During the First World War many nations established government sanctioned war art schemes to commemorate and celebrate their experience in the conflict. Australia was no exception and an art scheme was founded 1917. Yet, the scheme was run by civil servants and military officers and as a result focused exclusively on commissioning paintings of Australia’s military exploits in France and the Middle East. This was despite the concerted efforts from leading figures in the art community in Australia to establish a connected or similar art programme on the home front. Consequently, Australia’s official art collection neglected the war at home, presenting a narrow view of the nation’s wartime experience. This paper examines the various proposals generated and supported by patrons and artists at home for a scheme that captured the war experience at home and the reasons they were overlooked. In doing so, it will explore the contested nature of Australia’s memory of the First World War and the politics at play in the commemoration of the war in art.