Australian War Memorial to Display Redacted Brereton Report on Afghanistan

The Australian War Memorial in Canberra will display a redacted version of the Brereton Report in a new Afghanistan Gallery scheduled to open in June. The exhibit will be part of a broader redevelopment of the memorial and aims to contextualize the findings within Australia’s two-decade military engagement in Afghanistan.

The 2020 Brereton Report documented credible evidence that Australian special forces unlawfully killed 39 Afghan civilians and detainees across 23 incidents during the conflict. The exhibition announcement comes amid ongoing legal proceedings involving former special forces soldier Ben Roberts-Smith, who faces multiple war crime charges related to the conflict. Roberts-Smith has denied the allegations and was recently released on bail.

Memorial officials stated that the gallery is intended to present a complete and realistic narrative of the military campaign, balancing accountability for alleged violations with the commemoration of broader service. According to Afghan victim advocacy groups, families of those killed continue to call for formal justice and compensation. Military analyst Asadullah Nadim described the planned exhibition as a symbolic cultural display that challenges the counter-terrorism objectives originally cited for the foreign military presence. The display will also include materials referencing international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions.