Australian Honours Order of Wearing

The Governor General of Australia has, at irregular intervals, notified for general information the positioning of the 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, and replaced the previous list published in 2002.^[1]

Prior to 2002, the lists were named the Australian Order of Precedence of Honours and Awards.^[2] With the cessation in 2013 of the gazettal of lists of recipients of Australia Day and Queen’s Birthday Honours, it is not yet known if future issues of the Order of Wearing Australian Honours and Awards will be gazetted.^[3]

Order of wear

Order of wearing decorations and awards within the Australian Honours System.^[4]

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.

Note that awards of the British Empire/United Kingdom are now considered foreign (if awarded after 5 October 1992), and should be worn accordingly.^[5]

If awarded after 5 October 1992

1. Victoria Cross/Victoria Cross for Australia^[6] VC
2. Cross of Valour CV
3. Knight/Lady of the Garter^[7] KG/LG
4. Knight/Lady of the Thistle^[7] KT/LT
5. Member of the Order of Merit^[7] OM
6. Knight/Dame of the Order of Australia ^[8] AK/AD
7. Knight/Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order^[7] GCVO
8. Companion of the Order of Australia (General Division) AC (Military Division)
9. Knight/Dame Commander of the Royal Victorian Order^[7] KCVO/DCVO
10. Officer of the Order of Australia (General Division) AO (Military Division)
11. Commander of the Royal Victorian Order^[7] 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 LVO and Member MVO of the Royal Victorian Order^[7]
17. Conspicuous Service Cross CSC
18. Nursing Service Cross NSC
19. Medal for Gallantry MG
20. Bravery Medal BM
21. Distinguished Service Medal DSM
22. Public Service Medal PSM
23. Australian Police Medal APM
24. Australian Fire Service Medal AFSM
25. Ambulance Service Medal ASM
26. Emergency Services Medal ESM
27. Medal of the Order of Australia (General Division) OAM (Military Division)
28. Order of St John^[7][9]
29. Conspicuous Service Medal CSM
30. Australian Antarctic Medal AAM
31. Royal Victorian Medal RVM
32. Commendation for Gallantry
33. Commendation for Brave Conduct
34. Commendation for Distinguished Service
35. Australian Active Service Medal 1945–1975^[10]
36. Korea Medal
37. United Nations Service Medal for Korea^[11]
38. Vietnam Medal
39. Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal^[12]
40. Australian Active Service Medal^[10]
41. International Force East Timor Medal (INTERFET)
42. Afghanistan Medal
43. Iraq Medal
44. Australian Service Medal 1945–1975^[10]
45. Australian General Service Medal Korea
46. Australian Service Medal^[10]
47. Australian Operational Service Medal - Border Protection^[13]
48. Australian Operational Service Medal - Greater Middle East Operation
49. Australian Operational Service Medal - Civilian
50. Rhodesia Medal
51. Police Overseas Service Medal
52. Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal
53. National Emergency Medal
54. Civilian Service Medal 1939–1945
55. National Police Service Medal
56. Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal^[7][14]
57. Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal^[7][14]
58. 80th Anniversary Armistice Remembrance Medal (1999)
59. Australian Sports Medal (2000)
60. Centenary Medal (2001)
61. Defence Force Service Medal
62. Reserve Force Decoration RFD
63. Reserve Force Medal
64. Defence Long Service Medal
65. National Medal
66. Australian Defence Medal
67. Australian Cadet Forces Service Medal
68. Champion Shots Medal
69. Long Service Medals^[15]
70. Anniversary of National Service 1951–1972 Medal
71. 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

Specific foreign awards are not mentioned on the Order of Wear - just the general comment that foreign awards appear after the awards mentioned.

However, the following are international and foreign honours commonly awarded to Australians for various reasons.

	Commandeur	Legion of Honour - awarded for Excellent civil or military conduct delivered	France
	Officier
	Chevalier
	Distinguished Service Order (Military)		Singapore
	Meritorious Service Medal (Military)
	Order of National Security Merit - usually awarded for joint operations		South Korea
	Civil	Order of the British Empire - awarded for Miscellaneous (civil or military) service	United Kingdom
	Military
	Commander	Legion of Merit - awarded to senior defence commanders	United States
	Officer
	Meritorious Service Medal - usually awarded for joint operations

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

References

1. Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No. S101 of Thursday, 4 April 2002 and No. S192 of Friday, 28 September 2007
2. e.g. Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No. S113 of Wednesday, 9 May 1990 and No. S26 of Monday, 4 February 1991
3. Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No. S15 of Saturday 26 January 2013 is a notice that states: "The Governor-General is pleased to announce appointments and awards to orders and decorations listed with a note that a comprehensive list of recipients can be found at www.gg.gov.au"
4. "The Order of Wearing Australian Honours and Awards", updated 25 September 2007. (Includes official post-nominals.) It's an Honour
5. "- 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.)
6. "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.)
7. Conferred by The Sovereign in exercise of the Royal Prerogative
8. "Provision for further awards at this level within the Order of Australia was removed by Her Majesty The Queen on 3 March 1986 on the advice of the Prime Minister. The grade was reinstated on 25 March 2014 on the advice of the Prime Minister." Order of Wearing, Page 5, Note 2.
9. 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.
10. Clasps to these medals should be worn on the ribbon in order of date of receipt.
11. Uniquely, although a foreign award, the United Nations Service Medal for Korea is worn immediately after the Korea Medal. All other foreign awards for which official permission has been given to accept and wear are worn as Foreign Awards.
12. A person who has been awarded the Vietnam Medal, or who is eligible for the award of the Vietnam Medal, is not eligible for the award of the Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal. These medals are of equal status.
13. "What is the order of wear for the OSM?". Australian Operational Service Medal. Royal Australian Navy.
14. The Jubilee Medals have been awarded by The Sovereign in exercise of the Royal Prerogative to those awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia and Cross of Valour
15. Includes Imperial efficiency and long service awards. http://itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/awards/docs/order_of_wearing.pdf

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.