Orders, decorations, and medals of Australia

The Australian Honours System was created in 1975.

History

The Commonwealth of Australia, until 1975, used the Imperial or British honours system. Only a handful of peerages were created for Australians, some in recognition of public services rendered in Britain rather than Australia. Some hereditary peers and baronets whose titles derive from Britain rather than Australia reside in Australia or have connections with Australia. Further, two baronetcies have been created for Australians, the first for Sir William Clarke, a Victorian pastoralist, in 1880. This baronetcy was borne by Sir Rupert Clarke, the 3rd baronet, until his death in 2005. His son, Rupert Clarke, has applied for succession to the baronetcy, and his application is currently pending review. The second, now extinct, was created for Samuel Way, a South Australian judge, in 1899.

The Australian Honours System was created in 1975, however some states in Australia did not relinquish their connection to the Imperial system until some time later. Most notable in this respect was Queensland, which was the last Australian state to recommend its citizens to the Queen for admission to various Orders as Knight or Dames.

In 1975, the Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam inaugurated the Order of Australia expressly to supersede all other honours for Australian purposes. Under the Fraser Liberal Government (1975–83), the Australian government began recommending honours to the full panoply of Imperial honours again, as it had done before 1975, and a degree of "knight" or "dame" was added to the Order of Australia. The succeeding Hawke Labor Government (1983–91) removed the Knight and Dame designation. Awards of knighthoods, damehoods and ranks in Imperial honours orders declined and were brought to an end by the Queen in 1994. Knights and dames and others holding Imperial honours retain legal recognition, for instance in the Australian Order of Precedence, whether or not they were nominated for the honours by the Australian government or the government of an Australian state.

The Australian Honours and Awards System was designed to be incapable of rewarding citizens for acts of gallantry which occurred before February 1975, if not previously nominated for an Imperial award. Even though an act of bravery prior to that time may come to light, the Australian Bravery Decorations Council has dictated these acts be not recognised.^{[citation needed]}

Royal honours

The Queen does still confer honours upon Australians that emanate from her personally rather than through the government.

• The Most Noble Order of the Garter - last awarded to former Governor-General Sir Ninian Stephen, 1994
• The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle - last awarded to former Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies, 1963
• Order of Merit - last awarded to former Prime Minister John Howard, 2012
• Royal Victorian Order - Knighthood grade last awarded to Sir David Smith, 1990
• Venerable Order of Saint John - for services to St John Ambulance

No.	Portrait	Order	Foundation	Motto	Chancellor
1		The Most Noble Order of the Garter	1348 - Edward III	Honi soit qui mal y pense Shame upon him who thinks evil upon it	The Rt. Hon. Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington
			Knights:Richard Casey, Baron Casey, Sir Paul Hasluck, Sir Ninian Stephen
2		The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle	1687 - James VII of Scotland, II of England	Nemo me impune lacessit No one provokes me with impunity	The Rt. Hon. David Ogilvy, 13th Earl of Airlie
			Knights:Sir Robert Menzies
3		Order of Merit	1902 - Edward VII	For Merit	HM Elizabeth II
			Members:Samuel Alexander, Gilbert Murray, Sir Frank Burnet, Sir Owen Dixon, Howard Florey, Baron Florey, Sir Sidney Nolan, Dame Joan Sutherland, Robert May, Baron May of Oxford, John Howard
4		Order of Australia	1975 - Elizabeth II	none	HE Quentin Bryce
			Knights:Sir John Kerr, Sir Robert Menzies, Sir Colin Syme, Sir Zelman Cowen, Sir Frank Burnet, Dame Alexandra Hasluck, Dame Enid Lyons, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Sir Roden Cutler, Sir Garfield Barwick, Sir Charles Court, Sir Ninian Stephen, Sir Roy Wright, Sir Gordon Jackson

Nominations

Any person or organisation can make nominations of Australian citizens for Australian honours. Non-Australians can be given honorary awards for "extraordinary service to Australia or humanity at large". Nomination forms for the Order of Australia are available through the Australian Honours Secretariat website, or upon application to the Honours Secretariat at Government House, Canberra or from any state Government House.

Awards

The Australian Honours System contains awards in addition to the Order of Australia. These include bravery awards, meritorious service awards, overseas service and long service awards.

See also: Australian Honours Order of Precedence

Order of Australia

Main article: Order of Australia

The Order of Australia insignia were designed by Stuart Devlin in 1976. Devlin used the livery colours of the Australian Coat of Arms, gold and royal blue. He also translated an individual ball of wattle blossom into a simple convex golden disc with a rich texture of beads and radiating lines accentuating a ring of blue enamel representing the sea.

