The remains of Australian and British soldiers who are buried in mass graves following the battle of Fromelles will be exhumed and buried with full military honours.
Planning for the recovery will begin immediately, with the war-dead to be re-interred with individual headstones.
The Battle of Fromelles was the first action Australian soldiers saw on the Western Front in World War I but 5,533 diggers were killed, wounded or taken prisoner in a disastrous failure.
"This was the single-most terrible 24 hours in the nation's history," Victorian government historian and veterans heritage officer Garrie Hutchison told reporters at the Shrine of Remembrance today.
"It is also one of the most important chapters and we need to remember and find the soldiers and bury them with the honour they deserve."
Federal Defence Minister Warren Snowdon said today the decision, made in conjunction with his British counterpart, meant the heroism of the soldiers would be properly acknowledged.
"The Australian and British governments have agreed that individual military burial is the most fitting way to commemorate our brave soldiers and will ensure the heroism they showed in the terrible battle of Fromelles will be remembered and revered," Mr Snowden said.
The site of the mass grave in Pheasant Wood, near Fromelles, was confirmed by a research team in May this year.
It is believed to contain the remains of some 170 Australians as well as those of British soldiers.
