Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service.[2] It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Government. Before the establishment of the order, Australian citizens received British honours.
For the horse, see Order of Australia (horse).
Order of Australia
All living Australian citizens
Achievement and merit in service to Australia or humanity
Currently constituted
- Companion (AC)
- Officer (AO)
- Member (AM)
- Medal (OAM)
Awarded in:- General Division
- Military Division
- As an Honorary award
Knight/Dame (AK/AD)[note 1]
14 April 1975
- AK – 15
- AD – 4
- AC (Civil) – 571
- AC (Mil.) – 26
- AO (Civil) – 3,144
- AO (Mil.) – 292
- AM (Civil) – 11,310
- AM (Mil.) – 1,344
- OAM (Civil) – 28,208
- OAM (Mil.) – 1,394[1]
The Monarch of Australia is sovereign head of the order,[2][3] while the Governor-General of Australia is the principal companion/dame/knight (as relevant at the time) and chancellor of the order. The governor-general's official secretary, Paul Singer (appointed August 2018), is secretary of the order. Appointments are made by the governor-general on behalf of the Monarch of Australia, based on recommendations made by the Council of the Order of Australia. Recent knighthoods and damehoods were recommended to the governor-general by the Prime Minister of Australia.
Membership[edit]
The order currently consists of four levels (one discontinued) and the medal, in both general and military divisions. Since 2015, the knight/dame level has been discontinued on the advice of then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull. Awards of knight and dame of the order have been made in the general division only.[note 3]
While state governors can present the officer and member level and the Medal of the Order of Australia to their respective state's residents, only the King of Australia or the governor-general can present the companion level (and previously also the knight/dame level).[8]
Nomination and appointment[edit]
Since 1976 any Australian citizen may nominate any person for an Order of Australia award. People who are not Australian citizens may be awarded honorary membership of the order at all levels. Nomination forms are submitted to the Director, Honours Secretariat, a position within the Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General of Australia, at Government House, Canberra,[12][13] which are then forwarded to the Council for the Order of Australia.[6] The prime minister of the day appoints the Council chair and seven "community representatives", while each state and territory appoints its representative and there are other ex officio members. The Council chair as of January 2023 is Shelley Reys.[14]
The Council makes recommendations to the governor-general.[6] Awards are announced on Australia Day and on the King's Birthday public holiday in June, on the occasion of a special announcement by the governor-general (usually honorary awards), and on the appointment of a new governor-general. The governor-general presents the order's insignia to new appointees.[6]
Appointments to the order are not made posthumously; however, if a nominee dies after accepting an appointment but before the relevant announcement date, the appointment stands and it is announced as having effect from no later than the date of the nominee's death. Awardees may subsequently resign from the order, and the Council may advise the governor-general to remove an individual from the order, who may cancel an award.[note 4] [15][16]
Announcements of all awards, cancellations and resignations appear in the Commonwealth Gazette. People awarded honours have the option of not having the information appear on the "It's an Honour" website.[17] Nomination forms are confidential and not covered by the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth).[18] The reasoning behind a nomination being successful or unsuccessful—and even the attendees of the meetings where such nominations are discussed—remains confidential.[19]
History[edit]
Establishment[edit]
The Order of Australia was established on 14 February 1975 by letters patent of Queen Elizabeth II of Australia, the Australian monarch, and countersigned by the Prime Minister of Australia, Gough Whitlam. The original order had three levels: Companion (AC), Officer (AO) and Member (AM) as well as two divisions: Civil Division and Military Division. At the time it was also announced that Australian prime ministers would no longer nominate persons for British Imperial honours, but this new practice did not extend to nominations by state premiers. According to the governor general's then-secretary Sir David Smith, Whitlam was furious when he first saw Devlin's design for the insignia of the order, due to the inclusion of a representation of the states (with whom Whitlam's government was constantly in dispute) through the state badges within the Commonwealth Coat of Arms.[20]
On 24 May 1976, the level of Knight (AK) and Dame (AD) and the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), were created by the Queen on the advice of Whitlam's successor, Malcolm Fraser, and the Civil Division was renamed the General Division. The level of Knight/Dame was awarded only in the General Division.
The original three-level structure of the Order of Australia was modelled closely upon the Order of Canada,[21][22] though the Order of Australia has been awarded rather more liberally, especially in regard to honorary awards to non-citizens. To date, only 24 non-Canadians have been appointed to the Order of Canada, while more than 420 non-Australians have been appointed to the Order of Australia, with 40 to the "Companion" level.
Yvonne Kenny AM represented the Order at the 2023 Coronation.[23]
References in popular culture[edit]
The award is parodied in the play Amigos, where the central character is determined to be awarded the AC, and uses persuasion, bribery and blackmail in his (ultimately successful) attempts to get himself nominated for the award.[44]
During the 1996 season of the popular television programme Home and Away, the character Pippa Ross was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for her years of service as a foster carer.