War still casts long shadow, says Abbott

Tony Abbott hopes millions of Australians will visit a travelling exhibition to commemorate the Anzac centenary.

The prime minister on Wednesday launched the Spirit of Anzac Centenary Experience, which will travel to 23 locations around the country over two years.

Starting in Albury-Wodonga in September, it will finish in Sydney in April 2017.

The exhibition will not only tell the story of Australia's involvement in World War I, but the country's involvement in all conflicts during the past century.

Mr Abbott described the exhibition as the flagship community event of the centenary commemorations.

It would help Australia become a nation "not just of memorials, but of memory too", he said.

"Even though it's a hundred years ago the great war still casts a long shadow," he told the launch at Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

"It's my hope that hundreds of thousands, indeed millions of Australians, will be able to participate in this centenary experience."

WHERE THE EXHIBITION WILL TRAVEL

* Sep 2015 - Albury-Wodonga

* Sep-Oct 2015 - Launceston

* Oct 2015 - Hobart

* Nov 2015 - Ballarat

* Nov-Dec 2015 - Bendigo

* Jan 2016 - Wollongong

* Feb 2016 - Melbourne

* Mar 2016 - Adelaide

* Apr-May 2016 - Tamworth

* May 2016 - Toowoomba

* Jun 2016 - Brisbane

* Jul 2016 - Mackay

* Aug 2016 - Cairns

* Sep 2016 - Townsville

* Oct 2016 - Darwin

* Nov 2016 - Port Augusta

* Nov-Dec 2016 - Perth

* Jan 2017 - Bunbury

* Jan-Feb 2017 - Kalgoorlie

* Feb 2017 - Geelong

* Mar 2017 - Orange

* Mar 2017 - Newcastle

* Apr 2017 Sydney