Editing Order of Australia (section)

==Current membership==
===Officials of the order===
*Sovereign Head of the Order: [[Monarchy of Australia|King of Australia]] ([[Charles III]])
*[[Principal of the Order of Australia|Chancellor and Principal Companion]]: [[Governor-General of Australia]] ([[Samantha Mostyn]])
*Secretary: [[Official Secretary to the Governor-General of Australia]] ([[Gerard Martin (public servant)|Gerard Martin]])

[[Charles III|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]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2010Q00036 |title=Order of Australia – Constitution – Letters Patent – Amendment – 14/03/1981 |work=[[Commonwealth of Australia Gazette]] |date=14 March 1981 |access-date=17 May 2012 |archive-date=23 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023215634/https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2010Q00036 |url-status=live }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2015G00155 |title=Amendments to the Constitution of the Order of Australia |date=30 January 2015 |publisher=Government Notices Gazette C2015G00155 |access-date=20 January 2017 |archive-date=2 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102053628/https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2015G00155 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

===Honorary awards===
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 1 July 2024, the Australian Honours website listed appointments for 46 Honorary Companions, 118 Honorary Officers, 174 Honorary Members of the Order of Australia and the award of 199 Honorary Medals of the Order of Australia.<ref>{{cite web|title=Search Australian Honours – Advanced Search|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/search|work=It's an Honour|publisher=Awards and Culture Branch, Australian Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet|access-date=1 July 2024|date=1 July 2024|archive-date=7 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607061216/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/search|url-status=live}} Separate searches conducted for Knights, Companions, Officers, Members and Medals of the Order.</ref> 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]], U.S. Congressman [[Joe Courtney (politician)|Joe Courtney]], [[Mel Gibson]], [[Maina Gielgud]], [[Hiroyuki Iwaki]], [[Clive Lloyd]], [[Lord Morris of Manchester]], U.S. General [[David Petraeus]],<ref>Lisa Millar, [http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/11/04/2732984.htm?section=justin Order of Australia for General Petraeus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504124223/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-11-04/order-of-australia-for-general-petraeus/1128596 |date=4 May 2021 }}, 4 November 2009, Australian Broadcasting Corporation</ref><ref name=Petraeus>[https://www.gg.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/honours/2009S172_Oct%2009.pdf Honorary Officer (AO) in the Military Division] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402034112/https://www.gg.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/honours/2009S172_Oct%2009.pdf |date=2 April 2016 }}, 3 November 2009, Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, Special Issue No. S172</ref> Admiral [[Harry B. Harris Jr.|Harry Harris]], [[Jerzy Toeplitz]], [[Julius Tahija]],<ref>{{Cite It's an Honour |ausawardid=1042964 |recipient=Mr Julius Tahija |award=Officer of the Order of Australia |postnominal=H |citation=For service to Australian-Indonesian business relations. |date=6 February 2002 |access-date=10 September 2019 }}</ref> [[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]], [[George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood|Lord Harewood]], [[John Williams]], [[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]]

===Gender breakdown===
[[File:Percentage of Order of Australia honours to women.svg|thumb|200px|Chart of the percentage of Order of Australia honours awarded to women in each year since 1975]]
Since 1975, just over 30 per cent of recipients of an Order of Australia honour have been women.<ref name="gender">{{cite news |title=When it comes to Order of Australia honours, women are largely left out |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-07/women-lacking-queens-birthday-order-of-australia-awards-list/11187978 |access-date=9 June 2019 |work=ABC News |date=7 June 2019 |language=en-AU |archive-date=30 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211030092543/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-07/women-lacking-queens-birthday-order-of-australia-awards-list/11187978 |url-status=live }}</ref> The number of nominations and awards for women is trending up, with the [[2023 Australia Day Honours]] resulting in the highest percentage of awards for women to date (47.1 per cent, 47.9 per cent in the general division).<ref name="ad2023">{{cite web |title=Australia Day 2023 Honours List |url=https://www.pmc.gov.au/news/australia-day-2023-honours-list |website=Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet |date=25 January 2023 |access-date=26 January 2023 |archive-date=26 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230126003618/https://www.pmc.gov.au/news/australia-day-2023-honours-list |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref name="gender" /><ref name="canbtimes">{{cite news |last1=Whyte |first1=Sally |title=Women still less recognised than men |url=https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6204700/women-still-less-recognised-than-men/ |access-date=9 June 2019 |work=The Canberra Times |date=7 June 2019 |language=en |archive-date=30 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211030051108/https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6204700/women-still-less-recognised-than-men/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Sociology of recipients of highest levels===
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, Melbourne|Scotch College]] alumni received the highest number of awards, with 19 former students receiving Australia's [then] highest honour".<ref name="Age2010">{{cite news |first = Jewel |last = Topsfield |title = Ties that bind prove a private education has its awards |url = http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/ties-that-bind-prove-a-private-education-has-its-awards-20101203-18jx0.html?from=age_sb |work = The Age |page = 11 |date = 4 December 2010 |access-date = 25 January 2012 |archive-date = 1 October 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171001014932/http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/ties-that-bind-prove-a-private-education-has-its-awards-20101203-18jx0.html?from=age_sb |url-status = live }}</ref><ref group="note" name="AgeAnalysis">The hard-copy article also published a table of the schools which were ranked in the top ten places:
{| role="presentation" class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
!Rank || School ||Number of<br />ex-students|| ||Private||Public|| ||Vic||NSW||Qld||Tas||SA||WA||
|- align=center
| 1 || [[Scotch College, Melbourne]] || 19 || || 19    ||      || || 19||   ||   ||   ||  ||
|- align=center
| 2 || [[Geelong Grammar School]]    || 17 || || 17    ||      || || 17||   ||   ||   ||  ||
|- align=center
| 3 || [[Sydney Boys High School]]   || 13 || ||       || 13   || ||   || 13||   ||   ||  ||
|- align=center
|rowspan=3| =4
|      [[Fort Street High School]]
|rowspan=3|                             10 || ||       || 10   || ||   || 10||   ||   ||  ||
|- align=center
|      [[Perth Modern School]]             || ||       || 10   || ||   ||   ||   ||   ||  ||10
|- align=center
|    [[St Peter's College, Adelaide]]      || || 10    ||      || ||   ||   ||   ||   ||10||
|- align=center
|rowspan=3| =7
|      [[Melbourne Grammar School]]
|rowspan=3|                              9 || || 9     ||      || ||  9||   ||   ||   ||  ||
|- align=center
| [[North Sydney Boys High School]]        || ||       || 9    || ||   ||  9||   ||   ||  ||
|- align=center
| [[The King's School, Parramatta]]        || ||       || 9    || ||   ||  9||   ||   ||  ||
|- align=center
|rowspan=4| =10
| [[Launceston Church Grammar School|Launceston Grammar School]]
|rowspan=4|                              6 || || 6     ||      || ||   ||   ||   || 6 ||  ||
|- align=center
| [[Melbourne High School]]                || ||       || 6    || ||  6||   ||   ||   ||  ||
|- align=center
| [[Wesley College, Melbourne]]            || || 6     ||      || ||  6||   ||   ||   ||  ||
|- align=center
| [[Xavier College]]                       || || 6     ||      || ||  6||   ||   ||   ||  ||
|- align=center
|  ||                               ||     || ||       ||      || ||   ||   ||   ||   ||  ||
|- align=center
|colspan=2|                   Total || 130 || || 73    || 57   || || 63|| 41||   || 6 ||10||10
|- align=center
|colspan=2|                         ||100% || || 56%   || 44%  || ||48%||32%||   || 5%||8%||8%
<!--                                          ||Private||Public|| ||Vic||NSW||Qld||Tas||SA||WA -->
|}</ref>

