ANZAC Day speech template (Australia)
Published 10 October 2026 · Date checked on 5 October 2026 · Written by the Cue Card Converter team at EventProgrammer, event production professionals
Anzac Day, on 25 April, marks the anniversary of the landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps at Gallipoli in 1915, during the First World War. It has become a national day of remembrance for all Australians who have served and died in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations. Dawn services are held across the country, recalling the dawn landing, followed by marches through city and town streets. Many people wear a sprig of rosemary, and the Ode of Remembrance is recited.
- Date
- April 25
- Next dates
- Sunday 25 April 2027
Tuesday 25 April 2028
Wednesday 25 April 2029 - Country
- Australia
- Tone
- Solemn – remembrance
- Typical events
- Dawn services at war memorials and cenotaphs, RSL sub-branch commemorations, school assemblies, community marches, workplace observances and services held by Australian missions overseas.
- Length
- 206 spoken words · about 1.5 min at 130 words a minute · 5 cue cards
The ANZAC Day speech, ready as cue cards
A complete host script in 5 cards, about 1.5 minutes of speaking. Open it in the editor to add your names, change the card size or highlights, and print.
- WELCOME1 / 5
Good morning, and welcome to this dawn service at {Memorial name}. I'm {Your name} from {RSL sub-branch or organisation}. I acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of this land and pay my respects to their Elders, and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have served. - WHY WE GATHER AT DAWN2 / 5
At dawn on 25 April 1915, soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed at Gallipoli. The campaign went on for months and cost many lives on all sides. This morning we remember them, and every Australian who has served and died in war, conflict and peacekeeping operations since. - THE ODE AND THE SILENCE3 / 5
Please stand. I invite {Reader's name and title} to recite the Ode of Remembrance. The Last Post will follow, then one minute's silence, and the Rouse. Please remain standing throughout.
[THE ODE – LAST POST – ONE MINUTE'S SILENCE – ROUSE] - LAYING OF WREATHS4 / 5
Wreaths will now be laid in memory of all who have served. I invite representatives to come forward as their organisation is called.
[WREATH LAYING]
Please remain standing for the national anthem.
[NATIONAL ANTHEM]
Thank you. You may be seated. - CLOSING5 / 5
This concludes our dawn service. Thank you for rising so early to stand together before sunrise, and for keeping the memory of those who served alive. Breakfast is served in the hall, and the march will assemble later this morning. Lest we forget.
Red is used only for names, titles, organisations, dates, times and section headings. Replace the words in {curly brackets} with your own details; lines in [SQUARE BRACKETS] are stage directions and are not read aloud.
How to adapt it
- Dawn services begin before sunrise. Check this year's sunrise time, test lighting and sound in the dark, and print your cue cards in large type so they can be read by torchlight.
- Wearing a sprig of rosemary is an Anzac Day tradition, as rosemary grows wild on the Gallipoli peninsula. Veterans wear their own medals on the left breast, and relatives wear medals on the right.
- After the Ode, the audience traditionally responds with the words Lest we forget. Brief your reader, and give them the Ode on a card of its own.
- Keep the service focused on remembrance rather than on glory. Many services also acknowledge the losses suffered by every nation involved in the Gallipoli campaign.
Print and rehearse
“Edit and print these cards” opens the script in the free cue card maker, where you can choose A5, 4 × 6 or 3 × 5 inch cards, print several per sheet with cut lines or export PDF, PowerPoint and Word, and rehearse full screen in practice mode. To write your own programme around it, see how to write an MC script and the run of show template.
Sources
Date and background checked on 5 October 2026 against: The Anzac Day Tradition | Australian War Memorial. Customs vary between organisations and regions; always follow the official programme of your event.
More Australia speech templates
- Australia Day · January 26