The Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet advises that a State Funeral Service for Mr Neale Andrew Fraser AO MBE will take place at 10.30 am on Wednesday, 18 December 2024 at St Patrick’s Cathedral, 1 Cathedral Place, East Melbourne, Victoria.
Mr Fraser was one of Australia’s tennis greats, winning 19 grand slams and leading Australia to 4 Davis Cup titles over his 24-year captaincy - inspiring generations of Australian players.
During his acclaimed career, he won 19 titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles across Australian, French, Wimbledon and US championships between 1956 and 1962, and is the most recent man in history to have completed the triple crown, which he achieved in 1959 and 1960 at the US Open.
A much-respected coach and teacher of the game, Mr Fraser was inducted to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1984, the Australian Tennis Hall of fame in 1994, and received the Philippe Chatrier Award for outstanding achievements in tennis in 2008. In 1988, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in recognition of service to the sport of tennis.
Details regarding the service and livestreaming can be found on the Victorian Government website.
As a mark of mourning and respect, the Australian National Flag should be flown at half-mast all day on Wednesday, 18 December 2024 in Victoria only from all buildings and establishments occupied by Australian Government departments and affiliated agencies. Other organisations are welcome to participate.
- When flying the Australian National Flag with other flags, all flags in the set should be flown at half-mast.
- If a set of flags includes the flags of other nations, it would be appropriate to seek permission from the diplomatic representatives of that nation to half-mast their flag.
- An acceptable half-mast position would be when the top of the flag is a third of the distance down from the top of the flagpole.
- Information on flag protocol is available on the Department's website.
Your assistance is appreciated.
Commonwealth Flag Officer