Social justice advocates, TV presenters, doctors and scientists among those recognised in Australia Day 2024 Honours

For only the second time in the Australian Honours history, more women than men have been recognised in this year’s Australia Day list.

Governor-General David Hurley said all recipients, including those from the fields of science, community service and the arts had made a profound contribution.

“Recipients come from all parts of the country. They have served and had an impact in just about every field you can imagine. Their stories and backgrounds are diverse,” he said.

“In my experience most are humble and often try to deflect attention or praise – please enjoy the moment because your country has decided that you deserve recognition.”

This year 1,042 Australians are recipients of the country’s highest honours, which includes 20 in the military division of the Order of Australia, 224 meritorious awards and 59 awards for distinguished and conspicuous service.

There are also 49 people who have been recognised for their contribution in support of Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Father (Bob) Robert John Maguire AM RFD

Father Bob Maguire was parish priest of Sts Peter and Paul’s Catholic Church in South Melbourne for close to 40 years.(AAP: Julian Smith)

Late social justice campaigner Father Robert John Maguire has been recognised as an Officer of the Order of Australia for his distinguished service to the community.

Best known as Father Bob, the Catholic priest and media personality died in April last year after a life dedicated to standing up for the poor and marginalised.

Frank O’Connor, the director of the Father Bob Maguire Foundation, said it was “hard to know” how the late maverick priest would have responded to being awarded an AO.

“I think he would have been fairly chuffed,” Mr O’Connor said.

“Certainly the foundation and Father Bob’s family are absolutely delighted that his commitment to this sort of work is continuing to be recognised.”

Father Bob was ordained in 1960 and spent close to 40 years as a parish priest in Melbourne, leaving after a clash with the church hierarchy over the mandatory retirement age of 75 for priests.

He was allowed to remain a priest until age 77, retiring in 2012 after 50 years of service to the church.

Lorraine Ann Mazerolle AC

Professor Lorraine Mazerolle smiling in a profile photo leaving against a wall

Lorraine Mazerolle is a recipient of the Companion of the Order of Australia.(Supplied: UQ)

For eminent service to education, in her work as a criminologist, and for the development of evidence-based policing reforms, Lorraine Mazerolle has been a leader in her field.

She has worked extensively in research, policing, criminology and legal remedies both in Australia and the United States.

Professor Mazerolle said she was “honoured” to be a recipient of the Companion of the Order of Australia.

“It’s a recognition of a life working in criminology,” she said.

“This is a really significant award to me.”

When asked about her greatest achievements, Professor Mazerolle said she was “proud” of her work researching partnerships in policing and her PHD students.

David James Koch AM

A man wearing glass smiles for the camera at a press event.

David Koch is one of two TV presenters on this year’s honours list.(AAP: Bianca De Marchi)

David James Koch, better known as “Kochie” by the public, has been made a Member of the Order of Australia.

He has been recognised for his significant service to the media as a television presenter, and to economic journalism.

Koch trained as an accountant before beginning his career in journalism with a cadetship at The Australian followed by a stint with BRW magazine.

He continued working extensively in economic journalism, business and gave commentary for multiple publications in relation to business and finance.  

He is best known for hosting Channel Seven’s morning program Sunrise, which he did for 21 years.  

In that time, he said he’d done more than 5,300 shows, adding up to about 16,000 hours of live television.

Sandra Lee Sully AM

A woman in a red dress poses for the camera at the Logies.

Sandra Sully is a recipient of the Member of the Order of Australia.(AAP: Steve Markham)

Sandra Sully is a recipient of the Member of the Order of Australia for her significant service to the media, to charitable organisations, and to the community. 

Her journalism career began in the mid-1980s at the Seven Network in Brisbane.

After a stint at Prime in Canberra, she joined Network Ten’s Parliament House bureau in 1989.

She has worked for Channel 10 for more than three decades as a newsreader and reporter for Ten News First and The Late News.

She was the first Australian journalist to cover the September 11 attacks, one of the first at the scene of the Thredbo landslide, and has interviewed former US Vice President Al Gore and Douglas Wood, who was held hostage in Iraq before he was rescued. 

Sully has also starred on numerous reality and game TV shows including The Masked Singer, I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! and Australia’s Brainiest.

Sully is a contributor to multiple charities.

She’s an Ambassador for National Adoption Awareness, Ambassador for the NSW Crime Stoppers, National Ambassador for Do Something and Co-Patron of Spinal Cure.

