The distinguished service decorations were established on 15 January 1991 by letters patent as a three tier award with varying eligibility criteria. and the
Commendation for Distinguished Service with "distinguished performance of duties in warlike operations". In 1993, the
1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR) deployed to Somalia on
Operation Solace, as part of the Australian contribution to a
United Nations peacemaking mission in Somalia. At the time and during later honours reviews, the operation had not been considered a 'warlike operation', however nine distinguished service decorations had been awarded to personnel for actions during the operation. The first recipients of the distinguished service cross was Colonel William Mellor, commander Australian forces Somalia and Lieutenant Colonel
David Hurley, commanding officer of 1RAR. Colonel Mellor was awarded the distinguished service cross for "distinguished command and leadership as Commander, Australian Force Somalia" and Lieutenant Colonel Hurley was awarded the same decoration for "distinguished command and leadership as Commanding Officer, 1st Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment, Group in Somalia." Both failed to mention 'in action' as part of the citations. The official defence standing is that service in Somalia from 17 October 1992 to 30 April 1993 was found to be 'warlike' by the 2022 Inquiry into unit recognition for Australian Defence Force service in Somalia by the Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal. Regardless of how distinguished the command or distinguished the leadership officers had performed, due to the lack of engagement with rebel forces in Somalia, the highest awards that could have been achieved was that of
Officer of the Order of Australia, Member of the Order of Australia or Commendation for Distinguished Service. The 2007 Review of Defence Honours, Awards and Commendation Policies conducted by the
Department of Defence found that the distinguished service decorations had been awarded liberally and that the "DSC was awarded inappropriately to officers who were not directly commanding forces in the course of armed combat." It was proposed in the same review that a meritorious service decoration suite of medals be established to sit in the order of wear between the distinguished service decorations and conspicuous service decorations. and would take the form of the Meritorious Service Cross and Meritorious Service Medal. and would allow for senior officers to be recognised for distinguished/meritorious performance in non-warlike and warlike operations that didn't require the recipient to be in action. he raised that the new awards would fill the gap between the distinguished service cross and medal and commendation for distinguished service. In the letter, it was stated that "A new set of awards be established to recognise such performance of duty in wartlike operations but not in combat roles". In June 2009, Senator for Queensland
Joe Ludwig responded to Mike Kelly, confirming that a gap in the honours system was present, however it was recommended that the distinguished service decorations criteria change to better recognise the outstanding performance and achievement of ADF members who, although in warlike situations, are not in action in lieu of the creation of a new medallic suite.
Attempted revocations of decorations Following the release of the
Brereton Report on 19 November 2020, the
Chief of the Defence Force General
Angus Campbell wrote to the Governor-General
David Hurley recommending that the
Meritorious Unit Citation be revoked for Task Force 66 (Special Operations Task Groups IV – XX), originally awarded on 26 January 2015. In April 2021, Defence Minister
Peter Dutton reversed this decision, but stated that those who have a conviction, or a finding of inappropriate behaviour, will have their citation revoked. In late November 2022, Campbell gave officers of Captain to Brigadier rank "28 days to prove their service in the Afghanistan war was distinguished". Up to 3,000 Australian Defence Force members faced potentially having their medals revoked. At the time of the most serious allegations in 2012, Campbell was serving as the Commander Joint Task Force 633, for which he was awarded the
Distinguished Service Cross. This has led to calls for Campbell to be stripped of his decoration due to findings of the Brereton Report, On 15 June 2023, Senator
Malcolm Roberts of the Senate Estimates Committee asked the Department of Defence on notice if this was the case, they replied "No". In May 2023, Campbell again attempted to strip some defence force members of their distinguished and conspicuous service decorations, notifying several Afghanistan War veterans that he had referred the termination of their decorations to Defence Minister
Richard Marles. This lead renewed calls for Campbell to return his distinguished service cross by retired liberal leader of the South Australian opposition
Martin Hamilton-Smith. The petition gained 1696 signatures and requested that "We therefore ask the House to request that the Defence Minister direct that the Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal inquire into the awards given to Commanders of JTF 633, pursuant to section 110W of the Defence Act 1903 and subject to appropriate terms of reference.' ==Senate inquiry==