Honours timeline

The establishment and transition of the Australian honours system began in 1975. 

Prior to the introduction of the Australian system of honours and awards, Australians could be appointed to British Orders.

Timeline for Australia’s Honours and Awards

The system of Australian honours was established in 1975. It replaced the previous Imperial system of British honours that commenced in 1901 and was phased out by the late 1980s.

There are 60 awards in the Australian honours system and the best known is the Order of Australia.

To find out more about these and other Australian honours, see the timeline below. Each honour entry has its own Fact Sheet for you to print out.

Year

Honour Introduced

1949

1968

1975

1976

1980

1982

1986

1987

1988

1989

1991

1993

1994

1995

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2004

2006

2009

2011

2012

2014

  • Knight and Dame level for the Order of Australia introduced.

2015

  • Knight and Dame level for the Order of Australia removed.

2018

2020