Australia is marking Legacy Week, the annual national campaign dedicated to supporting the families of veterans who lost their lives or their health in service. From 22 August to 5 September, volunteers across the country are raising funds, selling the traditional Legacy badges and reminding Australians of a promise first made more than a century ago.
Some organisations are created by statutes and committees. Others are born from a promise.
Legacy Australia belongs to the latter.
Its story began in 1923, in the difficult years following the First World War, when thousands of Australian families were living with the consequences of conflict. Many servicemen had never returned home, while others came back carrying serious physical or psychological injuries that affected their ability to support their families.
From that reality emerged a simple but powerful principle: to look after the families of those who had given their lives or their health in service to Australia.
More than 100 years later, that promise remains at the heart of Legacy.
This week, that mission is once again being brought into public focus through Legacy Week 2026, running nationally from 22 August to 5 September. The annual campaign mobilises hundreds of volunteers across Australia to sell Legacy badges, organise fundraising initiatives and collect donations for veterans’ families. Legacy says its traditional badges have been sold since the 1940s and have become a symbol of Australian values including mateship, compassion and fairness.
Legacy Week launched in Canberra
The national launch of Legacy Week 2026 took place on 31 August at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, bringing together veterans, families, Legacy representatives and senior national figures.
The ceremony was attended by the Governor-General of Australia, alongside former Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove, senior Defence representatives, parliamentarians, veterans and Legatees.
Australian War Memorial Director Matt Anderson described Legacy as an organisation born not from government policy, but from a promise made between servicemen: to care for the families of those who had given their lives or their health for the country.
The Memorial said Legacy now coordinates more than 3,100 volunteer Legatees and supports more than 25,000 individuals and families across Australia.
From the Great War to a national institution
The origins of Legacy can be traced to the challenges faced by Australian servicemen returning from the First World War.
In 1923, Major-General Sir John Gellibrand established the Remembrance Club in Hobart, initially aimed at helping returned servicemen rebuild their lives.
Later that year, the movement developed in Melbourne and gradually shifted its attention towards the widows and children of men who had died or whose health had been seriously damaged by military service.
It was an important evolution. Legacy was never intended simply as a charity distributing money. Its ambition was broader: to provide families with the stability, guidance and human connection that could disappear following the death or incapacity of a parent or partner.
A small badge with a big impact
During Legacy Week, one of the most visible ways Australians can support the organisation is by purchasing the familiar Legacy badge.
Volunteers are operating at fundraising sites around the country between 22 August and 5 September, while supporters can also organise their own fundraising events or donate directly to Legacy.
The organisation has summed up the campaign in a simple message: a badge may be small, but its impact can be significant.
Money raised helps fund educational assistance, wellbeing programs, social support, emergency assistance and activities for children and families of veterans. Legacy’s current Legacy Week appeal places particular emphasis on ensuring that children of veterans feel supported and connected, including through education and wellbeing initiatives.
Events and commemorations around Australia
The Canberra ceremony is the principal national event, but Legacy Week is designed as a nationwide community campaign rather than a single central celebration.
Across Australia, local Legacy clubs and volunteers are running badge-selling locations, fundraising activities and community initiatives throughout the week. Legacy is inviting Australians to register as volunteers at local sites and take part directly in the campaign.
In Canberra, the Australian War Memorial also continues its daily Last Post Ceremony at 4.30pm, commemorating an individual listed on the Roll of Honour. While not exclusively a Legacy Week event, the ceremony reflects the same culture of remembrance and recognition of military service that underpins Legacy’s work.
The significance of this year’s launch was particularly strong because the Memorial itself described Legacy Week as a moment when Australians stand not only with those who have served, but also with the families who have lived with the consequences of that service.
The Legatees: the human face of Legacy
One of Legacy’s most distinctive traditions is represented by its volunteers, known as Legatees.
For generations, Legatees have maintained direct relationships with the families supported by the organisation.
This personal connection reflects one of Legacy’s founding principles: helping a family means more than providing financial assistance. It means being present.
That philosophy has allowed Legacy to remain relevant for more than a century.
Australia has changed enormously since 1923. The nature of warfare has changed, the Australian Defence Force has changed and Australian society itself has changed.
Yet the consequences of military service can still extend far beyond the individual wearing the uniform.
They reach partners, children and entire families.
More than 100 years of keeping a promise
Legacy marked its centenary in 2023, but its work continues well beyond anniversaries and commemorative ceremonies.
Its importance can perhaps be measured more accurately through the thousands of families who, during some of the most difficult periods of their lives, discovered they had not been forgotten.
That is why Legacy Week remains more than an annual fundraising campaign.
It is a reminder of an obligation Australia first embraced after the devastation of the Great War: those who serve the country do not serve alone, and their families should not carry the consequences alone either.
The original promise was simple.
More than a century later, Legacy Australia is still keeping it.