Lilian Margaret Ries OAM

An elderly woman wearing a blue shirt with white flowers smiles at the camera.

Lilian Ries has been recognised for her service to community health.(ABC News: Liam Patrick)

At 100 years old, Lilian Ries is the oldest recipient of this year’s honours.

While most unwind in their 80’s, Ms Ries dedicated her twilight years volunteering with sick children and their families through the Ronald McDonald House Charity.

“I used to say to my husband, when they advertise in the paper for volunteers, I’m going to be the first one there, and I was the first one there,” she said. 

“I was there for over 20 years just helping the families. It was great.”

The great grandmother of 12 said she never expected to win an award.

“Never in the world did I think I’d get anything like that.”

Fiona Melanie Wood AO

A woman wearing a large broches and black glasses poses for a photo

Fiona Wood was behind the development of “spray on skin” technology.(ABC News: Grace Burmas)

In Western Australia, prominent plastic-surgeon and 2005 Australian of the year Fiona Wood is receiving her second honours, this time as an Officer of The Order.

“It is extraordinary to be recognised by one’s peers and the community in this way. It really sort of takes your breath away,” she said.

“This is an award that is not just for me individually, it’s for the whole of the team and the extended team and what we’ve been able to do over a long period of time, so this is very special.”

Ms Wood’s “spray on skin” technology has been hailed as an “answered prayer” for burn victims.

Using the world-first technique, she managed to treat 28 patients in the aftermath of the Bali Bombings and greatly reduced their scarring.

Her work still helps burn victims decades after its inception, but she says some cases never leave her. 

“It’s part of what we do is having the empathy to actually step along that journey with the patients and their families and carers as well.”

David Arley Squirrell OAM

A man in a dark blue shirt and black pants holds a woman's hand as they sit on couches in a lounge room.

David Squirrell (right) is a passionate disability advocate.(ABC News: David Frearson)

In 2008, when David Squirrell lost his medical registration due to his disability, he turned his focus to advocacy. Since then, he has worked towards making various public spaces more accessible.

He is now the Vice-President of Deaf-Blind Australia and a passionate disability advocate.

Dr Squirrel is a recipient of the Medal of The Order Australia due to his work.

He said there’s still a lot of work to be done in the space, with bureaucracy creating barrier for many people with a disability.

“Bureaucrats sit in chairs, ticking boxes, they don’t look at the person. And every person is an individual,” he said.

“I believe we need to leave this world a better place. To leave it a better place, you have to understand what is wrong, and hence where you can make a difference so that other people’s lives can be enriched.”

Majida Abboud-Saab OAM

An elderly woman sitting on a couch smiles at the camera.

Majida Abboud-Saab said being the recipient of the Medal of The Order of Australia makes her proud to be Australian. (ABC News)

Majida Abboud-Saab was a founding staff member of the Special Broadcasting Station before it became known across the nation as SBS.

She was one of the initial volunteers participating in a three-month experiment in 1975 to broadcast settlement information in minority languages. 

“Not everyone had a phone, but everyone had radio. Herein Australia, they would be…listen to information, settlement information in their own language,” she said.

Ms Saab went on to become the director of the SBS Arabic program, the most notable language program the public broadcaster ran for many years.

Her work brought Australian news to the Arabic community in the country which would have otherwise been inaccessible, in a time before the internet. 

She said being the recipient of the Medal of The Order of Australia makes her proud to be Australian. 

“It means to me that Australia has come of age and maturity to recognise the importance of multiculturalism and multilingual contribution to the country,” she said.

Larissa Tahireh Giddings AO

A woman smiles at the camera while sitting on a bench in a park.

Former Tasmanian premier Lara Giddings said she is incredibly humbled and excited to be made an Officer of the Order of Australia.(ABC News: Maren Preuss)

Former Tasmanian premier Larissa Tahireh Giddings has been made an Officer of the Order of Australia for her distinguished to the people and Parliament of Tasmania and the community.

In 1996, when Ms Giddings was just 23, she became the youngest women elected to an Australian parliament before eventually becoming the state’s first female premier in 2010.

She said she’s incredibly humbled and excited to receive the prestigious title.

“To be honest, I”m more thrilled for my Dad,” Ms Giddings said.

