It’s award season, and a good time to reflect on Australia’s highest awards: the Order of Australia. Fifty years ago, Prime Minister Whitlam announced that Australia would have its own Honours system to replace the Imperial Honours.
It was a good step forward, but the system has failed to reflect the Australian population in all its diversity of education, socio-economic status, gender, cultural background, age and geographical location. It’s time for modernisation.
Reflecting diversity
Five years ago, I wrote about the apparently ‘difficult women’ who had not been awarded honours. Honour a Woman, a movement of volunteers, has worked hard since 2017 to achieve gender equality in the Order of Australia, and we are now turning our attention to a broader view of diversity. We have argued for structural changes and improvements to processes, but although there has been some tinkering, lasting changes have not been made. While women achieved 50 per cent of Honours in 2024, the figure already slipped back to 47 per cent in January 2025.
We often felt we were speaking a different language to those in decision-making positions, particularly in the Governor General’s office. However, with the appointment of Her Excellency the Honourable Sam Mostyn AC to the role, and after positive discussions with her, we are hopeful that the 50th anniversary will be a catalyst for embedded change. As she says, “We have a wonderful opportunity over the next 50 years of our honours and awards to reflect our generous, successful and modern Australian society”.
Improving nomination
How will greater diversity be reflected? Community awareness of the awards is patchy, especially beyond major cities and some professions, and it takes far too long to craft a nomination and find suitable, strong referees. Young people rarely think of nominating their peers for an Order of Australia, with the result that many awards go to the educated elderly.
Relying on the community to nominate clearly leads to some outstanding Australians missing out.
“Establishing committees of volunteers in each State and Territory to help identify exceptional Australians to be nominated would help overcome structural barriers”, suggests Carol Kiernan, co-founder of Honour a Woman.
“Including gender and diversity targets for all levels of the award would also ensure that these awards celebrate the rich diversity of the Australian population.”
Clarifying selection
Assessment processes are cumbersome, and Government House staff are dealing with a backlog that means it can be 2-3 years before an award is announced. The two annual dates for announcements are currently both laden with uncomfortable colonial histories, which affects the perception of the Honours as a whole.
We are aware that some high-profile, deserving people have been nominated but not selected, for reasons that are unclear. Others should not have been awarded, and the honour has subsequently been cancelled (eg Rolf Harris, Mike Pezzullo).
“The idea of merit must be challenged”, according to Ruth McGowan OAM. “It hides unconscious bias and results in skewed awards to ‘people like us’.”
What you can do
As the federal government has the responsibility for improving the Honours system, we call on politicians and candidates to support revitalising the Order of Australia. You can show your support by raising the issue in this election year and leaving comments and messages on www.facebook.com/Honourawoman.
Featured image: Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young, heading into Government House Canberra to press her case with the current GG.