Order of Australia

• General Division: "Extraordinary and pre-eminent achievement and merit of the highest degree in service to Australia or to humanity at large".
• Military Division: Not awarded in the military division.

There was a quota of four per year, excluding honorary appointments. Knighthoods and damehoods were conferred from 1976 to 1983, and from 2014 to 2015, but are not currently awarded.[7]

• General Division – "Eminent achievement and merit of the highest degree in service to Australia or to humanity at large".
• Military Division – "Eminent service in duties of great responsibility"'.

Excluding honorary appointments, until 2003, no more than 25 Companions were appointed in any calendar year. In 2003 this was increased to 30.[10] This was increased in 2016 to 35.[11]

• General Division – "Distinguished service of a high degree to Australia or to humanity at large".
• Military Division – "Distinguished service in responsible positions".

Prior to 2003, the quota was 100 Officers appointed in any calendar year. This was increased to 125 in 2003[10] and increased again in 2016 to 140.[11]

• General Division – "Service in a particular locality or field of activity or to a particular group".
• Military Division – "Exceptional service or performance of duty".

Prior to 2003, the quota was 225 Members appointed in any calendar year. This was increased to 300 in 2003,[10] to 340 in 2016,[11] and to 365 in 2018.[12]

• General Division – "Service worthy of particular recognition"
• Military Division – "Meritorious service or performance of duty".

There are no quota limits on awards of the Medal of the Order.

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.

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.

The neck badge of a Knight of the Order of Australia appeared at the base of the coat of arms of Sir Ninian Stephen.

Following the 1983 federal election, Prime Minister Bob Hawke advised the abolition of the knight/dame level. On 3 March 1986, the Queen co-signed letters patent revoking the level, with existing knights and dames not being affected by the change. In the period 1976–1983, twelve knights and two dames were created.

On 19 March 2014, Prime Minister Tony Abbott advised the Queen to reinstate the level of knight/dame and the Queen co-signed letters patent to bring this into effect. The change was publicly announced on 25 March, and gazetted on 17 April 2014.[23] Up to four knights and/or dames could be appointed each year, by the Queen of Australia on the advice of the Prime Minister of Australia after consultation with the Chairman of the Order of Australia Council.[5][24]

Five awards of knight and dame were then made, to the outgoing Governor-General, Quentin Bryce; her successor, Peter Cosgrove; a recent Chief of the Defence Force, Angus Houston; a recent Governor of New South Wales, Marie Bashir; and Prince Philip. This last award was met with ridicule and dismay by some in the Australian media.[25]

The Australian Labor Party continued to oppose knighthoods and damehoods. Leader of the opposition Bill Shorten stated in March 2014 that the party would again discontinue the level if it were to win the next Australian federal election.[26]

Abbott's tenure as prime minister ended in September 2015. Two months after coming into office, on 2 November 2015, pro-republican Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that the Queen had approved his request to amend the Order's letters patent and cease awards at this level.[27][28] Existing titles would not be affected.[6] The move was attacked by monarchists[29] and praised by republicans.[30][31] The amendments to the constitution of the Order were gazetted on 22 December 2015.[32]

• Sovereign Head of the Order: King of Australia (Charles III)
• Chancellor and Principal Companion: Governor-General of Australia (David Hurley)
• Secretary: Official Secretary to the Governor-General of Australia (Paul Singer)

King Charles III, when he was Prince of Wales, was appointed a Knight of the Order of Australia (AK) on 14 March 1981. As he is not an Australian citizen, even though he was the heir to the Australian throne at the time, this would have required the award to be honorary. To overcome this issue, his appointment was created by an amendment to the constitution of the Order of Australia by special letters patent signed by the Queen, on the recommendation of Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser.[33]

In March 2014 the knight and dame levels, which had been abolished in 1986 by Prime Minister Bob Hawke, were reintroduced to the Order of Australia by Tony Abbott. At the same time, Abbott announced that future appointments at this level would be recommended by the prime minister alone, rather than by the Council of the Order of Australia, as is the case with all lower levels of the order. In accordance with the statutes of 2014, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was created a Knight of the Order by letters patent signed by the Queen on 7 January 2015, on Abbott's advice.[34] Prince Philip's knighthood was announced as part of the Australia Day Honours on 26 January 2015 and his appointment attracted criticism of what Abbott described as his "captain's call". Abbott responded by announcing that future recommendations for appointments as Knights and Dames of the Order would be determined by the Council of the Order of Australia.

Awards of the Order of Australia are sometimes made to people who are not citizens of Australia to honour extraordinary achievements. These achievements, or the people themselves, are not necessarily associated with Australia, although they often are. On 26 January 2019, the Australian Honours website listed appointments for 40 Honorary Companions, 100 Honorary Officers, 127 Honorary Members of the Order of Australia and the award of 124 Honorary Medals of the Order of Australia.[35] Notable honorary awards include:

• Honorary Companion
  • All Honorary Companions of the Order of Australia are notable – see List of Honorary Companions of the Order of Australia
    • See also: Category:Honorary Companions of the Order of Australia
• Honorary Officer
  • Ali Alatas, Mel Gibson, Maina Gielgud, Hiroyuki Iwaki, Clive Lloyd, Lord Morris of Manchester, U.S. General David Petraeus,[36][37] Admiral Harry Harris, Jerzy Toeplitz, Julius Tahija,[38] Edo de Waart, Malcolm Williamson, Googie Withers and James Wolfensohn
    • Fred Hollows, then a New Zealand citizen, was offered an honorary Officership in 1985, but declined the award; he became an Australian citizen in 1989, and in 1991 was appointed a substantive Companion of the Order
    • Romaldo Giurgola was appointed an honorary Officer in 1989; this became a substantive award in 2000 when he adopted Australian citizenship
    • See also: Category:Honorary Officers of the Order of Australia
• Honorary Member
  • Harriet Mayor Fulbright, Lord Harewood, Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar and Robyn Williams.
    • Terri Irwin was appointed an Honorary Member in 2006; this became a substantive award when she became an Australian citizen in 2009
    • See also Category:Honorary Members of the Order of Australia

Chart of the percentage of Order of Australia honours awarded to women in each year since 1975

Since 1975, just under 30 per cent of recipients of an Order of Australia honour have been women.[39] The number of nominations and awards for women is trending up, with the 2022 Australia Day Honours resulting in the highest percentage of awards for women to date (46.5 per cent, 47.2 per cent in the general division).[40][41] Advocacy groups such as Honour a Woman and the Workplace Gender Equality Agency have called for greater effort to be made to reach equal representation of men and women in the order.[39][42]

In December 2010, The Age reported a study of the educational backgrounds of all people who had received Knight/Dame and Companion level awards at that time. It reported: "An analysis of the 435 people who have received the nation's top Order of Australia honours since they were first awarded in 1975, shows they disproportionately attended a handful of elite Victorian secondary schools. Scotch College alumni received the highest number of awards, with 19 former students receiving Australia's [then] highest honour".[43][note 6]

On 26 January 1980 the order's award recipients formed the Order of Australia Association. This organisation seeks to aid the members of the order in their pursuits related to the development and maintenance of Australia's culture and traditions. The organisation also attempts to increase awareness of those honoured by the order, since many of their number are not household names, despite their contributions. Branches of the association can be found in all the states and territories of Australia.