Editing Order of Australia (section)

=== Establishment ===
[[File:Orders of Australia on a table.jpg|thumb|Several insignias for the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) to be granted]]
The Order of Australia was established on 14 February 1975 by [[letters patent]] of [[Queen Elizabeth II of Australia|Queen Elizabeth II]], acting as [[Monarchy of Australia|Queen of Australia]], and on the [[Advice (constitutional law)|advice]] of the newly elected Labor [[Prime Minister of Australia|prime minister]], [[Gough Whitlam]]. The original order had three levels: Companion (AC), Officer (AO) and Member (AM) as well as two divisions: Civil Division and Military Division. Whitlam had previously announced in 1972 (on his third day in office) that his government would no longer nominate persons for British Imperial honours (with the exception of awards recommended by the soon to be independent government of the [[Territory of Papua and New Guinea]]); however this did not affect the constitutional right of state governments to recommend imperial awards. 

According to the governor general's then-secretary [[David Smith (public servant)|Sir David Smith]], Whitlam was furious when he first saw Devlin's design for the insignia of the order, due to the inclusion of a representation of the states (with whom Whitlam's government was constantly in dispute) through the [[Australian heraldry#Badges|state badges]] within the [[Commonwealth Coat of Arms]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=David |author-link=David Smith (public servant) |date=22 July 2007 |title=The Chameleon Crown: The Queen and Her Australian Governors |url=https://norepublic.com.au/the-chameleon-crown-the-queen-and-her-australian-governors-2/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106112355/https://norepublic.com.au/the-chameleon-crown-the-queen-and-her-australian-governors-2/ |archive-date=6 November 2023 |access-date=2023-11-25 |website=[[Australians for Constitutional Monarchy]]}}</ref>

The original three-level structure of the Order of Australia was modelled closely upon the [[Order of Canada]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Barwick |first=Garfield |title=[[A Radical Tory: Garfield Barwick's Reflections and Recollections]] |date=1995 |publisher=Federation Press |isbn=978-1-86287-236-3 |page=266}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Duke |first=Suzanne |title=Debrett's Handbook of Australia and New Zealand |date=1984 |publisher=Debrett's Peerage |isbn=0-313-26126-1 |page=47}}</ref> though the Order of Australia has been awarded rather more liberally, especially in regard to honorary awards to non-citizens. {{As of|2024|July}} only [[Honorary appointments to the Order of Canada|30 non-Canadians]] have been appointed to the Order of Canada, while 537 non-Australians have been appointed to the Order of Australia, with 46 to the Companion level.

Public reaction to the new awards was mixed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fox |first=Karen |url=https://press.anu.edu.au/publications/honouring-nation |title=Honouring a Nation: A History of Australia's Honours System |date=Jan 2022 |publisher=ANU Press |isbn=9781760465001 |pages=171–9 |language=en}}</ref> Only the state Labor governments of Tasmania and South Australia agreed to submit recommendations for the new awards, with the remaining governments affirming their committent to the existing imperial honours system. Newspaper editorials similarly praised the awards as an example of Australia's greater independence, whilst also noting that the awards would likely appear second-rate.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Curran |first1=James |title=The Unknown Nation: Australia After Empire |last2=Ward |first2=Stuart |date=2010 |publisher=Melbourne University Publishing |isbn=978-0-522-85645-3 |edition= |location=Carlton, Vic |pages=216–221 |language=en}}</ref> ''[[The Australian]]'' stated that

{{Blockquote|text=There is no longer a British Empire; everyone knows that. But somehow the phrase "imperial honours" still carries a ring of regal authenticity that somehow transcends nationalism. For the time being a recipient{{nbs}}... of the Order of Australia is likely to feel a bit second-rate, and the public is likely to agree. We hate to be the first to say it, but there is no doubt that the Order of Australia (OA) will be labelled as the Ocker Award.}}

Satire and mockery also greeted the awards, being dubbed "Gough’s Gongs" and "the Order of the Wombat".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fox |first=Karen |url=https://press.anu.edu.au/publications/honouring-nation |title=Honouring a Nation: A History of Australia's Honours System |date=Jan 2022 |publisher=ANU Press |isbn=9781760465001 |page=177 |language=en}}</ref>