Hay War Memorial High School (abbreviated as HWMHS) is a public co-educational secondary day school, located on Pine Street in central Hay, a town located in the western Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia.

[1] The provision of secondary education in the town of Hay was limited prior to the establishment of the high school.

[2] In early 1917, the citizens of the town lobbied the NSW Government for the establishment of a separate high school, and a deputation led by the local state member of parliament for Murray, Robert Scobie, met with the Minister of Public Instruction, Augustus James, who committed to investigate the establishment of a high school in the town.

[3][4] The establishment of a public high school in Hay was formally announced in the Government Gazette on 8 October 1917.

At a meeting held on 19 September 1919, a formal committee investigating proposals agreed upon the construction of a purpose-built memorial high school, with an estimated cost of between £6,000 and £8,000 and a commitment from the Department of Education to meet half the cost, if the town was able to raise the remaining half.

[29] The completed building included trachyte slabs as rolls of honour for the war memorial, installed on the façade.

"[31] On 20 May 1926, the school was visited by the Governor-General of Australia, Lord Stonehaven, who declared that it was the "finest war memorial in the British Empire".