===Lists of recipients in categories===
{|
| [[:Category:Dames of the Order of Australia|Dames of the Order of Australia]] ||
| [[:Category:Australian dames|Australian dames]] ||
|-
| [[:Category:Knights of the Order of Australia|Knights of the Order of Australia]] ||
| [[:Category:Australian knights|Australian knights]] ||
|-
| [[:Category:Companions of the Order of Australia|Companions of the Order of Australia]] ||
| [[:Category:Honorary companions of the Order of Australia|Honorary Companions]] ||
| [[:Category:Former companions of the Order of Australia|Former Companions]] ||
|-
| [[:Category:Officers of the Order of Australia|Officers of the Order of Australia]] ||
| [[:Category:Honorary officers of the Order of Australia|Honorary Officers]] ||
| [[:Category:Former officers of the Order of Australia|Former Officers]] ||
|-
| [[:Category:Members of the Order of Australia|Members of the Order of Australia]] ||
| [[:Category:Honorary members of the Order of Australia|Honorary Members]] ||
| [[:Category:Former members of the Order of Australia|Former Members]] ||
|-
| [[:Category:Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia|Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia]]
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
| [[:Category:Honorary recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia|Honorary Recipients of the Medal]]
| &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
| [[:Category:Medal of the Order of Australia forfeitures|Former Medal Recipients]]
|}

===Order of Australia Association===
On 26 January 1980 the Order of Australia Association was created as an incorporated body with membership open to award recipients. It is a registered charity, whose stated purpose is "[t]o celebrate and promote outstanding Australian citizenship".<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 December 2020 |title=Constitution of the Order of Australia Association |url=https://theorderofaustralia.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Constitution-OAA-December-17-2020.pdf |publisher=Order of Australia Association Ltd}}</ref>{{Refn|Before 2017, the Association's objects were to "(i) promote loyalty to the Sovereign as Head of State of Australia (ii) foster love of and pride in Australian citizenship and to promote good citizenship{{nbs}}... (iii) encourage the development and maintenance of a constructive and positive sense of national unity amongst Australians [and] (iv) education of the Australian community by promoting awareness in the Australian community of Australia's history, its national institutions, traditions and culture."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.acnc.gov.au/charity/charities/6391a49c-38af-e811-a963-000d3ad244fd/documents/82757377-50c8-e811-a95f-000d3ad24c60|title=The Order of Australia Association Limited: Annual Information Statement 2016|website=[[Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission]]}}</ref>}} It also supports the "community and social activities" of members and promotes and encourages the nomination of other Australians to the Order.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Order of Australia |url=https://theorderofaustralia.asn.au/national/home/ |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=The Order of Australia Association |language=en-AU}}</ref> The Order also runs a foundation that provides scholarships to tertiary students that show potential as future leaders and are involved in community activities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Foundation |url=https://theorderofaustralia.asn.au/foundation/ |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=The Order of Australia Association |language=en-AU}}</ref> Branches of the association are in all the [[states and territories of Australia]] as well as the UK and the USA.<ref>{{Cite web |title=FAQ's |url=https://theorderofaustralia.asn.au/national/faq/ |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=The Order of Australia Association |language=en-AU}}</ref>