This is an incomplete list of Australians who have been appointed a knight or a dame, being entitled to be known as "sir" or "dame" respectively. It includes living Australian knights and dames as well as dead appointees. The list excludes Australian baronets; they have the title sir, but are not knights per se.
For the purposes of this list, an Australian is either:
an Australian citizen (Australian citizenship did not exist prior to 26 January 1949), or
a British subject who was born in or whose primary domicile was in Australia (1 January 1901 – 25 January 1949), or in the Australian colonies (26 January 1788 – 31 December 1900).
Hence, the list does not include most knighted British governors-general or colonial or state governors. Their primary domicile was, generally, in the United Kingdom, and they were only temporarily based in Australia. Those who chose to remain in Australia in retirement are listed below.
These appointments were made under:
the British Imperial honours system. These were recommended by the Australian Government until 1982 and state governments until 1989 (in some cases, recommendations were made by other governments of the Commonwealth of Nations, principally the United Kingdom); and
the Australian Honours System established in 1975. The categories of Knight and Dame of the Order of Australia were created by the Queen on advice from the Fraser Liberal-National coalition government in 1976, and discontinued by her on advice from the Hawke Labor government in 1986. During that period, twelve Knights and two Dames of the Order of Australia were appointed. On 25 March 2014 Tony Abbott announced the reintroduction of Knights and Dames to the Australian Honours System.[1] Two more Knights and two more Dames were created. On 2 November 2015, they were once again removed from the honours list on the advice of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.[2]
Appointments as knight or dame under the orders of foreign countries are not included, with the exception of British Imperial honours awarded to Australians by the UK and PNG Governments after 5 October 1992. Unlike other foreign citizens, citizens of Commonwealth realms appointed knight or dame of a British order are entitled to use the titles "Sir" or "Dame", and use the relevant post nominal. The UK government does not recognize Australian knighthoods as giving entitlement to use these titles in the UK, however.[3]
Many of the people shown had other honours, such as AC, OBE, CMG, VC, etc. These details are not relevant to this list, and are not shown.
Most of the details were sourced from It's an Honour, the Australian Government database of honours and awards. All names of those who were appointed to orders of chivalry (Order of Australia, Order of the British Empire, etc) that appear in It's an Honour are listed. Not all awards appear in It's an Honour, as awardees may elect not to have their awards included in the database. The list of knights bachelor is also incomplete.
Note: Sir Robert Menzies is the only Australian ever appointed a Knight of the Order of the Thistle (Appointment made for his Scottish ancestry). The award was made in 1963, during his tenure as Prime Minister of Australia. He was also appointed a Knight of the Order of Australia (AK) in 1976.
; Kerr was the Governor-General and, as Principal Knight of the Order of Australia, his AK took effect immediately the category of Knight was established on 24 May 1976; also KCMG, GCMG, GCVO
For extra-ordinary and meritorious service to industry, particularly in the fields of research and technology
; also Knight Bachelor
Note: This is a complete list of the Australians who were or are Knights of the Order of Australia. Charles, Prince of Wales, heir to the Australian throne but not himself an Australian, was also appointed AK, by amendment to the Constitution of the Order of Australia in 1981. His father, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was also made a Knight of the Order of Australia in 2015.
; also Knight Bachelor. His son John Winthrop Hackett, junior was also knighted, but by the British government – see "Non-Australian knights and dames with significant Australian associations" below
Mason was a British diplomat who was made a KCMG prior to his final posting as High Commissioner to Australia. On retirement, he and his wife chose to remain in Australia, and became Australian citizens.
In recognition of politics and government in Papua New Guinea
; also KCVO
New Zealand Order of Merit
Some Australians have dual citizenship with New Zealand. New Zealand awards knighthoods and damehoods through the New Zealand Order of Merit. All citizens of Commonwealth realms are eligible to be appointed to the order in any grade.
Atkin was born in Queensland to British migrant parents, moving with his mother to Wales at age 4. His father subsequently died in Queensland. He was a prominent British appellate judge of the second quarter of the twentieth century.
Cartland spent a significant period in Australia, becoming Vice-Chancellor of the University of Tasmania 1968–78, and Chairman of the Tasmanian Council of the Trade Union Training Authority 1979–91, among other things.[10]
Although King of Australia, King Charles III is not personally an Australian citizen. To overcome this barrier to his being appointed a substantive Knight of the Order of Australia, the Constitution of the Order of Australia was amended by Letters Patent to specifically include him, when he was Prince of Wales. He became the Sovereign of the Order on 8 September 2022 upon the death of Queen Elizabeth II.[11]
Gilliat was Military Secretary to the Governor-General (presumably Sir William Slim) for some time. There is no evidence he had any other Australian association. (Note: His entry in It's an Honour refers to a GCVO being awarded in 1954. This appears to be an error, as The Peerage states his 1954 honour was a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) rather than a knighthood in the order. His KCVO was awarded in 1962 and his GCVO in 1981.)
Hackett was born in Australia; his father Sir John Winthrop Hackett, senior was a newspaper proprietor, WA politician, and founding Chancellor of the University of Western Australia. Hackett junior was based in the UK from his early 20s, becoming a general in the British Army and a writer. He died in 1997.
