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Australian Honours System

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The Australian honours system until 1975 was part of the British honours system.

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 older honours were restored and a knighthood added to the Order of Australia. The succeeding Hawke Labor Government (1983-91) removed the Knight and Dame designation. The use of the old honours system declined and was brought to an end by the Queen in 1994. The Queen does still confer honours that emanate from her personally rather than through the government, in particular the Order of the Garter and the Royal Victorian Order.

Any person or organisation may make a nomination of an Australian citizen to be recognised for their achievement or meritorious service. Persons who are not Australian citizens may be awarded honorary appointments who have rendered extraordinary service to Australia or humanity at large.

Nomination Forms for the Order of Australia can be found at the Australian Government’s [web site] or upon application to Honours Secretariat at Government House Canberra on +61 2 6283 3533.

The Australian Honours System contains awards additional to just the Order of Australia. It includes bravery awards, meritorious awards, overseas service and long service awards.

Contents

Order of Australia

See main article: Order of Australia
The design for the Order of Australia insignia was conceived by Mr Stuart Devlin, AO, CMG, 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 Sovereign as Head of the Order. 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 however this was removed on the advise of the Prime Minister 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 can not 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.

The Knights and Dames of the Order of Australia; Garfield Edward John BARWICK, Date Received: 08 June 1981 Frank MacFarlane BURNET, Date Received: 26 January 1978 Charles Walter Michael COURT, Date Received: 14 June 1982 Zelman COWEN, Date Received: 08 December 1977 Arthur Roden CUTLER, Date Received: 07 April 1981 Alexandra Margaret Martin HASLUCK, Date Received: 06 June 1978 Gordon JACKSON, Date Received: 13 June 1983 John Robert KERR, Date Received: 24 May 1976 Enid (Muriel) LYONS, Date Received: 26 January 1980 Robert Gordon MENZIES, Date Received: 07 June 1976 HRH Charles PRINCE OF WALES, Date Received: 14 March 1981 Ninian Martin STEPHEN, Date Received: 29 July 1982 Colin York SYME, Date Received: 06 June 1977 Roy Douglas WRIGHT, Date Received: 26 January 1983

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.

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.

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

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

Below is a picture of the presentation box received by a person awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM). It includes a full sized medal, a miniature medal, a ribbon (or riband bar) and a lapel pin. The Order of Australia Council and Association advocate the wearing of the lapel pin in day dress in an effort to promote the Order.

Military Gallantry Decorations

Australian Bravery Decorations

Distinguished/Conspicuous/Nursing

Distinguished Service Decorations

Conspicuous Service Decorations Nursing

Meritorious

Australian Service/Campaign

Champion Shots

Commemorative

Long Service Awards

See also

References

External links

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

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