The Order of Australia is the only Australian order of chivalry. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, to recognise Australian citizens and other persons for achievement, meritorious service, or for both. At that time, Companion of the Order of Australia was the highest of three grades of the order.
Divisions
The order has two divisions: general and military. In general, recipients who are not Australian citizens are appointed honorary companions, though there have been certain exceptions. (For example, Prince Philip's appointment as AC (mil.) was substantive.) ==Knights and dames==
Australian companions
General Division }|| 1923 || 2023 Military Division ==Honorary companions==
Former companions
== Announcements of appointments of companions ==
Announcements of appointments of companions
A list of links to announcements of all awards appears on the Governor-General's website. :Gen = General Division; Mil = Military Division; Hon = Honorary award; Tot = Total == Australian honours search facility (previously called It's an Honour)==
Australian honours search facility (previously called It's an Honour)
• Companion of the Order of Australia • Fact sheet • From the Advanced search page, it is possible to produce a list of all recipients that appear in the Australian Honours Search Facility database). • In March 2014, there were 457 entries in the database. • In December 2016 there were 501 entries in the database. (Versus [508 awarded minus 3 resigned minus 1 cancelled] = 504, minus 3 not in the database = 501) • In September 2017 there were 512 entries in the database. (519-4=515, minus 3 = 512) • The list does not necessarily show all recipients of the Companion of the Order of Australia, as some awardees of Australian honours elect not to have their names appear on the Australian Honours Search Facility website. and Prince Charles and Prince Philip's substantive knighthoods (AK) were enabled by changes to the Letters Patent.) ==See also==