Roll of Honour

Records in the Roll of Honour database contain the personal particulars, unit and the date of death of each person. Some records may also contain cause of death, place of death, and cemetery or memorial details. This information is based on card indexes, known as the Roll of Honour cards, that were used to compile the physical Roll of Honour located in the Memorial’s Commemorative Area. The cards contain information transcribed directly from original source records produced during or immediately after each conflict. In recent years the records on the Roll of Honour database have been enhanced with information from further research and other sources.

More than half the database records have digital images attached to them from records known as the Roll of Honour circulars. For the First World War, the circulars were forms sent to next of kin seeking details regarding the deceased. For the Second World War the forms were not sent to the next of kin, but were completed by the Directorate of War Graves Services. Circulars for those who died in the Korean War were completed in March 1954 by the Memorial’s Roll of Honour clerk. Circulars were not created for the other conflicts. Researchers should keep in mind that even in the conflicts where there were circulars, they were not created for every individual.

Eligibility criteria

Questions of eligibility for the Roll of Honour are determined solely by the Memorial’s Council, and have been considered many times over the years by Council and before it by the Memorial’s Board. The following paragraphs summarise the current criteria for eligibility:

Pre–1914 conflicts

Sudan
South Africa
China

To be eligible, an individual must:

have died during service as a member of a naval or military unit raised by one of the Australian colonies or, after Federation, by the Commonwealth of Australia, or as a result of that service; and
have died within one of the following specified periods

First and Second World Wars

To be eligible, an individual must:

have died during service as a member of the Australian armed forces, or as a result of that service; and
have been a member of a unit which was, or could be sent overseas or, after the entry of Japan into the Second World War, a member of the Australian armed forces; and
have died within one of the following specified periods

Post–1945 conflicts

To be eligible, an individual must:

have died during service as a member of the Australian armed forces or the Australian Defence Force, or as a result of that service; and
have died during or as a result of service in a conflict or operation either,
- classified by the Department of Defence as warlike, or
- classified by the Department of Defence as non-warlike, or
- classified by the Department of Defence as peacetime, and which Council agrees is appropriate for inclusion in the Roll of Honour; and
have died between the defined start and end dates of that conflict or operation; or as a result of service in that conflict or operation within two years of returning to Australia from their deployment.

Australians who died during these periods of conflict but were not serving with Australian armed forces may be included in the Commemorative Roll.

Specified Periods

The official commencement and cut-off dates for inclusion in the Roll of Honour and the Commemorative Roll are as follows.

Conflict/operation	Start date	End date
Sudan	1885	1885
South Africa	11 October 1899	31 May 1902
China	6 August 1900	25 April 1901
First World War	4 August 1914	31 March 1921
Second World War	3 September 1939	30 June 1947
Japan	3 September 1945	28 April 1952
Papua and New Guinea	1 July 1947	16 September 1975
North Queensland Coast	1 July 1947	31 May 1950
Middle East	11 June 1948	Ongoing
Malayan Emergency	16 June 1948	31 July 1960
Berlin	26 June 1948	30 September 1949
Kashmir	13 August 1948	1985
Korea	27 June 1950	27 July 1957
Malta	9 July 1952	1955
Southeast Asia	2 July 1955	14 March 1975
Vietnam	3 August 1962	29 April 1975
Indonesian Confrontation	24 December 1962	11 August 1966
Malay Peninsula	19 February 1964	11 August 1966
Thailand	25 June 1965	31 August 1968
Irian Jaya	12 July 1976	15 November 1981
Western Sahara	5 September 1991	25 May 1994
Somalia	20 October 1992	28 March 1995
Border Protection	1 August 1997	Ongoing
Bougainville	20 November 1997	26 August 2003
East Timor	19 June 1999	19 April 2013
Afghanistan	11 October 2001	8 October 2021
Iraq	18 March 2003	14 December 2013
Solomon Islands	24 July 2003	30 September 2013
Indonesia	28 March 2005	18 April 2005
Fiji	31 October 2006	22 December 2006

Additions and amendments to the Roll of Honour

The Memorial takes very seriously its responsibility in managing the Roll of Honour and Commemorative Roll and ensuring they record the sacrifice made by Australians in war and on military operations. The accuracy of the data contained in the Honour Rolls is important to us, and we invite you to contact us in respect to potential amendments or additions to the Honour Rolls. Read more about additions and amendments to the Roll of Honour

The Roll of Honour and the Office of Australian War Graves

While the Office of Australian War Graves (OAWG) and the Australian War Memorial (the Memorial) share the common purpose of commemoration, the two organisations have different histories, charters and policies. This has resulted in some different date ranges and criteria for determining the eligibility of individuals for commemoration, which may result in differences in published names and casualty numbers.

Both the OAWG and the Memorial are valuable sources of information regarding Australians who died in or as a result of service during war, warlike and peacetime operations. It is recommended researchers familiarise themselves with commemorative criteria and information provided by each organisation.