To enter the Premier’s Spirit of Anzac Prize competition, you must include with your application a:
- submission
- personal statement.
Submission
The submission is your response to the following topic:
Explore the significance of Victoria's Shrine of Remembrance or a local community’s war memorial in honouring Australians who have served in war and peacekeeping.
Topic background
The Shrine of Remembrance is a memorial for Australians who have served in war and peacekeeping. Victorians raised and donated funds to build the shrine after World War One. It opened 90 years ago, in 1934.
The Shrine overlooks the city from St Kilda Road. It’s an important place for people to honour Australian war service and sacrifice, where they can:
- come together
- remember
- reflect
- pay tribute.
The Shrine of Remembrance has educated generations of Victorians on Australian war history, fostering:
- connection with the Anzac legend born on the beaches of Gallipoli in 1915
- values we associate with the original Anzacs.
The Shrine of Remembrance was not the only memorial erected by Victorians after World War One. Even before the end of the war, a war memorial movement was underway. Communities set up committees to create memorials to honour the service and sacrifice of their members. Memorials such as:
- cenotaphs
- obelisks
- statues
- planting Avenues of Honour
- creating memorial gardens.
We encourage responses that:
- explore under-recognised examples of Victoria’s Anzac history, such as:
- women and girls
- First Nations people
- LGBTIQA+ people
- people with a disability
- migrant and refugee communities
- use your lived experience to reflect on how our understanding of the Anzac spirit could expand to reflect Victoria’s diversity.
Topic tips
The following are some ideas on how to tackle this topic.
Choose your memorial:
- To research the Shrine of Remembrance, visit Shrine stories and resources shrine-stories-and-resources.
- To research a local community memorial, visit Places of Pride: National Register of War Memorials. The interactive map has more than 4,000 memorials in Victoria. You can search by:
- keyword
- postcode
- suburb
- town
- You could also choose an Australian memorial in Gallipoli, Türkiye, such as:
- Hill 60
- Chunuk Bair
- Lone Pine
- Cape Helles.
Remember that memorials can take many different forms.
While the Shrine of Remembrance is a building, many community memorials are:
- cenotaphs – often in the form of a tomb
- obelisks – tall, 4-sided single pillar that narrows as it rises and ends in a pyramid shape
- shrine building
- avenue of honour
- roll of honour
- memorial garden, such as the Garden of the Grieving Mother Ballarat
- statues
- hospitals
- libraries
- community halls
- lighthouses
- handcrafted memorials like quilts, paintings or others such as The 5,000 Poppies Project
- there’s even a horse trough!
In preparation
Consider and describe what ways Anzac values are represented in the:
- memorial you have chosen to explore
- people who came together to create it.
Use a range of primary and secondary sources in your bibliography. Make sure when you cite them they are correct. Sources can include:
- photographs
- maps
- artefacts
- diary entries
- books
- archival materials.
Ask yourself how you will gather the evidence to tell the story for:
- your chosen memorial
- the community who fashioned it.
In your response, explain the process you undertook when researching your memorial.
Choose a format for your submission
The topic can be tackled in a variety of ways. So get creative and play to your strengths!
For example, you may choose to write:
- an essay
- a poem
- a short story.
You might decide to create a:
- work of art
- video presentation
- music composition.
You might even build a:
See the Submission requirements for the full list of formats you can choose from.
Submission ideas
The following are some ideas you can use as a starting point for your submission. Once you have chosen and researched your memorial, you can:
- Interview the community leaders who were involved in the committees that built:
- the Shrine of Remembrance
- community memorials.
- Write or storyboard the history of your chosen memorial and its importance to the community that came together to create it.
- Create your own memorial garden in miniature.
- Go out into the community and make a video about: On its 90th anniversary, what does the Shrine of Remembrance mean to you?
You can also:
- Design a brief for a new memorial, including the:
- community’s reasons for building the memorial
- form it will take.
- Write a speech for the opening of a new memorial.
- Outline the plan for a funding campaign for a new memorial by a community.
- Commemorate people who are not included or identified on older memorials, such as:
- First Nations Australians
- women.
Here’s some background information on First Nations Australians who fought in our wars:
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people served in every conflict and commitment since Federation
- Few public memorials acknowledge their presence in Australia's armed forces.
