Veterans who want to take part in this year’s Anzac Day march in Sydney will be required to register their attendance via the RSL NSW website, with permitted numbers now doubled for the popular event.
Ten thousand people will be allowed to take part in the veterans’ march in central Sydney, after the NSW Government granted the event an exemption from COVID-19 restrictions.
The march along Elizabeth Street starts at Martin Place and ends at the ANZAC memorial at Hyde Park.
The march through Sydney’s CBD had previously been capped at 5000 after RSL NSW reached an agreement with the state government and police to increase the attendee numbers.
The changes will allow 10,000 participants to march through Sydney’s CBD in front of spectators and up to 5,000 people to attend marches and dawn services in NSW – an increase of 2,000 for regional events.
RSL NSW President, Ray James said that veteran and descendent associations were in the process of registering their attendance at the Sydney CBD March where contact tracing check-in and social distancing measures will be implemented.
“Throughout a challenging and evolving event-planning process that started in September last year, RSL NSW has worked closely with the NSW Government to offer a range of COVID-safe options to commemorate ANZAC Day across the State,” Mr James said.
“There’s more than one way to commemorate including attending a local service, rallying neighbours to ‘light up the dawn’ at 6am, or watching the ABC broadcast of the major services across Australia”.
Following nationwide success last year, the RSL is encouraging people to rally their neighbours to commemorate safely and ‘Light up the Dawn’ from their driveways, balconies, or loungerooms to pay their respects to veterans.
“ANZAC Day commemorations are solemn, dignified events held in open environments around war memorials, not in football stadiums,” Mr James said.
“I want to reassure people that if they don’t feel safe to attend an unseated public event, that they can support veterans by lighting up the dawn from home and donating to the ANZAC Appeal.”
Free spectator tickets for the Dawn Service in Martin Place will be available to the general public on the RSL NSW website from 12 April. A list of ANZAC Day commemorations in NSW communities is available on the RSL NSW website.
