Companions of the Order of Australia

The Order of Australia is the only Australian order of chivalry. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, to recognise Australian citizens and other persons for achievement, meritorious service, or for both. At that time, Companion of the Order of Australia was the highest of three grades of the Order (Companion, Officer, Member).

On 24 May 1976, the grade of Knight or Dame of the Order was established, displacing Companion as the highest grade. On 3 June 1986, the Knight/Dame grade was abolished, and Companion was once again the highest grade.

On 25 March 2014, the Knight/Dame grade was re-established, Companion once again being relegated to the second highest grade of the Order. The Knight/Dame grade was again abolished on 2 November 2015.

Divisions

The Order has two divisions; General and Military. In general, recipients who are not Australian citizens are appointed Honorary Companions, though there have been certain exceptions. (For example, Prince Philip's appointment as AC (mil.) was substantive.1988 Queen's Birthday Honours
, 13 June 1988, Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, Special Issue No. S159, pg.1)

Knights and Dames

Seven Companions have later been promoted to Knight or Dame of the Order of Australia: Sir John Kerr, Sir Gordon Jackson, Dame Quentin Bryce, Sir Peter Cosgrove, Dame Marie Bashir, Sir Angus Houston and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Australian Companions

General Division

Military Division

Honorary Companions

Former Companions

Announcements of appointments of Companions

A list of links to announcements of all awards appears on the Governor-General's website.

:Gen = General Division; Mil = Military Division; Hon = Honorary award; Tot = Total

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, , , , , 2013 Queen's Birthday Honours (Australia) , , 1 , , 389 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 450

QB 2013

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, , , , , Honorary Appointment of Jill Ker Conway , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 , , 37 , , , , 451
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, , , 2013 1742 , , Honorary Appointment of José Ramos-Horta , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 , , 38 , , , , 452

2013 1742
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, , , , , 2014 Australia Day Honours , , 7 , , 396 , , , , 1 , , 26 , , , , , , , , , , 460

AD 2014

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Mil

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, , , , , 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours (Australia) , , 7 , , 403 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 467

QB 2014notes

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, , , , , 2015 Australia Day Honours , , 5 , , 408 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 472

AD 2015notes

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, , , , , Honorary Appointment of Yorihiko Kojima , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 , , 39 , , , , 473

2015 0503
, -
, , , , , 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours (Australia) , , 8 , , 416 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 481

QB 2015

notes

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, , , , , 2016 Australia Day Honours , , 10 , , 426 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 491

AD 2016

notes

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, , , , , 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours (Australia) , , 13 , , 439 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 504

QB 2016

notes

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, , , , , 2017 Australia Day Honours , , 11 , , 450 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 515

AD 2017notes

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, , , , , 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours (Australia) , , 15 , , 465 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 530
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, , , , , Honorary Appointment of Sir John Key , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 , , 40 , , , , 531

2017 00815
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, , , , , 2018 Australia Day Honours , , 16 , , 481 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 547

AD 2018notes
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, , , , , 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours , , 10 , , 491 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 557

QB 2018

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, , , , , 2019 Australia Day Honours , , 19 , , 510 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 576
,
, -
, , , , , 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours , , 12 , , 522 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 588
,
, -
, , , , , 2020 Australia Day Honours , , 5 , , 527 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 593
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, -
, , , , , 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours , , 3 , , 530 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 596
,
, -
, , , , , 2021 Australia Day Honours , , 4 , , 534 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 600
,
, -
, , , , , 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours , , 5 , , 539 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 605
,
, -
, , , , , 2022 Australia Day Honours , , 7 , , 546 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 612
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, -
, , , , , Honorary Appointment of Sir Barry Gibb , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 , , 41 , , , , 613

2022 G00061
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, 13 Jun 2022
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, 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours
, 8
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QB 2022

Australian Honours Search Facility (previously called It's an Honour)

Companion of the Order of Australia


Fact sheet

* From th
Advanced search
page, it is possible to produce a list of all recipients that appear in the Australian Honours Search Facility database).
**In March 2014, there were 457 entries in the database.
**In December 2016 there were 501 entries in the database. (Versus 08 awarded minus 3 resigned minus 1 cancelled= 504, minus 3 not in the database = 501)
**In September 2017 there were 512 entries in the database. (519-4=515, minus 3 = 512)
**The list does not necessarily show all recipients of the Companion of the Order of Australia, as some awardees of Australian honours elect ''not'' to have their names appear on the Australian Honours Search Facility website.
**The database information does not distinguish between the General and Military divisions, nor whether the award is honorary or substantive.
**Note, however, that honorary recipients are denoted by H next to their name in the search function.
* As stated above, awards to foreigners are usually honorary, and to date, all awards to foreign Companions in the General division have been honorary. The only exception to this has been Prince Philip's appointment as AC (mil). To date there have been no Honorary Companion appointments to the Military division. This has not necessarily been the case in other grades. (For example, US General David Petraeus AO (mil) is honorary,David Petraeus - Honorary Officer (AO) in the Military Division
, 3 November 2009, Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, Special Issue No. S172 and Prince Charles and Prince Philip's substantive knighthoods (AK) were enabled by changes to the Letters Patent.)

See also

* List of Knights and Dames of the Order of Australia

Notes and citations

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