In Australia, the Australian War Memorial is the main sponsor of official war artists. For most of the 20th Century, it has dispatched artists to accompany Australian Defence Force personnel into operational areas. The first official war artist was arguably Will Dyson who in 1916 went to France at his own cost to be with the soldiers in the front line. Not only was he wounded twice, he did so without payment for the better part of two years. After his service, the Official War Artist scheme in Australia became more organised and a number of other artists were commissioned to undertake the same duties including such luminaries as Arthur Streeton and George Lambert.

However, the individual services - the Army, Navy and Air Force - also had artists from within their ranks, some of whom were made official war artists. Ivor Hele was a Private in the 2nd Australian Imperial Force sent to the Middle East at the outbreak of World War Two. General Thomas Blamey summoned him to his headquarters in Cairo and told him to '... get out there and paint this bloody war!' The newly commissioned Captain Hele spent the rest of the war as an Official War Artist.

Ivor Hele also recorded Australian military activities in Korea but after his duties ended, the individual services no longer tasked their own personnel to be Official War Artists. However, in 2006, this was to change.

The Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Leahy, AO, requested Captain Conway Bown (see picture above) undertake the task of becoming the Army's Official War Artist and so in 2006, he was deployed to Iraq to commence recording ADF activities as part of Operation FALCONER.

Whilst in Iraq, he travelled with Australian troops within Baghdad and to the south of the country including the Security Detachment, 2/14 LHR QMI, 2 CAV REGT, 3 RAR, 5/7 RAR and AATT-I. He sketched and painted and photographed the men and women there and upon return to Australia began creating the major artworks requested of the Chief of Army.