Most Australians are unaware that our returned services personnel who were honourably discharged are not automatically entitled to a government issued headstone or plaque at the site of their burial or ashes interment. They must meet either of the following criteria: Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) criteria and qualifying dates

Who is eligible

“Men and women of the Commonwealth military or auxiliary forces who lost their lives during the official dates of the World War One (4 August 1914 to 31 August 1921) and World War Two (3 September 1939 to 31 December 1947) are war casualties. Those who died after discharge may qualify if their death was a direct result of their war service.” Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA)/Office of Australian War Graves (OAWG) additional War Grave criteria

Who is eligible:

We will provide an official commemoration for all veterans whose death has been accepted by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) as related to their war service.

We will also provide an official commemoration for veterans who were:

ADF members who died during war, peacekeeping activities, or certain other operations, including warlike and non-warlike service

multiple amputees as defined in Section 27.1 of the Veterans; Entitlements Act 1986 (VEA) on maximum pension rate where service in a war or conflict has been proven

ex-prisoners of war

a Victoria Cross recipient. Official commemoration is also available to veterans receiving one of the following payments when they died:

Disability Compensation Payment

extreme disablement adjustment (EDA)

temporary special rate pension (TSR or T&TI)

intermediate rate pension (INT).

This goes some way to explain why we have thousands upon thousands of Australian War Veterans (not just WWI) in unmarked graves Australia wide. No one knows the exact number, but in our opinion it is many tens of thousands.