Dominique; 3,629 Australian casualties overall during Vietnam involvement, including 426 battle-related deaths, seemed like war-fighting to me.
The Australian Veterans' Entitlement Act 1986 embraces these provisions. For conflicts after WW2, qualifying service (for benefits) is either allotment to and service in an area described in Schedule 2 of the VEA, during the specific period, or force assigned and service in an area determined to be warlike. A written Instrument by the Minister for Defence determines warlike service and a bunch of these were created retrospectively in recent years to formalize veteran entitlements for conflicts in which Australia became involved wherein war was never formally declared.
The terms Korean War, Vietnam War, Falklands War, Gulf War, War in Iraq, War in Afghanistan, War on Terror do not necessarily relate to formal declarations of war although there may be statutory requirements for some of the nations involved.
Last edited by Bushranger 71; 13th Jul 2010 at 22:15.