Order of Australia

Order of Australia
Insignia of knights and dames of the Order of Australia
Awarded by the Governor-General of Australia
Type	National order
Eligibility	All living Australian citizens
Awarded for	Achievement and merit in service to Australia or humanity
Status	Currently constituted
Founder	Elizabeth II
Sovereign Head	Charles III, King of Australia
Chancellor	David Hurley, Governor-General
Grades	Companion (AC) Officer (AO) Member (AM) Medal (OAM) Awarded in:   General Division   Military Division   As an Honorary award
Former grades	Knight/Dame (AK/AD)[note 1]
Statistics
First induction	14 April 1975
Last induction	2024 King's Birthday Honours
Total inductees	AK – 15 AD – 4 AC (Civil) – 571 AC (Mil.) – 26 AO (Civil) – 3,144 AO (Mil.) – 292 AM (Civil) – 11,310 AM (Mil.) – 1,344 OAM (Civil) – 28,208 OAM (Mil.) – 1,394[1]
Ribbons: general division; military division

The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service.^[2] It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then prime minister Gough Whitlam. Before the establishment of the order, Australian citizens could receive British honours, which continued to be issued in parallel until 1992.

Appointments to the order are made by the governor-general, "with the approval of The Sovereign", according to recommendations made by the Council for the Order of Australia.^[3] Members of the government are not involved in the recommendation of appointments, other than for military and honorary awards.

The Monarch of Australia is sovereign head of the order,^[2][4] while the Governor-General of Australia is the principal companion and chancellor of the order. The governor-general's official secretary, Paul Singer (appointed August 2018), is secretary of the order.

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