The Frank MacDonald Memorial Prize is an essay-based competition open to all year nine students to help promote and preserve the meaning of the ANZAC spirit in the Tasmanian community.
Each year, six student competition winners and two teachers participate in a study tour of the Western Front in Belgium and France.
The trip provides an opportunity for young Tasmanians to link with veterans and gain a greater understanding of Tasmanian and Australian war history and the role of Tasmanians in World War I and other wars and conflicts.
Prior to the trip, all group members undertake research into the life and experience of a Tasmanian soldier who fought on the Western Front during World War I. As a pilgrimage, each member visits the grave or a place significant to the soldier’s personal story.
Awarded annually since 2004, the Memorial Prize is named after Tasmania's last World War 1 veteran, Frank MacDonald, who died in August 2003 at the age of 107.
The Frank MacDonald Memorial Prize is an initiative of the Tasmanian Government, and is supported by RSL Tasmania.
The prize winners are accompanied by a Parliamentary representative, a member of the Returned Services League (RSL) Tasmania, and a Tasmanian Government tour leader.
Winners are selected from around Tasmania, with successful students and teachers to be publicly announced at a presentation ceremony in October 2018.
The Tasmanian Government encourages all interested year nine students and teachers to apply for this wonderful opportunity. Entries are currently open, with final submissions due by Friday 24 August 2018.
Further information and application forms are available from www.communities.tas.gov.au