Why Welcome to Country Belongs at Anzac Day Services
As boos echoed through the pre-dawn darkness at Melbourne’s Anzac Day service, Bunurong Elder Mark Brown continued his Welcome to Country with dignity.
This jarring moment – veterans and everyday Australians divided over an ancient ceremony of respect – cuts to the heart of Australia’s ongoing struggle to reconcile its 65,000-year Indigenous heritage with its more recent military traditions.
The tension raises an important question: Does acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land detract from honoring those who served, or can these two forms of respect coexist and even strengthen each other?
For those who oppose Welcome to Country at Anzac Day services, the concern often centers on keeping the focus squarely on veterans and the fallen. Yet this overlooks the fact: the land Australian service personnel fought to protect has been home to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for over 65,000 years, and Indigenous Australians themselves have served with distinction in every military conflict since the Boer War. Their blood has soaked the same foreign soils, their sacrifice every bit as profound.
When a Welcome to Country is performed at an Anzac Day service, it doesn’t diminish the sacrifice of those who served – it places that sacrifice within our complete national story.
It acknowledges that the country these men and women fought for is ancient land with deep cultural significance, and that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been among those who served and sacrificed for it.
More Than a Formality
Welcome to Country is not a modern political invention or “box-ticking exercise” as critics sometimes claim. These ceremonies have deep historical roots in Aboriginal culture, dating back thousands of years. They were an essential diplomatic protocol when different tribal groups of Aboriginal people would meet, or cross tribal territories.
The contemporary practice may feel routine to some observers, but this doesn’t diminish its significance. Like many ceremonial aspects of Anzac Day itself – the playing of the Last Post, the minute’s silence, the laying of wreaths, the speeches – Welcome to Country derives its power from tradition and repetition, not from variation or innovation.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Military Service
Indigenous Australians have served with distinction in every conflict and peacekeeping mission since the Boer War. Despite facing systematic discrimination, including unequal pay, limited recognition, and being denied veterans’ benefits upon returning home, an estimated 1,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people volunteered for service in World War I, and approximately 3,000 in World War II.
Their contribution continued through Korea, Vietnam, and more recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Notably, Indigenous soldiers often found equality on the battlefield that was denied to them at home, with many describing their military experience as the first time they were treated as equals.
The story of Aboriginal servicemen and women is not separate from the Anzac tradition – it is an integral part of it. Including Welcome to Country at Anzac Day services acknowledges this dual heritage of service and sacrifice, recognizing that Indigenous Australians fought for a country that often didn’t recognize their rights or citizenship.
Authenticity Matters
Critics rightfully point out that Acknowledgments of Country – the brief statements often delivered at conferences, meetings and events – can sometimes feel perfunctory and drained of meaning. When recited by speakers who treat them as obligatory preambles rather than thoughtful recognitions, these acknowledgments risk becoming exactly what opponents fear: empty gestures of performative respect.
This valid concern is not an argument against the practice itself, but rather a call for greater authenticity and understanding. Unlike these sometimes mechanical acknowledgments, a proper Welcome to Country performed by an Elder or traditional owner at an Anzac Day service carries the weight of cultural authority and genuine connection to land.
Just as we expect Anzac Day commemorations to be conducted with appropriate solemnity and respect, traditional ceremonies deserve the same care. They should not be rushed through or treated as items to check off an event planner’s list, but given the space and attention that reflects their cultural significance.
The repetitive nature of ceremony is not a weakness but a strength. Like the unchanging words of the Ode (“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old…”), the ritual elements of Welcome to Country gain power through tradition and repetition.
Politics vs. Perspective – The Election Rhetoric
In the final stretch of an election campaign, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton claimed that “the majority of veterans don’t want Welcome to Country on Anzac Day.” This assertion – made without evidence and contradicted by numerous RSL branches – reveals more about political opportunism than veterans’ actual views.
Many RSL branches have publicly supported Welcome to Country ceremonies at Anzac Day services. These organizations, which exist to support veterans and preserve the memory of their service, understand that recognizing Indigenous connection to land doesn’t diminish respect for those who fought for it -particularly when many of those who fought were Indigenous themselves.
Political figures like Dutton who suggest otherwise are exploiting a solemn day of remembrance for electoral advantage. When he characterizes Welcome to Country on Anzac Day as inappropriate while dismissing acknowledgments on flights as “over the top,” he reduces meaningful cultural protocols to political wedge issues.
Veterans, like all Australians, hold diverse views. But many understand that military service has always been about protecting a nation that encompasses many peoples and cultures. Boiling their perspectives down to simplistic opposition does a disservice to the nuanced understanding many veterans have of Australia’s complex history.
Significantly, the shameful booing incident at Melbourne’s dawn service reportedly involved known white supremacist elements – hardly representative of thoughtful veteran perspectives on cultural inclusion.
Seeing the Full Picture of History and Meaning
The traditional owners of the land where Anzac Day services are held aren’t distant historical figures – they’re the ancestors of people who served, people who died, and people who continue to serve today. In many communities, Indigenous veterans’ families attend these ceremonies to honor their relatives who fought for a country that often didn’t recognize them.
On examining military records, historians have found that Indigenous soldiers often experienced equality in the trenches that was denied to them in civilian life. Upon returning home, many were excluded from RSL clubs and denied veterans’ benefits.
Honoring All Who Served
Corporal Harry Thorpe, a Gunai man from Gippsland who was awarded the Military Medal for bravery at Villers-Bretonneux. Captain Reg Saunders, the first Aboriginal Australian to be commissioned as an officer in the Australian Army. Private Leonard Waters, the only Indigenous fighter pilot in the RAAF during World War II. Their service, and the service of thousands of other Indigenous veterans, deserves acknowledgment as part of our Anzac tradition.
Together We Will Remember Them
By approaching Welcome to Country not as political correctness but as a meaningful cultural practice with ancient roots, we can see its inclusion at Anzac Day services as complementary to the day’s purpose. Both traditions honor connection to land, respect for those who came before us, and the ongoing obligations we have to one another as Australians.
These ceremonies connect us to our complete national story – one that includes 65,000 years of Indigenous stewardship, the sacrifice of service personnel from all backgrounds, and our shared commitment to remembering them all with the dignity and honor they deserve.