Geoffrey David Hand was an Australian Anglican priest who was the first person to adopt Papua New Guinea citizenship upon independence in 1975. He had already been appointed a CBE by Australia, and was knighted on a recommendation of the PNG government
Holloway was born in Tasmania and is buried there. He was a co-founder of Papua New Guinea's Pangu Party, became a PNG citizen upon independence, and was the inaugural Speaker of the Parliament of Papua New Guinea; he was knighted on a recommendation of the PNG government
His extraordinary collection of Australiana was sold to the National Library of Australia at a fraction of its true value. He was knighted by the Australian Government in 1976, even though he never visited Australia.[13]
Prince Philip, while spouse of the Queen of Australia, was not personally an Australian citizen. To overcome this barrier to his being appointed a substantive Knight of the Order of Australia, the Constitution of the Order of Australia was amended by Letters Patent to specifically include him.[11]
Sobers was knighted in 1975 for services to cricket. The award was made in the British Diplomatic and Overseas section of the 1975 New Year Honours List, rather than on the nomination of the Government of Barbados, which had then temporarily stopped putting forward recommendations for British honours. Sobers played cricket for South Australia 1961–64, he was married to an Australian 1969–90, and he acquired Australian citizenship through marriage in 1980, becoming a dual Barbadian-Australian citizen.[14][15] He resides in Barbados.
In the United Kingdom and the British Overseas Territories, personal bravery, achievement, or service are rewarded with honours. The honours system consists of three types of award:
The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Government. Before the establishment of the order, Australian citizens received British honours.
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organizations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established on 4 June 1917 by King George V and comprises five classes across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two of which make the recipient either a knight if male or dame if female. There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order.
Sir is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part of "Monsieur", with the equivalent "My Lord" in English. Traditionally, as governed by law and custom, Sir is used for men who are knights and belong to certain orders of chivalry, as well as later applied to baronets and other offices. As the female equivalent for knighthood is damehood, the suo jure female equivalent term is typically Dame. The wife of a knight or baronet tends to be addressed as Lady, although a few exceptions and interchanges of these uses exist.
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from an elaborate medieval ceremony for preparing a candidate to receive his knighthood, of which ritual bathing was an element. While not all knights went through such an elaborate ceremony, knights so created were known as 'knights of the Bath', and likely from the upper classes to begin with. George I constituted the Knights of the Bath as a regular 'Military Order'. He did not revive the Order, which did not previously exist, in the sense of a body of knights governed by a set of statutes and whose numbers were replenished when vacancies occurred.
The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements. It was founded on the same date as the Order of the British Empire.
The New Zealand royal honours system, a system of orders, decorations and medals, recognises achievements of, or service by, New Zealanders or others in connection with New Zealand. Until 1975, New Zealand used the British honours system. Since then the country has introduced a number of uniquely New Zealand honours, and as of 2021, only the dynastic British honours continue in active use in New Zealand, with the exception of the Order of the Companions of Honour.
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour of two military saints, Michael and George.
The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rendered meritorious service to the Crown and nation or who have become distinguished by their eminence, talents, contributions or other merits", to recognise outstanding service to the Crown and people of New Zealand in a civil or military capacity.
The Australian honours and awards system refers to all orders, decorations, and medals, as instituted by letters patent from the Monarch of Australia and countersigned by the Australian prime minister at the time, that have been progressively introduced since 14 February 1975. The Australian honours and awards system excludes all state and local government, and private, issued awards and medals.
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the monarch. The present monarch, King Charles III, is the sovereign of the order. The order's motto is Victoria. The order's official day is 20 June. The order's chapel is the Savoy Chapel in London.
The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the most ancient sort of British knight, but Knights Bachelor rank below knights of chivalric orders. A man who is knighted is formally addressed as "Sir [First Name] [Surname]" or "Sir [First Name]" and his wife as "Lady [Surname]".
Dame is an honorific title and the feminine form of address for the honour of damehood in many Christian chivalric orders, as well as the British honours system and those of several other Commonwealth realms, such as Australia and New Zealand, with the masculine form of address being Sir. It is the female equivalent of a knighthood, which is traditionally granted to males. Dame is also a style used by baronetesses in their own right.
The Canadian titles debate originated with the presentation to the House of Commons of Canada of the Nickle Resolution in 1917. This resolution marked the earliest attempt to establish a federal government policy requesting the sovereign, in the right of the United Kingdom, not to grant knighthoods, baronetcies, and peerages to Canadians and set the precedent for later policies restricting Canadians from accepting titles from foreign countries. Dissatisfaction with the British honours system led to the gradual creation of a separate system for Canada.
The Order of Wearing of Australian honours includes Imperial honours if they were awarded prior to 6 October 1992. Imperial honours awarded after 5 October 1992 are considered foreign.
The Order of Grenada is an order of chivalry and a society of honour instituted by Queen Elizabeth II in right of Grenada through the Grenada National Honours Act of 1994. The Order was subsequently reconstituted and substantially reformed by the National Honours and Awards Act of 2007.
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