the content more inclusive and welcoming for all people.

In response to a discrimination complaint to the Australian Capital Territory’s Human Rights Commission in 2024, the RSL ACT Branch told the Commission that “numerous alternative services” were available to Australians who felt excluded and discriminated against.

It also argued that the Christian nature of the Dawn Service was not discriminatory because the content of the service was “well known and has been broadcast for many years”.

The RSA has repeatedly called on the War Memorial to take full responsibility for the Dawn Service in order to meet public expectations.

The War Memorial’s own corporate plan identifies as a ‘strategic risk’ commemorations that “don’t meet community expectations or deliver social values in line with public expectations.”

In 2024, the War Memorial’s director, Matt Anderson, pledged to consider complaints about the religious dominance of its Anzac Day Dawn Service when it came to planning for the 2025 event. But he also warned that “traditions move slowly”.

The RSA has argued that the imposition of Christianity fails to reflect modern and diverse Australia, with Christianity on track to fall below 40 per cent of the population at the 2026 national Census – even with a biased Census question that inflates the religion result. Already, a majority of current Defence personnel identify as not religious.

Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance provides an example of best practice, with a largely secular Dawn Service that incorporates poetry, music, storytelling, and the reading of letters from the warfront.

The Rationalist Society of Australia is actively lobbying and advocating for secular reform of the Defence Force and of military commemorations. See the latest updates here.

If you want to support our work, please make a donation or become a member.

Si Gladman is Executive Director of the Rationalist Society of Australia. He also hosts ‘The Secular Agenda’ podcast.

Photo by Hannah on Flickr (CC)