Settlement Guide: The Cultural diversity of Australia's Anzacs

Each year on the 25th of April we mark Anzac Day when we remember those who served and died in armed conflict.Anzac Day has become a symbol of Australias national identity.Anzacs means the soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and included many Indigenous and multicultural servicemen and women.A feature presented by Anita Barar

Anzac Day Commemoration [Credit: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images] Source: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

It was August 1914 when news of World War I broke out.

Australia was to join Britain in the fight against the Central Powers, which included Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire.

Among the 420,000 enlisted soldiers over one thousand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men volunteered their service.

Many others came from culturally diverse backgrounds.

National President of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Veterans and Services Association and Gundungurra man Gary Oakley says many Indigenous Australians were determined to volunteer.

He says men of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds joined for different reasons - including the chance to first earn a wage.

He believes it was the first time Indigenous Australians found equality.

World War I remains the costliest conflict for Australia in terms of deaths and casualties.

 

More than 60,000 died and another 156,000 servicemen were either wounded, killed or taken prisoner.

Anzac Day means different things to different people.

But Gary Oakley says for Indigenous Australians, marching on April 25th is about recognition.

 

For more information on Australia's Anzac Day traditions visit the Australian War Memorial's website. https://www.awm.gov.au