Governor-General Quentin Bryce also appointed former Office of War Graves director and Vietnam veteran Major General Paul Stevens AO to the council, while thanking journalist Les Carlyon for his six-year term, which will end soon.

Veterans' Affairs Minister Warren Snowdon said Dr Hawke, a past Australian National University chancellor and high commissioner to New Zealand, brought “considerable public administration experience to the council”.

“He was previously president of the Repatriation Commission as well as a former secretary of the department of veterans' affairs," Mr Snowdon said in a statement.

"Appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours List, Dr Hawke now serves on a range of public and private sector boards. Until recently, he was the chair of the Prime Ministerial Advisory Council on Ex-Service Matters.”

FitzSimons is a former Australian rugby union player and a columnist for Fairfax. He has written several books, including on Kokoda, Tobruk and Nancy Wake.

Major General Stevens spent 33 years in the military, including a tour in the Vietnam War and culminating as Army's chief of the personnel from 1993 to 1997. He was previously repatriation commissioner and director of the Office of Australian War Graves. He was recently appointed chairman of the Ceremonial and Commemorative Working Group of the Anzac Centenary Advisory Board.