The disc is surmounted by an enamel Crown signifying the position of The Order of Australia as an Australian Royal Honour. The Sovereign is Head of the Order of Australia. The Governor-General is Principal Companion and Chancellor of the Order of Australia. The blue and gold theme is continued in the ribbon. Most of the insignia pieces are produced by the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra. The actual pieces for the two Divisions of the Order are identical: it is only the ribbon which differentiates an award between the General and the Military Divisions. In the Military Division the ribbon is distinguished by the addition of a narrow gold band on each edge.

When established there was the ability for the Crown to appoint Knights and Dames to the Order. This was removed on the advice of Prime Minister Bob Hawke in 1986 without prejudice to any person who had been admitted to the Order at that grade. Currently there are four grades within the Order in both Military and General Divisions. Persons cannot be admitted to the Order posthumously.

The Council for the Order of Australia makes recommendations to the Governor-General as to the appropriateness of a nominee to be admitted to the Order and at what grade. It is up to the Honours Secretariat to provide the council with as much fully verified information as is possible on each nominee so that appropriate consideration may be given to each case. This is a long process and up to eighteen months can elapse between the original submission and publication of a successful nomination.

• General Division ribbon
• Military Division ribbon

Classes

Knight / Dame of the Order of Australia (AK / AD)

Appointments to this class of the Order were stopped on 3 March 1986. Twelve men were made AK and two women were made AD. The full list is at Order of Australia.

Companion in the Order of Australia (AC)

Appointments are made for eminent achievement and merit of the highest degree in service to Australia or to humanity at large. Excluding honorary appointments, no more than 25 Companions shall be appointed in any calendar year.

Officer in the Order of Australia (AO)

Appointments made for distinguished service of a high degree to Australia or to humanity at large. Excluding honorary appointments, no more than 100 Officers shall be appointed in any calendar year.

Member in the Order of Australia (AM)

Appointment made for service in a particular locality or field of activity or to a particular group. Excluding honorary appointments, no more than 225 Members shall be appointed in any calendar year.

Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM)

Awarded for service worthy of particular recognition. There is no quota limit on awards of the Medal of the Order.

Military Gallantry Decorations

• Victoria Cross for Australia (VC)
• Star of Gallantry (SG)
• Medal for Gallantry (MG)
• Commendation for Gallantry

Australian Bravery Decorations

• Cross of Valour (CV)
• Star of Courage (SC)
• Bravery Medal (BM)
• Commendation for Brave Conduct
• Group Bravery Citation

Distinguished/Conspicuous/Nursing

Distinguished Service Decorations

• Distinguished Service Cross (DSC)
• Distinguished Service Medal (DSM)
• Commendation for Distinguished Service

Conspicuous Service Decorations

• Conspicuous Service Cross (CSC)
• Conspicuous Service Medal (CSM)

Nursing

• Nursing Service Cross (NSC)

Meritorious

• Public Service Medal (PSM)
• Australian Police Medal (APM)
• Australian Fire Service Medal (AFSM)
• Ambulance Service Medal (ASM)
• Emergency Services Medal (ESM)
• Australian Antarctic Medal (AAM)

Australian Service/Campaign

See also: Australian campaign medals

• Australia Service Medal 1939–45
• Civilian Service Medal 1939–1945
• Australian Active Service Medal 1945–1975
• Australian Service Medal 1945–1975
• Australian Active Service Medal 1975
• Australian General Service Medal Korea
• Australian Service Medal 1975
• Vietnam Medal
• Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal
• International Force East Timor Medal (INTERFET)
• Rhodesia Medal
• Police Overseas Service Medal (Australia)
• Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal
• Afghanistan Medal
• Iraq Medal

Special Service Awards

• National Police Service Medal
• Australian Defence Medal
• National Emergency Medal

Commemorative

• 80th Anniversary Armistice Remembrance Medal
• Australian Sports Medal
• Centenary Medal
• Anniversary of National Service 1951–1972 Medal

Long Service Awards

• Defence Force Service Medal
• Reserve Force Decoration (RFD)
• Reserve Force Medal
• Defence Long Service Medal
• National Medal
• Australian Cadet Forces Service Medal

Champion Shots

• Champion Shots Medal (Australia)

See also

• Australian Honours Order of Precedence
• Australian campaign medals
• List of post-nominal letters (Australia)
• Australian of the Year
• British honours system
• A list of surviving Australian knights and dames
• A list of all Australian knights and dames
• Australian Commendations

Bibliography

• Bruce Knox (1998). "Honours". In Graeme Davison, John Hirst and Stuart MacIntyre (eds.). The Oxford Companion to Australian History. Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-553597-9. 

External links

• The Australian Government Honours and Awards Website