Order of Australia

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Order of Australia

1. (chiefly Australia, Britain) An order of chivalry established for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement. [Established 1975.]
   • 2002, Owen Parnaby, Australia's First Rotary Club: A History of the Rotary Club of Melbourne‎, page 146:

     The first step towards the new order came with the Whitlam Government of 1972-75. Proudly Australian, it abandoned imperial honours and introduced the Order of Australia.

   • 2005, Christopher McCreery, The Order of Canada: Its Origins, History, And Development‎, page 176:

     On 26 January 1975, Australia Day, the Queen signed the Letters Patent founding the Order of Australia. The Governor General of Australia formally announced the new order in late February.

   • 2010, James Gobbo, Something to Declare: A Memoir‎, page 288:

     I had a similar experience when from 1981 to 1992 I served as a member of the Order of Australia council, which made recommendations for awards in the Order of Australia.

• AC, AO, AM, OAM
• (no longer awarded): AD, AK

Order of Australia (plural Orders of Australia)

1. (Australia, informal) An appointment made within the Order of Australia.
   • 2002, Law Institute of Victoria, Queensland Law Society, Law Institute Journal: The Official Organ of the Law Institute of Victoria, Volume 76, page xiv,

     Children′s lawyers do not earn six figure salaries, get appointed to company boards, or Orders of Australia.

   • 2010, Ian Ward, Randal G. Stewart, Politics One, 4th Edition, page 6,

     This is manifestly the case with the issuing of Orders of Australia and similar honours.

   • 2011, Paul Cleary, Too Much Luck‎, page 146:

     It is a fantastically simple but effective piece of policy; the Treasury officials who thought of it deserve Orders of Australia.