The Commemorative Courtyard is the heart of commemoration at the Memorial, including the Roll of Honour, Pool of Reflection, Eternal Flame, Hall of Memory and Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier.
Visitors can now enter through the new Commemorative Entrance, passing the two medieval Menin Gate Lions. Formerly standing at the gateway of Menin road at Ypres, bearing damage from the First World War, they were presented to the Memorial by the city of Ypres in 1936.
Surrounding the courtyard, glimpsed through arched cloisters is the Roll of Honour, where the names of more than 103,000 Australians who died during or as a result of serving their country in conflicts since 1885 are inscribed in bronze. Australia is one of few nations able to name its war dead in such a way.
Nestled above the Commemorative Courtyard is a cabinet containing the two leather-bound volumes of the Commemorative Roll, which records the names of Australians who gave their life in the service of Allied nations, the Merchant Navy, and civilian organisations that sought to assist those affected by conflict.
Visitors often insert poppies in the niches of the Roll of Honour and near the Commemorative Roll, sometimes near a name that has significance for them.
The Last Post Ceremony, which tells the story of a person whose name appears on the Roll of Honour, is held daily in the Commemorative Area.
