Anzac Day 2020

With a lockdown in force in Australia due to the outbreak of COVID-19, Anzac Day in 2020 was very different to other Anzac Days held on 25 April during the past 100 years.

In Victoria, the Dawn Service is held each year at the Shrine of Remembrance and is then followed later in the morning by the annual Anzac Day March along St Kilda Road to the Shrine. Another service is then held around 12 noon. Services are also held in other states as well as services held at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Later, television viewers can watch the Dawn Service at Gallipoli in Turkey followed by the service at the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneaux in France.

 Commemorative services are also held at many RSLs throughout the country.

Cancellation of Anzac Day commemorations in Bayswater, Victoria

 In 2020 these commemorations generally were cancelled except for services at the major memorials where attendance was limited to a small number of dignitaries but made available to the general public via radio and television.

This year many household residents arranged their own commemorations, either individually or collectively within a street. The dawn ceremony held at the National War Memorial in Canberra was broadcast beginning at 5.30. The suggestion had been made that household residents might like to listen to the service standing with a candle or torch at the end of their driveway or on a balcony. This allowed social / physical distancing to be maintained but, when a number of people in a street took part, also allowed for community participation. In some cases a local resident played the last post. Many families took part in this activity throughout Australia.

Many residents also made wreaths to display on front gates, from balconies or in windows. Australian flags were also on display in some locations.

Wreath and flag on a neighbour's gate

Anzac Day 2020 was certainly different from those held in the past but the day was still commemorated though in a different way.