Australian honours order of wearing explained

The Governor-General of Australia has, at irregular intervals, notified for general information notifies the positioning of wearing of Australian orders, decorations and medals in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. The Order of Wearing Australian Honours and Awards was last published in 2007.^[1]

Order of wearing

The order of wearing decorations and awards within the Australian honours system is prescribed as follows.^[2]

Honours and awards listed are:

• those within the Australian system of honours and awards;
• those conferred by the Sovereign in exercise of the royal prerogative;
• those within the Order of St John; and
• foreign awards the acceptance and wearing of which have been authorised by the Governor-General.

Awards of the British Empire/United Kingdom have been classified as foreign since 5 October 1992 and should be worn accordingly.^[3]

See also: Order of Wearing of honours awarded prior to 6 October 1992.

1. Victoria Cross/Victoria Cross for Australia^[4] VC
2. Cross of Valour CV
3. Knight/Lady Companion of the Order of the Garter KG/LG
4. Knight/Lady of the Order of the Thistle KT/LT
5. Member of the Order of Merit OM (Civil Division and Military Division)
6. Knight/Dame of the Order of Australia AK/AD
7. Knight/Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order GCVO
8. Companion of the Order of Australia (General Division) AC (Military Division)
9. Knight/Dame Commander of the Royal Victorian Order KCVO/DCVO
10. Officer of the Order of Australia (General Division) AO (Military Division)
11. Commander of the Royal Victorian Order CVO
12. Star of Gallantry SG
13. Star of Courage SC
14. Distinguished Service Cross DSC
15. Member of the Order of Australia (General Division) AM (Military Division)
16. Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order LVO
17. Member of the Royal Victorian Order MVO
18. Conspicuous Service Cross CSC
19. Nursing Service Cross NSC
20. Medal for Gallantry MG
21. Bravery Medal BM
22. Distinguished Service Medal DSM
23. Public Service Medal PSM
24. Australian Police Medal APM
25. Australian Fire Service Medal AFSM
26. Ambulance Service Medal ASM
27. Emergency Services Medal ESM
28. Australian Corrections Medal ACM
29. Australian Intelligence Medal AIM
30. Medal of the Order of Australia (General Division) OAM (Military Division)
31. Order of St John^[5]
32. Conspicuous Service Medal CSM
33. Australian Antarctic Medal AAM
34. Royal Victorian Medal RVM
35. Commendation for Gallantry
36. Commendation for Brave Conduct
37. Commendation for Distinguished Service
38. Australia Service Medal 1939-45
39. Australian Active Service Medal 1945–1975
40. Vietnam Medal
41. Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal
42. Australian Active Service Medal
43. International Force East Timor Medal (INTERFET)
44. Afghanistan Medal
45. Iraq Medal
46. Australian Service Medal 1945–1975
47. Australian General Service Medal for Korea
48. Australian Service Medal
49. Australian Operational Service Medal – Border Protection^[6]
50. Australian Operational Service Medal – Greater Middle East Operation
51. Australian Operational Service Medal – Special Operations
52. Australian Operational Service Medal - Counter Terrorism/Special Recovery
53. Australian Operational Service Medal - Africa
54. Australian Operational Service Medal – Civilian
55. Rhodesia Medal
56. Police Overseas Service Medal
57. Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal
58. National Emergency Medal
59. Civilian Service Medal 1939–1945
60. National Police Service Medal
61. King Edward VII Coronation Medal (1902)
62. King George V Coronation Medal (1911)
63. King George V Silver Jubilee Medal (1935)
64. King George VI Coronation Medal (1937)
65. Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal (1953)
66. Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal (1977)
67. Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002)
68. Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012)
69. Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal (2022)
70. King Charles III Coronation Medal (2023)
71. 80th Anniversary Armistice Remembrance Medal (1999)
72. Australian Sports Medal (2000)
73. Centenary Medal (2001)
74. Defence Force Service Medal
75. Reserve Force Decoration RFD
76. Reserve Force Medal
77. Defence Long Service Medal
78. National Medal
79. Australian Defence Medal
80. Australian Cadet Forces Service Medal
81. Champion Shots Medal
82. Long Service Medals See United Kingdom Honours Order of Wearing
83. Service Medal of the Order of St John^[7]
84. Anniversary of National Service 1951–1972 Medal
85. Foreign Awards (in order of date of authorisation of their acceptance and wearing).

Citations

The following citations are not positioned according to the list above. For members of the uniformed services, they are worn according to respective Service dress rules. For civilians, they are worn centrally above any other honours or awards:

• Unit Citation for Gallantry
• Meritorious Unit Citation
• Group Bravery Citation

Foreign awards

Approved foreign awards are published by the Governor-General in the Schedule of approved countries and awards.

The following are international and foreign honours commonly awarded to Australians for various reasons.

For foreign awards commonly awarded to Australians for campaign and peacekeeping service please refer to the list on Australian Campaign Medals.

See also

• Orders, decorations, and medals of Australia
• Post-nominal letters
• List of post-nominal letters (Australia)
• Australian Commendations and Citations
• United Kingdom Honours Order of Wearing

External links

• It's an Honour – Australian government website
• Wearing Awards – Australian government It's an Honour website
• Defence Honours & Awards– Australian Defence Force website
• The Defence Honours and Awards Manual (DHAM)
  • Chapter 4 of the manual includes a link to the "current" (2007) Order of Wearing, but more usefully:
  • Annex A contains: A modified order of wearing that is designed to make the order of wearing Defence awards more easily understood ... The modified version provides a complete list of all awards by incorporating those campaign and other medals that are included separately in annexes to the original schedule.

Notes and References

1. Commonwealth of Australia Gazette no. S192 of Friday, 28 September 2007.
2. Web site: Awards Order of Wearing . www.pmc.gov.au.
3. "- all Imperial awards made to Australian citizens after 5 October 1992 are foreign awards and should be worn accordingly." Order of Wearing, updated 25 September 2007. page 1. (Generally, foreign awards are worn after Australian awards, and postnominals of foreign awards are not recognised.)
4. "Refers to both the Victoria Cross and the Victoria Cross for Australia." Order of Wearing, Page 5, Note 1. (Generally, foreign awards are worn after Australian awards, and postnominals of foreign awards are not recognised.)
5. a) Listed to indicate where any awards within the Order of St John should be worn; however, the Service Medal of the Order of St John should be worn as a Long Service Medal after all other Imperial Long Service awards.
   b) "Post-nominals within the Order of St John are not recognised." (As notified in the Governor-General's media release of 14 August 1982.)Order of Wearing, Page 5, Note 3.
6. Web site: What is the order of wear for the OSM? . Australian Operational Service Medal . Royal Australian Navy .
7. Web site: Medals . www.defence.gov.au.