Every year, hundreds of people are acknowledged for their achievement or service to the community through the Australia Day honours list. But occasionally, that process attracts controversy as it did this week.
A guide to Australia Day honours and how the selection process works
SatSaturday 23
updated
SatSaturday 23
The Australia Day honours list is overseen by the Council for the Order of Australia.
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Every year, hundreds of people are acknowledged for their achievement or service to the community through the Australia Day honours list.
What are the Australia Day honours?
According to the Governor-General, General David Hurley, they re given to people whose efforts make our communities and our nation a better place .
The Order of Australia is just one set of awards that gets handed out, alongside:
Australian Bravery Decorations
Liberal and Labor MPs back changes to Australia Day honours system
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MPs from both sides of federal politics have backed changes to the Order of Australia honours system, suggesting the awards could better reflect modern Australia.
Governor-General David Hurley told
The Sydney Morning Herald and
The Age that he wanted to change the awards system, acknowledging it had been historically biased against women and had not included enough Indigenous Australians.
Margaret Court will be recognised on Australia Day with a Companion of the Order of Australia.
Credit:Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images
The comments came amid a furore over leaked news that former tennis champion Margaret Court will be upgraded from an AO (Order of Australia) to an AC (a Companion in the Order of Australia) on Australia Day.
Court is an all-time tennis great who holds 24 major singles titles, but her views on homosexuality, same-sex marriage and transgender people have been labelled offensive and intolerant. There have been calls for the Margaret Court Arena at Melbourne Park to be renamed.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison refused to comment on the honour, saying the Order of Australia was a “completely independent process”.
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Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said Mrs Court had “already been honoured for her tennis prowess”.
“She’s already an Officer of the Order of Australia,” he posted on Twitter. “I think it’s clear for everyone to see that making her a Companion of the Order of Australia has nothing to do with tennis.”
Critics of the Australian honours system claim it is too politicised, too weighted towards the wealthy, too pale, male and stale. Can the growing movement to make it more egalitarian really make a difference?