Editing Governor-General of Australia (section)

===Titles and honours===
Governors-general have during their tenure the style ''His/Her [[Excellency]] [[the Honourable]]'' and their [[Spouse of the Governor-General of Australia|spouses]] have the style ''His/Her Excellency''. Since May 2013, the style used by a former governor-general is ''the Honourable''; it was at the same time retrospectively granted for life to all previous holders of the office.<ref name=thehon>[http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2013G00681 The title 'the Honourable' for Governors-General] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110135637/http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2013G00681 |date=10 November 2013 }}, ''Australian Government Special Gazette'' S No. 54 of 2013.</ref>

From the creation of the [[Order of Australia]] in 1975, the governor-general was, ''[[Ex officio member|ex officio]]'', [[Principal of the Order of Australia|Chancellor and Principal Companion]] of the order, and therefore became entitled to the post-nominal AC. In 1976, the [[letters patent]] for the order were amended to introduce the rank of Knight and Dame to the order, and from that time the governor-general became, ex officio, the Chancellor and Principal Knight of the order. In 1986 the letters patent were amended again, and governors-general appointed from that time were again, ex officio, entitled to the post-nominal AC (although if they already held a knighthood in the order that superior rank was retained).

Until 1989, all governors-general were members of the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom]] and thus held the additional style ''[[The Right Honourable]]'' for life. The same individuals were also usually either [[Australian peers and baronets|peer]]s, knights, or both (the only Australian peer to be appointed as governor-general was [[Richard Casey, Baron Casey|Lord Casey]]; and Sir [[William McKell]] was knighted only in 1951, some years into his term, but he was entitled to the style ''The Honourable'' during his tenure as premier of New South Wales, an office he held until almost immediately before his appointment). In 1989, [[Bill Hayden]], a republican, declined appointment to the British Privy Council and any [[Australian honours system#Imperial honours|imperial honours]]. From that time until 2014, governors-general did not receive automatic titles or honours, other than the post-nominal AC by virtue of being Chancellor and Principal Companion of the Order of Australia. [[Quentin Bryce]] was the first governor-general to have had no prior title or [[Pre-nominal letters|pre-nominal]] style. She was in office when, on 19 March 2014, then prime minister [[Tony Abbott]] advised the Queen to amend the letters patent of the Order of Australia to reinstate knighthoods into the Order, with the governor-general becoming the Principal Knight or Dame of the order.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=A New Honour for Pre-eminent Australians |date=25 March 2014 |publisher=Australian Government: Prime Minister and Cabinet |url=http://www.pm.gov.au/media/2014-03-25/new-honour-pre-eminent-australians |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140325130621/http://www.pm.gov.au/media/2014-03-25/new-honour-pre-eminent-australians |archive-date=2014-03-25 |last1=Abbott |first1=Tony |author-link1=Tony Abbott}}</ref> However, in 2015 knighthoods were once again abolished by new prime minister [[Malcolm Turnbull]], with all subsequent governors-general appointed as Companions.

[[Spouse of the governor-general of Australia|Spouses of governors-general]] have no official duties but carry out the role of a vice-regal consort. They are entitled to the courtesy style ''Her Excellency'' or ''His Excellency'' during the office-holder's term of office. Most spouses of governors-general have been content to be quietly supportive. Some, however, have been notable in their own right, such as Dame [[Alexandra Hasluck]], [[Maie Casey, Baroness Casey|Lady Casey]] and [[Michael Bryce]].