Thousands of people across the country have gathered to take part in Remembrance Day ceremonies, honouring those who died serving in conflicts and peacekeeping operations.
This year’s Remembrance Day marks the 108-year anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I — a conflict that claimed the lives of 60,000 Australians.
Ceremonies across the country shared a minute’s silence at 11am, marking the moment guns fell silent across the Western Front and the war ended on November 11, 1918.
Governor-General Sam Mostyn and the Director of the Australian War Memorial Matt Anderson lay the 92-year-old scarlet poppy wreath at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. (AAP: Hilary Wardhaugh)
In Canberra, the national ceremony at the Australian War Memorial was attended by Governor-General Sam Mostyn, Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles, Federal Nationals MP Michael McCormack — who represented the leader of the federal opposition, and Defence Force Chief Admiral Mark Hammond.
The Governor-General laid a 92-year-old scarlet poppy wreath, which had been brought out of the memorial collections for the ceremony.
Australian Army Chaplain Kelly Horne, who helped train Ukrainian soldiers, gave the commemorative address at the Australian War Memorial, honouring the fallen Australian soldiers who “paid the ultimate sacrifice”.
The Remembrance Day 2026 ceremony at the Australian War Memorial. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
She said on Remembrance Day, “We remember to remember.”
“Let’s remember those who have been forever wounded by war, and let’s remember that we can have hope. We can be hope. We can give hope,”
she said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid tribute to Australian defence personnel in Singapore on his way to COP31 in Türkiye.
Opposition leader Angus Taylor said today was a chance for Australians to honour all who have served, suffered, and sacrificed for the nation in wars and military operations.
The prime minister lays a wreath in Singapore to commemorate Australia’s serving men and women on Remembrance Day. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)
One Nation leader and Ben Roberts-Smith attend Brisbane ceremony
In Brisbane, Senator Pauline Hanson and war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith attended Remembrance Day commemorations.
Mr Roberts-Smith said, like all Australians, he wanted to pay his respects to those who had “made the sacrifice to give us this great country”.
Senator Pauline Hanson and Ben Roberts-Smith attending a Remembrance Day ceremony in Brisbane. (ABC News: Will Murray)
“Remembrance Day is not about any one person; it is certainly not about me,” he said.
“Remembrance Day is about us taking a moment to reflect on the sacrifices that were made for us and, like everyone else, that is what I’m doing today.”
The Victoria Cross recipient has been charged with five counts of war crime murder, relating to his time serving in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.
He has strenuously denied the allegations and said in an interview last month he would continue to fight the charges.
Ben Roberts-Smith says Remembrance Day was “certainly not” about him. (ABC News: Will Murray)
Elsewhere in Brisbane, a crowd of 300 gathered at a service in the bayside suburb of Cleveland, where wreaths were laid at the base of a recently damaged war memorial.
RSL branch president and veteran Robert Wilson said the incident had galvanised the community’s support for local veterans.
Mr Wilson estimated the crowd had tripled last year’s numbers.
Wreaths lay at the foot of a damaged cenotaph in Cleveland, Brisbane, on Remembrance Day. (ABC News: Meghan Dansie)
And he said gathering around a damaged monument had not disheartened the attendees.
“The feeling is that they’re not going to stop us doing what we normally do,” he said.
“Everyone is even more determined.”
Sacrifice can be ‘something we acknowledge without truly understanding’
At Sydney’s Martin Place Cenotaph, New South Wales Governor Margaret Beazley, Premier Chris Minns, and federal Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek were among the dignitaries, veterans and serving Australian Defence Force members who laid wreaths.
A poppy installation at the Remembrance Day ceremony at the Cenotaph in Martin Place, Sydney. (ABC News: Charlie McLean)
Royal Australian Navy Rear Admiral Anita Williams gave the centrepiece address, in a speech which focused on the relevance of past conflicts, including those now beyond living memory.
“Because memory fades … sacrifice can become something we acknowledge without truly understanding,” she said.
“Those who served carried the burden of defending Australia. The duty remembrance asks of us is far simpler — Not merely to remember their sacrifice, but to honour it. To prove worthy of it.”
