Back from Terendak military cemetery

FACTS ABOUT THE REPATRIATION OF AUSSIE SERVICEMEN AND CIVILIANS FROM MALAYSIA

* Terendak Military Cemetery is located at Terendak on the west coast of Malaysia, about 21km north of Malacca city

* 24 Australian and some New Zealand casualties from the Vietnam War were flown to Terendak and buried there

* Before 1966, bodies were repatriated to Australia only if families paid 500 pounds - $16,000 in today's money - or unless the government decided to pay for it

* From January 1966, as a result of a decision by parliament, all soldiers killed in action or who died as a result of wounds would be repatriated at public expense

* The new policy did not cover bodies already buried overseas

* The Vietnam Veterans Association has been leading the campaign to have bodies interred at Terendak repatriated to Australia

* The federal government in 2013 refused a request for the repatriation of Corporal Reg Hillier MID from Terendak to Darwin because it would set a precedent

* In 2015 Veterans Affairs Minister Michael Ronaldson announced a full and thorough investigation of the issues surrounding repatriation

* Prime Minister Tony Abbott in May 2015 told parliament the government will pay for the repatriation of the bodies

* 32 servicemen and civilians buried in Malaysia's Terendak Military Cemetery, and the first Australian to die in the Vietnam War, who was buried in Singapore's Kranji Cemetery, make the journey back to Australia in May 2016

AAP rl/jca/glg