National memorial service for MH17 victims

A national memorial service will be held in Canberra in July to mark the first anniversary of the downing of flight MH17 over Ukraine.

A permanent memorial will be created in the House of Representatives garden alongside the victims of the Bali bombings, Prime Minister Tony Abbott told parliament on Monday.

"We took the families of flight MH17 into our hearts a year ago and I hope that this service might help to sustain them as they face this very, very difficult anniversary," he said.

MH17 was shot down over Ukraine on July 17.