Marking (First World War) Private Graves Grants Program

An estimated 331,800 Australian personnel were deployed during the First World War. Approximately 60,000 were killed or are listed as missing in action, leaving some 271,800 service men and women who returned to Australia.

Thousands became soldier settler farmers or itinerant workers in remote areas, separated or estranged from their families. When they passed away, many were buried without a funeral or headstone.

More than 30,000 of these veterans have since had their deaths accepted as related to their war service and have been officially commemorated as post-war dead.

Throughout Australia, there are committed individuals and groups working to identify the unmarked graves of First World War veterans, and marking these graves to ensure their service and sacrifice are remembered.

The objective of the program is to contribute to community recognition of the service and sacrifice of service personnel in the First World War. It does this by providing funding to contribute to the cost of establishing a grave marker on currently unmarked private graves.