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.