Order of Australia

Order of Australia
Insignia of a Knight/Dame of the Order of Australia
Awarded by HM Queen Elizabeth II
Type	National Order
Eligibility	All living Australian citizens
Awarded for	Achievement and merit in service to Australia or humanity
Status	Currently constituted
Sovereign	Queen Elizabeth II
Chancellor	General Sir Peter Cosgrove
Statistics
Established	14 February 1975
First induction	21 April 1975
Last induction	2017 Australia Day Honours
Total inductees	AK – 15 AD – 4 AC – 501 AO – 2,740 AM – 9,623 OAM – 22,123 .
Ribbons: general division; military division

AK – 15
AD – 4
AC – 501
AO – 2,740
AM – 9,623
OAM – 22,123

The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, to recognise Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or meritorious service. Before the establishment of the order, Australian citizens received British honours.

The Queen of Australia is Sovereign Head of the Order, while the Governor-General is Principal Companion/Dame/Knight (as relevant at the time) and Chancellor of the Order. The Governor-General's Official Secretary is Secretary of the Order.

The order is divided into a general and a military division. The five levels of appointment to the order in descending order of seniority have been:

Honorary awards at all levels may be made to deserving non-citizens – these awards are made additional to the quotas.

The badge of the Order of Australia is a disc (gold for AKs, ADs and ACs, gilt for AOs, AMs and OAMs) representing the Golden Wattle flower. At the centre is a ring, representing the sea, with the word 'Australia' below two branches of golden wattle. The whole disc is topped by the Crown of St Edward. The AC badge is decorated with citrines, blue enamelled ring and enamelled crown. The AO badge is similar, without the citrines. For the AM badge only the crown is enamelled, and the OAM badge is plain. The AK/AD badge is similar to that of the AC badge, but with the difference that it contains at the centre an enamelled disc bearing an image of the coat of arms of Australia.

The star for knights and dames is a convex golden disc decorated with citrines, with a blue royally crowned inner disc bearing an image of the coat of arms of Australia.

The ribbon of the order is blue with a central stripe of golden wattle flower designs; that of the military division has additional golden edge stripes. AKs, male ACs and AOs wear their badges on a necklet; male AMs and OAMs wear them on a ribbon on the left chest. Women usually wear their badges on a bow on the left shoulder, although they may wear the same insignia as males, if so desired.