“[He’s] no longer with is, but he was a man who loved his medals, and had an Order of Australia medal himself. I know how much that meant to him, and just how proud he would be today to know that his daughter has [also] been provided with receiving this great honour.”

Bill Henson AO

An elderly man stares at the camera as he leans on a canvas inside his art studio.

Bill Henson said he was pleased to see the visual arts recognised in this year’s honours.(ABC News: Steven Martin)

Australian artist Bill Henson has been recognised for his distinguished service to visual arts and the promotion of Australian culture.

Henson, whose career began in the 1970s, is one of the country’s most prominent photographers and his works are held in galleries around Australia and the world.

Over the years his work has sparked controversy. In 2008, one of his exhibitions was closed and his images depicting nude child models were seized by police.

Reflecting on a career that has seen highs and lows, Henson said it had been fascinating to see how different people respond to his work depending on the time in history and their location.

Humbled by being made an Officer of the Order of Australia, Henson said he was pleased to see the visual arts recognised and that it raises the profile of artists who often work quietly on their own.

“It reflects the importance with which arts are regarded by other parts of our community,” he said.

“It unites people in a very profound way, art. And it’s not always a loud bang and it’s not always hit and run … it hits you in the face and then it’s over but there’s a much deeper and longer lasting effect that the arts have.”

Sophie Jessica Trevitt AM

A woman stands with street art on a wall behind her.

Sophie Trevitt has been posthumously appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia.(ABC News: Emmy Groves)

Social justice advocate and solicitor Sophie Trevitt spent years fighting to keep First Nations children out of the criminal justice system, work she continued in spite of a brain tumour diagnosis.

The Canberran former executive director of Change the Record and ACT co-chair of Australian Lawyers for Human Rights died on 27 July 2023 at the age of 32, but not before leaving behind an incredible legacy.

Some of her notable achievements include spearheading the campaign to raise the age of criminal responsibility, creating exclusion zones around abortion clinics in the ACT, and the banning of spit hoods in the ACT.

“She just had this tenacity and stubbornness, pigheadedness you might say, when she saw something wrong – and then she fought to change it,” Ms Trevitt’s partner at the time of her death, Tom Swann, said.

“Even when she was sick, she kept fighting for what she believed in.

He said Ms Trevitt would be “honoured” to be recognised as a Member of the Order of Australia but “would only really want the attention to be on the work she was doing to keep kids out of prison and fight for justice, in particular for Aboriginal Australians.”

Bettina Danganbarr AM

A woman standing near plants smiles at the camera.

Bettina Danganbarr said to be recognised for her efforts was “very empowering”. (ABC News)

Yolgnu woman Bettina Danganbarr, from Galiwin’ku in east Arnhem Land, is being recognised for her work as an Aboriginal community police officer.

She has been pivotal in bridging Yolgnu and balanda (non-indigenous) ways of life, and working with NT Police to create culturally appropriate support and responses to conflict.

“I get to share our culture, our knowledge, our language, with other fellow officers, and get to teach them how to approach our people,” she said.

“It’s helped repair some of the fractured relationships between Aboriginal communities in the Territory, and the Police.

She’s also a fierce advocate for women’s rights, and was instrumental in the creation of a women’s shelter in Galiwin’ku for victims of Domestic and Family violence. It’s something she said is her proudest achievement.

Being made a Member of the Order of Australia serves as motivation for Ms Danganbarr.

“To be recognised, it’s very empowering. Especially coming from a small community, sometimes we struggle. But these sort of things, they empower and motivate us to keep going.”

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King Charles III’s coronation: carriages, crown jewels, emoji unveiled by Britain’s royal family

Britain’s royal family has revealed new details about King Charles III’s coronation next month with information on processional routes, carriages, and coronation regalia and unveiled a new emoji to mark the ceremony that will be less elaborate than the one staged in 1953 for his mother.

Charles, 74, who immediately became king when Queen Elizabeth II died last September after her record-breaking 70-year reign, will be formally crowned on May 6.

The coronation will take place almost 70 years after the last Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953.

Buckingham Palace on Sunday revealed further details ahead of the coronation.

The new British sovereign will be crowned alongside his wife, Camilla, in a deeply religious service at Westminster Abbey.

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On the morning of the May 6, the King and Queen Consort will travel from Buckingham Palace in The King’s Procession to Westminster Abbey in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach. Created for Queen Elizabeth II to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Her late Majesty’s reign in 2012, the coach has only ever conveyed the Sovereign, occasionally accompanied by the consort or a visiting Head of State.