People gather at Sydney’s Martin Place Cenotaph to commemorate fallen soldiers. (ABC News: Charlie McLean)
‘I was in battle at age 18’
Among the attendees at a ceremony in Adelaide was 104-year-old World War II veteran Reg Swanborough.
“I joined up with 32 others on the 26th of July 1938 and to the best of my knowledge … two others and myself came home alive,” he said.
104-year-old World War II veteran Reg Swanborough at a Remembrance Day ceremony in South Australia. (ABC News: Briana Fiore)
Mr Swanborough said he was 15 when he enlisted, and the war began the following year.
“I was in battle at age 18,” he said.
Veteran Gary Stewart left Vietnam 55 years ago today to come home.
“Most of us came home, one of our mates got killed over there … that was tough,” he said.
Veteran Gary Stewart at South Australia Remembrance Day left Vietnam 55 years ago today. (ABC News: Briana Fiore)
‘I think how lucky I am’
In Perth, hundreds of West Australians gathered at the State War Memorial in Kings Park.
World War II veteran Robert ‘Bob’ Bentley-Taylor, now aged 101, served in the navy in Borneo and the Philippines and shared what Remembrance Day meant to him.
World War II veteran Robert ‘Bob’ Bentley-Taylor joined hundreds of West Australians at the State War Memorial in Kings Park. (ABC News: Mya Kordic)
“It feels like I’m giving duty to people who lost their lives in the war and [who had] bad times,”
he said.
“I think how lucky I am. I just come here to respect them.”
Crowds gather to pay their respects in Melbourne
Melburnians also paused to pay their respects to those who have lost their lives in wars and military operations this Remembrance Day.
Today marks the 92nd Remembrance Day at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance.
Silvie Paladino sang You Raise Me Up accompanied by the Royal Australian Navy Band, and there was an RAAF flyover.
Wreaths were laid by the premier, the leader of the opposition, members of state and federal parliament and the Lord Mayor.
People gather to mark the 92nd Remembrance Day at Melbourne’s shrine. (ABC News: Alexandra Alvaro)
‘Not just an exercise in nostalgia’
In Tasmania, Remembrance Day was marked with services around the state, including at the Hobart Cenotaph.
Unfortunately, the cannon failed to fire after the Ode of Remembrance.
Retired Colonel Ross Byrne told the assembled crowd it was a day to honour those who had served and reflect on the cost of war and conflict.
Among those laying wreaths were the Tasmanian Governor Caroline Wells and Hobart’s new Lord Mayor Charles Wooley.
Crowds gather at the Remembrance Day service at the Hobart Cenotaph. (ABC News: Sophie Jaggers)
Governor Wells said the service was more than just a commemoration of a past peace.
“Remembrance is not just an exercise in nostalgia; it is a moment to face the world’s brokenness and to recommit to our duty in the present,”
she said.
“Remembrance Day is a reminder that the freedom we enjoy in this country has been paid for with blood, that peace has been purchased with sacrifice, and the duty to protect both rests now with us.”
Darwin’s personal history
Hundreds of service people gathered alongside military families, government officials and civilians for Remembrance Day in Darwin.
Tributes flowed for Corporal Brendan Hannam, who died in a military training exercise in the Northern Territory earlier this year.
People in Darwin attend a ceremony and pay their respects to soldiers who died in war. (ABC News: Amelia Searson)
Commanding Officer of HMAS Coonawarra Amy Bulters grew up 1,000 kilometres east of Darwin, and has worked in all corners of the world, including Antarctica, as a meteorologist for the navy.
“As a kid in the Northern Territory, never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that one day I’d be down in the coldest place on earth, looking out the window at seals and penguins,” she said.
A Remembrance Day service in Darwin, commemorating Australians who lost their lives in combat. (ABC News: Amelia Searson)
Captain Bulters said Darwin had a “strong connection” to its military history.
“In 1942, with the bombing of Darwin in World War II, the war came to Darwin,”
she said.
“For Territorians, it’s ingrained in the history of what happened on the streets, on the harbour and in the community here.”