Some highly decorated women veterans don't feel comfortable marching on Anzac Day so a new group for ex-servicewomen has stepped out to change that.
The Women Veterans Network Australia marched in Melbourne and three other cities for the first time among the thousands of veterans and their families marching before tens of thousands of spectators around Victoria.
"You'll find that there's women who are highly decorated that will still say 'I don't deserve to be there' or 'I don't feel comfortable being there, because I'm a woman and I didn't fight on the front line'," Tiffany Ahuja told AAP in Melbourne on Tuesday.
"Women haven't really felt accepted and like we belong and deserve to be part of today's ceremony," another marcher said.
Ms Ahuja was deployed to East Timor in 1999 and 2000.
She says Anzac Day brought mixed emotions for a lot of women who served in the defence forces.
"We just want them to know that we're all here for them, and any time of the year, not just Anzac Day," she said.
Ms Ahuja said the group was formed by young female veterans to support each other, and it was getting strong support, especially in places with large military populations like Townsville and Darwin.
She said it was likely to increase as women begin to take on more combat roles.
For John Rerakis and the Pancretan Association the Anzac Day march is about remembering the sacrifices Anzacs and others made in Greece and passing on that lesson to the younger generation.
"We're here to remember everyone who sacrificed their lives so we're here today and respect the freedom and what they stood up for," Mr Rerakis told AAP.
Max McGregor flew a bomber in Vietnam and said Anzac Day is a chance to remember old mates and spend time with the ones who are still around.
"We're a diminishing group as we get older because there are no new people coming in," Mr McGregor told AAP.
The traditional march from the Melbourne CBD to the Shrine of Remembrance comes after the dawn service, which brought 30,000 people together to hear Victoria Cross winner Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith speak.
Retired Major-General David McLachlan said the crowd showed a "tremendous mark of respect" to those who served.
"Today is to remember all those who have served, those who you served with and those who made the supreme sacrifice," he told AAP.
Police said there were no reports of any misbehaviour at Victorian marches.
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