Australian War Memorial

The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in wars involving the Commonwealth of Australia and some conflicts involving personnel from the Australian colonies prior to Federation. Opened in 1941, the memorial includes an extensive national military museum. The memorial is located in the suburb of Campbell in Australia's capital, Canberra. It is located at the northern terminus of Anzac Parade, Australia’s national ceremonial route, which itself is located along part of the land axis of the design of central Canberra. This axis runs from the peak of Mount Ainslie in the northeast to Capital Hill, where Parliament House is located, in the southwest, a distance of 5.2 km. The pivotal point in the layout of Canberra of where the War Memorial is located was deliberately selected as the location for the memorial, in order to reflect its national importance. There is a very clear and obvious line of sight along the land axis from the memorial to Parliament House and vice versa. The Australian War Memorial consists of three parts: the Commemorative Area (shrine) including the Hall of Memory with the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier, the memorial's galleries (museum) and Research Centre (records). The memorial also has an outdoor Sculpture Garden. The memorial is open daily from 10am until 5pm, excluding Christmas Day. Other monuments and memorials located on the adjacent Anzac Parade are maintained separately by the National Capital Authority (NCA) and do not form part of the Australian War Memorial.