Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is a medal / decoration that was introduced by Elizabeth II as Queen of Australia on February 14, 1975 "with the aim of correspondingly honoring Australian citizens and other persons for extraordinary services". The honors given to non-Australians are called “honorary awards”.
The order is divided into a general and a military division and has four classes plus the medal:
- Knight or Dame (AK or AD; awarded 1976–1986, 2014– October 2015)
- Companion (AC)
- Officer (AO)
- Member (AM)
- Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM; since 1976).
history
The order was introduced on February 14, 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, and countersigned by Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam . Before that, the Australians were the only ones to receive British honors. Originally there were only three different classes: Companion (AC), Officer (AO) and Member (AM). On May 24, 1976, the Knight (AK) or Dame (AD) and the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) were also introduced on the advice of Liberal Party of Australia successor Malcolm Fraser .
The Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke abolished the Knight or Dame class in 1986, however. After his election on March 3, 1986, Queen Elizabeth agreed, although the previous Knights and Dames were not affected.
On 25 March 2014 it was announced that the class Knight or Dame starting in 2014 at the behest of Prime Minister Tony Abbott would be reintroduced. The number of awards is limited to four per year. On Australia Day 2015, Prince Philip of Abbott was named Knight, which was controversial in Australia. For many Australians, the personal knighthood , which goes hand in hand with the right to add the name sir or lady in front of the first name of the title holder, is considered a relic of the British Empire and therefore retrograde.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull made the reintroduction of Class Knight or Dame therefore by his predecessor early November 2015 reversed. Between the date of the reintroduction by Abbott and the abolition by Turnbull, the Knight or Dame class was awarded a total of five times.
Charles, Prince of Wales , is a Knight of the Order of Australia. The Queen of Australia is the Sovereign of the Order, while the Governor General of Australia is the Order's First Knight and Chancellor.
The Order of Australia is very similar to the Order of Canada . In contrast to the Canadian order, the Australian order is used more freely to honor non-Australians. While only twelve non-Canadians are members of the Order of Canada, there are significantly more non-Australians in the Order of Australia.
vocation
While the governors of the individual states can only award the titles of officer and member as well as the Medal of the Order of Australia to the citizens of their own state, only the governors-general of Australia can appoint a person as a companion. The promotion of a person to knight or queen is reserved for the Queen of Australia, acting on the recommendation of the Australian Prime Minister.
The different degrees are awarded based on the different merits of the recipients:
- Knight (AK) or Dame (AD)
- for extraordinary and particularly outstanding services of the highest degree to Australia or humanity.
- Companion (AC)
- for the highest service to Australia or humanity.
- Officer (AO)
- for highlighted service to Australia or humanity.
- Member (AM)
- for services in a special place / a special task for a certain group.
- Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM)
- for services that are worth special recognition. - As one of the youngest, circumnavigator Jessica Watson received this medal in 2012.
Any Australian citizen can nominate someone for an honor. The nominations are checked by the Order of Australia Council , free from political interference, and then forwarded to the Governor General. The medal is awarded twice a year: on the national holiday, Australia Day , and on the Queen's official birthday in June.
The order cannot be awarded posthumously ; however, if a recipient dies after accepting the nomination but has not yet been officially appointed, the nomination will persist and will apply from the recipient's death.
In August 2009, the Catholic Joseph Sisters from Sydney started a petition demanding that the neighboring country East Timor be awarded the Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia . This is justified with the support of the Timorese people for Australian soldiers in the battle for Timor during the Second World War.
Offices of the Order
- Sovereign: Elisabeth II.
- Chancellor and Principal Knight: David Hurley ( Governor General of Australia )
- Secretary: Stephen Brady CVO
Knights and Dames
Complete list of all Knights and Dames sorted by date of appointment.
| Surname | appointment | death |
|---|---|---|
| Sir John Kerr AK GCMG GCVO | May 24, 1976 | March 24, 1991 |
| Sir Robert Menzies KT AK CH QC | June 7th 1976 | May 15, 1978 |
| Sir Colin Syme AK | June 6, 1977 | January 19, 1986 |
| Sir Zelman Cowen AK GCMG GCVO QC | December 8, 1977 | December 8, 2011 |
| Sir MacFarlane Burnet OM AK KBE | January 26, 1978 | August 31, 1985 |
| Dame Alexandra Hasluck AD | June 6, 1978 | June 18, 1993 |
| Dame Enid Lyons AD GBE | January 26, 1980 | 2nd September 1981 |
| Charles, Prince of Wales KG KT GCB OM AK QSO PC ADC | March 14, 1981 | |
| Sir Roden Cutler VC AK KCMG KCVO CBE | April 7, 1981 | February 22, 2002 |
| Sir Garfield Barwick AK GCMG | June 8, 1981 | July 14, 1997 |
| Sir Charles Court AK KCMG OBE | June 14, 1982 | December 22, 2007 |
| Sir Ninian Stephen KG AK GCMG GCVO KBE QC | July 29, 1982 | October 29, 2017 |
| Sir Roy Wright AK | January 26, 1983 | February 28, 1990 |
| Sir Gordon Jackson AK | June 13, 1983 | June 1, 1991 |
| Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO | March 25, 2014 | |
| Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC | March 28, 2014 | |
| Dame Marie Bashir AD, CVO | June 9, 2014 | |
| Philip, Duke of Edinburgh | January 7, 2015 | |
| Sir Angus Houston AK, AFC | January 26, 2015 |
Order of Australia Association
On January 26, 1980 recipients of the Order of Australia founded the Order of Australia Association . This association is designed to uphold the memory of the members of the Order and to assist the members in their endeavors for Australian culture. The association has a seat in every Australian territory or state.
Honorary members
Sometimes non-Australians also receive the Order of Australia award for outstanding service to humanity. Famous recipients are:
- Honorary Companion:
- Honorary Officer:
- Honorary Member:
Web links
- Order of Australia Honor Secretariat (English)
- Order of Australia with list of orders, its history and its "constitution" (statutes of the order). (English)
- Order of Australia Association (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Knighthoods reinstated in Australia. In: royalcentral.co.uk. Royal Central, March 25, 2014, accessed March 25, 2014.
- ↑ Knights and dames re-dumped from Australian honors. In: australiantimes.co.uk. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
- ↑ Honors of the Crown, p. 11, The Monarchist League of Canada. - Page not available on June 1st, 2016. ( Memento of the original from June 25, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Congratulations Jessica Watson - OAM! ( Memento of the original from March 9, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Jessica Watson's blog, January 28, 2016, accessed June 1, 2016.
- ^ Petition calls for an award for Timor-Leste. In: Wikinews. November 6, 2009.
- ↑ Sir John Kerr was the Governor-General and, as Principal Knight of the Order, his knightood took effect immediately the category of Knight was established.
- ^ The date of Sir Zelman Cowen's appointment as Governor-General.
- ↑ The date of Sir Ninian Stephen's appointment as Governor-General.
- ↑ Dame Quentin Bryce was the Governor-General and, as Principal Dame of the Order, her damehood took effect immediately the category of Dame was re-established.
