About the Collections

Donating Items to the Australian War Memorial

Since its inception during World War I, the Australian War Memorial has relied on the generosity and commitment of everyday Australians. Then as now, Australians have understood the need for the preservation of those objects that would help all generations remember, interpret and understand the Australian experience of war. The Memorial's Collection now holds over 4 million items that continue to tell an important part of the story of what it means to be Australian.

These items are acquired and managed within these general curatorial categories: Military Heraldry; Military Technology; Photographs, Sound & Film; Art; and printed and written records.

Of course, the Memorial is unable to accept all items into the National Collection. In developing acquisition policies, the Memorial's curators must address issues such as existing Collection holdings, available storage space, available staff resources and relevance to Collection development issues. This means that after careful assessment by our curators, we must sometimes decline offers of donation. However, while the Memorial must necessarily have strict acquisition guidelines, we continue to urge you to first consider the Australian War Memorial the appropriate place for your memorabilia.

How you can donate items to the Australian War Memorial.

If you would like to donate items to the Memorial please contact the Memorial's Accessions Officer. Please provide as many details as possible about each item in your donation:

The Accessions Officer
Registration Section
Australian War Memorial
GPO Box 345
Canberra ACT 2601

Email: donateitems@awm.gov.au
Phone: (02) 6243 4590

If the relevant curators need to assess any of the material in more detail, the Accessions Officer will contact you providing a consignment note that will allow you to forward the required items to the Memorial at no cost to you.