Welcome to Defence Honours and Awards

2012 Australia Day Honours

From the earliest times countries have rewarded excellence, achievement and outstanding service. This recognition has taken many forms, including gifts of property, the granting of titles and the awarding of medals.

The purpose of Defence honours and awards is to recognise the service of members of the Australian Defence Force.

What you will find on this site:

This website provides information about Defence honours and awards, including:

• medals that may be issued to Australia's defence personnel, past and present,
• the eligibility criteria for currently issued awards,
• how to submit an application for a medal, and
• information about current Defence awards issues.

The site is not designed to be a research resource for honours and awards that are no longer issued, for example, Imperial gallantry and long service awards. Also, information is not provided on individuals or units. To assist those seeking further information, links are provided in the website to a range of other useful sources.

It must be appreciated that an individual's eligibility to awards may involve circumstances that can only be assessed completely using the professional experience and knowledge of assessors and reference to a range of resources that are not readily available, such as microfilm, printed publications and official files. Anyone who believes that they may be eligible for an award should apply using the form available on the site to ensure that any entitlements are fully and accurately assessed.

Web page last updated 10 February, 2012