The minute's silence at 11am marked the 106th anniversary of the signing of the peace agreement that ended the Great War in Europe, where more than 60,000 Australians died.
Governor-General Sam Mostyn commemorated Remembrance Day, also known as Armistice Day, by remembering the more than 100,000 Australians who lost their lives in WWI and ensuring conflicts.
"Each year, we tender our tribute anew to the generations of servicemen and women who have died or suffered for Australia in conflicts far from home," she said at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra on Monday.
"And so it is, our Remembrance Days are born of all the days of commemoration that have gone before."
Vietnam veteran Richard Norden was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross - Australia's highest military honour - for putting his life on the line to save a wounded commander when his platoon came under heavy fire in 1968.
Announcing the award, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the 19-year-old private from Gundagai in regional NSW showed extraordinary courage.
The governor-general, prime minister, veterans and their representatives, Australian Defence Force chief, politicians and high court chief justice laid wreaths at the stone of remembrance.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese laid a wreath during the Remembrance Day National Ceremony. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)
Australians who gave their lives had done so to make a difference in the world, Mr Albanese said as he thanked all veterans.
"From trench to desert to jungle to sea, every place they stood and every place they fell is mapped out in our hearts in an atlas of loss and sacrifice," he said.
We remember every name, every face, every future lost and every future changed forever."
Australia remembers the fallen "so we don't forget who we are", Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said.
Red poppies mark the armistice as the small flower began to bloom on blood-soaked battlefields across Europe after years of unprecedented slaughter.
Ahead of the silence, a member of the Catafalque party took their place at the Stone of Remembrance. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)
"Those poppies became a symbol of sacrifice and hope, we still cherish them as our flower of remembrance," Defence Minister Richard Marles said.
Melbourne's commemoration took on extra significance, marking the 90th anniversary of the Shrine of Remembrance.
The Shrine was originally opened in 1934 and illuminated on Monday to read the word 'love' at 11am - the exact moment the Armistice was signed.
"As we mark the Shrine's 90th anniversary, we are reminded the values of courage, sacrifice, and service are as relevant now as they were nearly a century ago," Shrine CEO Dean Lee said.
"In a time when global events call for reflection on peace, security, and shared humanity, the Shrine's role in fostering remembrance has never been more vital."
The Opera House in Sydney was illuminated with images of poppies at dawn ahead of a service at the Martin Place Cenotaph.
The Sydney Opera House shone with projections of poppies at dawn on Monday. (Steve Markham/AAP PHOTOS)
RSL Queensland said more than 140 events would take place at sub-branches state-wide, the largest number of services it has seen in three years, while it's official service was held at Brisbane's ANZAC Square.
RSL WA called for DNA donations to try and help identify unnamed fallen soldiers from a battalion that took part in one of World War I's most devastating battles.
The 32nd Battalion fought in July 1916 and 718 soldiers were wounded or killed, but more than 70 bodies found in a mass grave in France in 2008 are yet to be identified.
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