Australians Mark Anzac Day; War Crime Charges Proceed Against Ben Roberts-Smith

Australians gathered for Anzac Day commemorations across the country on April 25, 2026, with dawn services featuring the Last Post at sites like the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. The events honored those who served in wars and military operations, including the inscription 'Their name liveth for evermore' on the Stone of Remembrance.

This year's observances unfolded amid the arrest earlier in April 2026 of Ben Roberts-Smith, a former Australian Special Air Service corporal, who was charged with five counts of the war crime of murder.

Ben Roberts-Smith denies the charges and vows to fight them. The charges stem from allegations related to his service in Afghanistan. A 2023 Federal Court ruling found on the balance of probabilities that reporting by Nine newspapers on Roberts-Smith's responsibility for unlawful killings of unarmed Afghan detainees was substantially true.

Supporters of Roberts-Smith have been quick to publicly back the former SAS corporal, framing the case as a betrayal of veterans. Critics and others offered contrasting views.

The case connects to the Brereton Report, released in 2020, which found credible evidence of 39 unlawful killings by Australian special forces in Afghanistan.

Veterans of recent conflicts expressed mixed sentiments. A veteran stated Australian troops helped Afghan girls attend school, which has now been taken away.

Approximately 40,000 Australians served in Afghanistan and 17,000 in Iraq. According to the Australian War Memorial, 47 Australians were killed in Afghanistan and 5 in Iraq. More than 940,000 people were killed by direct violence in post-9/11 war operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and Pakistan between 2001 and 2023, according to Brown University's Costs of War project.

The US-led invasion of Afghanistan was launched in 2001 in response to the September 11 terror attacks with the primary objective of destroying al-Qaeda and overthrowing the Taliban regime. US troops withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021, ending the 20-year conflict, after which the Taliban filled the power vacuum.

The United Nations described the Taliban regime as the world's 'most repressive' for women, barring girls from education beyond age 12.

The Iraq War was launched by the United States in 2003 with Australia as a coalition partner. A veteran of the Australian Army who worked in strategic communications in Iraq shared his experiences. The deputy director of Phoenix Australia Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health stated Anzac Day can be a 'tough day' for veterans as memories and emotions come to the fore.

Anzac Day was first commemorated in 1916, a year after the Gallipoli landings in Türkiye during World War One.