- Learn more about Indigenous defence service Australian War Memorial
- The Aboriginal Memorial is an artwork held by the National Gallery of Australia:
- The memorial questions how Australia remembers lives lost in war.
- It was created in the lead up to the Australian Bicentenary in 1988.
- It’s a memorial to remember the First Nations people who died defending their land during Australia's colonial history.
Here’s some background information on women who took part in our wars:
- In World War One:
- only men could serve in combat roles
- women could only do nursing service.
- Women were incorporated into the services in the 1970s and early 1980s.
- Women could not apply for combat roles until 2014.
- The veteran community in Australia is mainly male. Community war memorials reflect this focus.
- Traditionally, the history and narratives of war have honoured men who represented and fought for their country.
- These stories often don’t recognise the enormous sacrifices that other people made during times of war:
- women
- gender-diverse people
- non-binary people.
- Whether it be through the:
- health workforce on the frontlines
- raising a family as a single parent
- working in traditionally male roles in farming or industry.
Submission requirements
The submission is your response to the topic question. You should provide it as an attached file.
Your submission can be in any of the following formats:
- an essay of between 1,000 and 1,500 words (word count does not include references or footnotes)
- a poem, short story, or another literary format of between 500 and 1,000 words
- an audio or video presentation (maximum 3 minutes)
- a musical composition (maximum 3 minutes), for example:
- a webpage (up to 3 webpages)
- an artwork, for example:
- painting
- drawing
- photograph
- digital art
- textile
- other art form.
Sources
You must include a bibliography that lists all the sources used in your research.
Good research uses a mix of primary and secondary sources.
Primary sources:
- provide first-hand information
- are usually created during your research time. They can include:
- photographs
- letters
- diaries
- interviews
- statistics
- music
- art.
Secondary sources:
- provide analysis and information, and can include:
- articles
- textbooks
- biographies
- credible websites.
To find help with primary and secondary history sources, including creating a bibliography, visit History skills.
Important note:
- Your submission must be your own work and be appropriate for all viewing ages.
- Your submission must not use:
- copyrighted images, audio and/or video
- AI generated content.
Statement of intent (for non-written entries)
If you submit a non-written entry, you must attach a statement of intent between 200 and 500 words.
The statement of intent is assessed with your submission and should include:
- how you conducted your research/exploration
- citing any sources you used for your conclusions on the topic.
Submission attachment requirements
You must attach your submission as a digital file no larger than 25MB.
Note:
- Submit written entries as a Word or PDF file.
- Digital submissions that are larger than the 25MB can be uploaded to a public website (such as YouTube) and the URL link provided in a PDF or Word document.
- Artworks must be attached digitally as downloadable image files. For example:
- Don’t attach images in a PDF or Word file. Please make sure the image is:
- clear
- in a high resolution, large file size.
- Naming convention for your files. Please include your name in the file names, for example:
- Ashley Doe SOAP submission 2024
- Ashley Doe Personal Statement 2024
- Ashley Doe Bibliography 2024
- Ashley Doe Statement of Intent 2024.
Please check that:
- your submission file/s can be opened and viewed
- the URL link to your submission is correct, accessible and not on a private account, for example your school account.
Personal statement
We require a personal statement of between 300 to 500 words.
Tell us why you are suitable to be selected for the Premier’s Spirit of Anzac Prize study tour in 2024.
If selected, you will:
- be an ambassador for the Premier’s Spirit of Anzac Prize
- share your experience with your school and the broader community.
When writing your personal statement, consider the following questions:
- What would it mean for you to be selected for the Premier’s Spirit of Anzac Prize study tour?
- What do you think you would gain or learn from this experience?
- Why would you like to travel on an international study tour?
- How might you share your experiences as a Premier’s Spirit of Anzac Prize ambassador?
- Do you have a passion for history?
- Do you enjoy learning about Australia’s wartime or peacekeeping history?
- Who are you? Tell us a bit about yourself:
- are you connected with veterans in your family or community?
- do you contribute to your school and/or broader community?
- Tell us about activities like:
- volunteering
- mentoring
- scouts
- caring responsibilities
- cadets
- community service.