Order of Australia
From QueerBio.com
The Order of Australia is that country's highest civilian honour, established in 1975 to replace the British honours system, and is awarded for significant national and international achievement and meritorious service. Nominations to the order come from the public and it is administered by the Governor General of Australia. The order is divided into the following:
- Knight or Dame of the Order of Australia (AK or AD – Civil division only – Closed to new appointments in 1986);
- Companion of the Order of Australia (AC);
- Officer of the Order of Australia (AO);
- Member of the Order of Australia (AM); and
- Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).
We have identified the following individuals as LGBTQ recipients of the Order of Australia:
- Alyson Annan, field hockey player
- Neil Armfield, theatre and opera director
- Virginia Bell, Justice of the High Court of Australia
- Neal Blewett, former Member of Parliament
- Raelene Boyle, track sprinter
- Anna Brown, lawyer and activist
- Bille Brown, Theatre and film actor
- Deborah Cheetham, Soprano Opera singer, playwright
- Carin Clonda, squash player
- Natalie Cook, beach volleyball player and the first Australian to play in five successive Olympic games
- Rodney Croome, activist
- John Dauth, ambassador and civil servant
- Ken Duncan, photographer
- Don Dunstan, Premier of South Australia
- Margaret Fischer, theatre maker
- James Gardiner, activist
- James Gleeson, surrealist painter
- Brian Greig, former Senator and LGBTQ activist
- Ivan Hinton-Teoh, activist
- Graham Kennedy, radio and television personality
- Samantha Kerr, professional football/soccer player
- Michael Kirby, lawyer and retired justice of the High Court of Australia
- Daniel Kowalski, Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer
- Sean Linkson, activist and human resources expert
- Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum (honorary AO)
- John Marsden, lawyer
- Ruth McNair, medical doctor
- Molly Meldrum, record producer and music critic
- Matthew Mitcham, Gold-medal winning Olympic diver
- Kerryn Phelps, medicine and general practitioner
- Jeffrey Smart, painter
- Tracy Smart, military
- Ian Thorpe, five-time Olympic Gold swimmer
- Lex Watson, Activist
- Karrie Webb, professional golfer
- Helen Westwood, Member of New South Wales Legislative Council
- Richard Wherrett, theatre and opera director
- Patrick White, writer and Australia's only recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature
- Sharni Williams, rugby player
See Also
- New Zealand Order of Merit
- Order of Canada
- LGBTQ Recipients of the Order of Merit
- LGBTQ Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
- LGBTQ Individuals Who Have Received France's Highest Honours
- LGBTQ Members of the Order of Orange-Nassau
- Nobel Prize Winners from the LGBTQ Community
