Office of Australian War Graves
The Office of Australian War Graves (OAWG) is a branch within the Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs. The branch was initially a stand-alone agency, formed 1 January 1975. In 1980, the War Graves Act 1980 (Cth) formalised the position of Director War Graves within the Department of Veterans' Affairs.[1] The OAWG acts as Australian agent for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.[1]
Responsibilities
The responsibilities of the OAWG generally fall within the following five areas.[2]
- Processing of new official commemorations
- Maintenance of war cemeteries, plots, individual graves, post-war commemorations and battle exploit memorials
- Management of major projects at overseas locations
- Provision of research services for commemorative information, and
- Issuing permission to use the relevant Service badge.
The OAWG is also responsible for the maintenance of some 20,000 graves of Commonwealth war dead in 76 war cemeteries & plots and in numerous civil cemeteries, as well as Memorials to the Missing listing over 3,000 names throughout Australia, Norfolk Island, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
Directors
| Name | Period |
|---|---|
| K. F. Macdonald | 1978 – 3 May 1981 |
| Hon. Lance Barnard AO | 3 May 1981 – 1985 |
| Alf Clarke AM | 1985 – 19 June 1991 |
| Air Vice Marshal Alan Heggen AO | 19 June 1991 – 3 October 1997 |
| Air Vice Marshal Gary Beck AO | 3 October 1997 – August 2005 |
| Major General Paul Stevens AO | 2005 – 2010 |
| Brigadier Chris Appleton CSC | December 2010 – November 2015 |
| Ken Corke | December 2015 – present |
See also
References
- 1 2 "About Office of Australian War Graves". Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs. Archived from the original on 14 June 2009.
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20060927032030/http://www.dva.gov.au/commem/oawg/general.htm. Archived from the original on 27 September 2006. Missing or empty
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