The Australian-built Diamond Jubilee State Coach IS the newest of the royal carriages, the BBC reported.

This looks traditional, but is actually modern, with air conditioning, electric windows and up-to-date suspension.

“It’s made of aluminium, which is quite unusual, because most of them are made of wood, and it’s also got hydraulic suspension, meaning that the ride is incredibly comfortable,” says Sally Goodsir, curator at the Royal Collection Trust.

The gilded crown on the top of the Diamond Jubilee State Coach was carved from oak from HMS Victory.

Also Read | King Charles III proclaimed Britain’s monarch in historic ceremony

The coach’s interior is inlaid with samples of woods, metals and other materials from buildings and places with specific connections to Britain and its history; Royal Residences including Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse; cathedrals including St Paul’s and Westminster Abbey; and historic ships, such as the Mary Rose. The coach will be drawn by six Windsor Greys.

The King’s Procession, accompanied by The Sovereign’s Escort of the Household Cavalry, will depart Buckingham Palace through the Centre Gate, and proceed down The Mall, passing through the Admiralty Arch and south of King Charles I Island, down Whitehall and along Parliament Street.

The King’s Procession will travel around the east and south sides of Parliament Square to Broad Sanctuary to arrive at the Sanctuary of Westminster Abbey, where the Coronation Service will begin at 11 o’clock.

In keeping with the king’s wish for a smaller-scale ceremony, the 1.3-mile (2.1km) procession will be much shorter than that staged for the coronation of his mother, The Guardian newspaper said.

The procession from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace will be much larger in scale, taking the same route in reverse. The Coronation Procession will include Armed Forces from across the Commonwealth and the British Overseas Territories, and all Services of the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom, alongside The Sovereign’s Bodyguard and Royal Watermen.

The King and the Queen will return to the palace in the traditional — but notoriously uncomfortable — Gold State Coach, used in every coronation since the 1830s.

The coach, last seen during the Pageant of the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in June 2022, was commissioned in 1760 and was first used by King George III, to travel to the State Opening of Parliament in 1762.

The coach has been used at every Coronation since that of William IV in 1831. The coach will be drawn by eight Windsor Greys and, due to its weight of four tonnes, will travel at a walking pace.

Upon returning to Buckingham Palace following the Coronation Service, Their Majesties will receive a Royal Salute from the United Kingdom and Commonwealth Armed Forces who have been on parade that day. The Royal Salute will be followed by three cheers from the assembled service personnel, as a tribute from the Armed Forces on parade to The King and The Queen.

The palace has also outlined the coronation regalia which are “sacred and secular objects” symbolic of the “responsibilities of the monarch” that will be featured in the Westminster service.

The regalia — which is held in trust by the monarch on the nation’s behalf — have played a principal role in coronation services for centuries.

Among the treasures to be used, which are usually on public display at the Tower of London, will be the Imperial State Crown which is only used at ceremonial events and was made for King George VI’s 1937 coronation.

Charles will exchange it for St Edward’s Crown at the end of the service. Made of solid gold and trimmed with ermine and velvet, it is famously heavy — weighing more than five pounds (2.23kg).

As previously announced, Camilla is reusing Queen Mary’s Crown rather than commissioning a new one to be made.

Two heavy maces made of silver gilt over oak and several ceremonial swords — The Sword of State, the Sword of Temporal Justice, the Sword of Spiritual Justice and the Sword of Mercy — will also be used. Additionally, several instruments of state will feature including the Sovereign’s orb and two sceptres, which represent the monarch’s temporal power and spiritual role.

The oldest item being used will be a spoon to hold the oil for the anointing in the coronation. This spoon, possibly 12th Century, is a rare surviving part of the original medieval coronation regalia, most of which was destroyed after the English Civil War in the 17th Century, BBC said.

Among more than 2,000 guests expected to be in the Abbey will be 450 representatives of charity and community groups, who will be alongside world leaders, politicians and royalty.

Indian-origin chef Manju Malhi, who works with a senior citizens charity in the U.K., is among the British Empire Medal (BEM) winners on the royal invitation list for the coronation.

In addition to the new details on processional routes, carriages and coronation regalia, a new emoji has even been designed to mark the celebrations. Based on St Edward’s Crown, it will appear on Twitter when coronation hashtags are used over the holiday weekend.



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