The branch was initially a stand-alone agency, formed 1 January 1975.
In 1980, the War Graves Act 1980 (Cth) formalised the position of Director War Graves within the Department of Veterans' Affairs.
[1] The OAWG acts as Australian agent for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
[1] The responsibilities of the OAWG generally fall within the following five areas.
[2] The OAWG is also responsible for the maintenance of some 20,000 graves of Commonwealth war dead in 76 war cemeteries & plots and in numerous civil cemeteries, as well as Memorials to the Missing listing over 3,000 names throughout Australia, Norfolk Island, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.