He watched as a staff member brought out a lectern and read out the origins of the Last Post, before a bugler stepped out and played the piece.

The following night was much the same, although the music this time was the Lament.

Dr Nelson found the ceremony - and its inconsistency - wanting.

This, after all, is a man who, as Australia's ambassador to NATO and the European Union, travelled to the Menin Gate at Ypres to hear the nightly rendition of the Last Post no fewer than 73 times.

''The city of Ypres is 25,000 people. At 8pm every single night since 1927, they've turned up and played the Last Post. Now I've thought to myself, if they can do that in the city of Ypres, why on earth can't we do this at the Australian War Memorial in the nation's capital, our nation's monument to the sacrifice of men and women over more than a century?''

Dr Nelson has since been planning a vastly more elaborate closing ceremony, one that will involve not just the Last Post, but the national anthem, a reciting of the Ode of Remembrance, a reminder of the vision of Charles Bean when he originally conceived of the memorial, and the laying of a wreath.

There will also be a uniformed member of the Defence Force present each night, who will read a short account of the life and death of one of the 102,700 men and women named on the roll of honour.

The Lament will then be played by a piper, and a photograph of the person whose life is being honoured will be set up on an easel, along with the Australian flag.

This set of events - lasting, Dr Nelson says, around 15 minutes on an ordinary day, longer if there are VIPs present or if it is a special anniversary - will occur at 5pm every day. Or at least for the next 275 years, which is how long it will take to get through every name on the roll.

''We owe it not only to those whom we honour, but we owe it to ourselves to do more that gives meaning to the memorial,'' he said.