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April 24, 2026
Young Australians believe a world war will happen in the next five years but many refuse to make personal sacrifices to protect the nation.
A survey on attitudes towards Anzac Day, conducted exclusively for the Herald Sun, reveals a disturbing trend among Gen Z.
More young people will attend boozy two-up events on Anzac Day compared with sombre dawn services to remember the sacrifices of Australian soldiers.
As many as three quarters of Gen Z aged 14 to 29 say they think a world war is imminent, but 26 per cent would refuse to get involved if Australia was under serious threat.
That figure has grown dramatically since last year, when 16 per cent of Gen Z said they were unwilling to make any personal sacrifices to protect Australia. It contrasts with the 16 per cent of Gen X and 7 per cent of Baby Boomers who say the same thing.
Gen Zers also trashed Australia's longstanding alliance with the US, with almost two thirds saying we should not follow America into a war.
One in 10 young people also think Australia should spend less on defence while 79 per cent of Boomers who were born in the years after World War II say we should be spending more.
However, there was also a surprising amount of support for compulsory national service, with 49 per cent saying young adults should spend at least a year in defence or civil service roles.
The responses to the Growth Intelligence Centre survey of 1292 people conducted in April against the backdrop of the Iran war have raised the alarm about how school students are taught about the defence of Australia.
Federal Liberal defence spokesman James Paterson said Anzac Day was Australia's most sacred day.
"One of the best parts about it is the school kids who attend to lay a wreath on behalf of their school," Senator Paterson said.
"But we must do a better job of educating future generations about the service and sacrifice of all our ADF personnel and how it has secured modern Australia."
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said she was "not surprised at most young people being unwilling to serve if we were at war".
"They're taught everything about Australia that is negative," she said.
RSL national president Peter Tinley said Anzac Day remained an important date on the calendar and dismissed suggestions younger people lacked patriotism.
He said the RSL's motto"the price of liberty is vigilance" remained as important today as when it was first announced in 1923, and he still had confidence in the next generation of Australians to observe a "quiet patriotism".
Mr Tinley, a former SASR member who lives in Perth, said: "I remember Anzac Day marches in the 1970s when you could shoot a cannon down St Georges Terrace (in Perth) and not hit anyone; now they're 10 deep on Anzac Day."
He feels buoyed by the young people he meets.
"They have got a different view of the world, they are very questioning and some people aren't used to being questioned, but I don't think it's a bad thing," he said.
Mr Tinley said he was also confident in the young people in Australia's military.
"They're a tremendous group; I look at people who graduate from Duntroon and Kapooka, we're in tremendous shape," he said.
"Our people have always been the difference. My grandad went up the Kokoda Track, it was the quality of people that fought that war, not the technology, and it will always be the same the quality of the people matters.
"That's why we outperform a lot of other defence forces."
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said despite the responses to questions about young people's attitudes that Australians on Anzac Day would "pause to honour, acknowledge and commemorate those who have served in times of war, conflict, peace and humanitarian operations".
"The Anzac spirit embodies the camaraderie and mateship that define what it is to be Australian, and every day the 59,000 Australians who wear our nation's uniform bring that spirit to bear," he said.
More than 75,000 people applied to join the ADF in the 2025 financial year the most in five years.
Retention is also higher than the 10-year average.