On Friday, ACT Health announced that it had granted a coronavirus exemption for the memorial, allowing 4200 people at the dawn service, 3000 people at the national ceremony, and up to 120 people at last post ceremonies, dependent on weather.

Australian War Memorial director Matt Anderson said the memorial would prioritise tickets for veterans and their families.

The memorial will offer tickets to the national ceremony to Friends of the Memorial, the ex-service community and veteran marches before public release.

Both events will be on the parade ground of the memorial, with the site enclosed for ticket-holder access only.

Mr Anderson said contingency plans would be in place for veterans who turned up on the day without their tickets for dawn service or national ceremony.

However, he stressed people should seek alternative ways to commemorate the day if they missed out on a ticket.

He suggested viewing projections on the memorial on April 23 and 24, attending last post ceremonies, watching the dawn service and national ceremony online, or visiting the memorial.

While 4200 people is a far cry from the crowds of pre-COVID dawn services, Mr Anderson said he was pleased the memorial would be able to welcome thousands of people.

During the peak of COVID-19 lockdown, the 2020 Anzac Day dawn service was particularly sombre without members of the public in attendance.

ACT RSL president John King said while this year's event perhaps wouldn't be the same as pre-coronavirus services, he was optimistic that it would be a welcome improvement.

"[In 2020] there was a lot of disappointment, naturally," he said.

"An ex-serving member's attitude is 'nothing should stop a march'.

"In reality, there was a health situation, and the decisions were made based on that. We have to respect that."

Mr King said the online booking was "probably the fairest way to do it".

"Although a lot of veterans do not have access to the internet because they don't understand computers, [they] generally pop down to the library, and the librarians help them with it," he said.

Mr King said he presumed ex-service organisations would assist veterans in booking tickets.

"All the ex-service organisations will contact their members whether it's a letterbox drop or a phone call," he said.

"These days, a lot of phone calls are made by organisations to check up on members.

"They could probably [book tickets] for them. That's how I would operate at the RSL."

From 10am on March 22, members of the public will be able to book free tickets from the memorial's website. Attendees will be able to scan tickets on their smartphones or other mobile devices on Anzac Day, or they can print them off before the event.

Anzac Day 2021 will mark the 106th anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli.

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