The Australia Day Honours roll needs to be more diverse, the governor-general says, with fewer than a fifth of this year’s recipients born overseas.
Of the 739 people recognised in the Order of Australia (General Division), 139 of them (about 19 per cent) were born overseas, the governor-general’s office confirmed.
That’s despite foreign-born people making up more than a quarter (29.5 per cent) of Australia’s population, according to the most recent Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
Some 22 recipients (3 per cent) identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
In a video, Governor-General David Hurley said he was “delighted to see many Australians from multicultural backgrounds” would be recognised this year, but said he wanted that number to grow.
“Our [Australia’s] diversity is one of our greatest strengths, and I want more people from diverse backgrounds to be nominated for the Order of Australia,” Hurley said.
It’s understood whether or not someone is born overseas is currently a key indicator of cultural and linguistic diversity in the honours list.
Governor-General David Hurley says he wants “more people from diverse backgrounds” to be nominated for Australia Day Honours. Source: AAP / AAP
A spokesperson for the Honours and Awards Secretariat said improving data collection was a priority.
“The Office is working to increase awareness of and engagement with the Order to encourage nominations for outstanding individuals from parts of our community that have historically been underrepresented,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
“This includes amending the nomination process to make it more accessible (and capture more data about the background of recipients), creating case studies of recipients from diverse backgrounds and working with community organisations”.
Diversity advocates
their concern is not with the honours system, but with who is voting.
They said more needs to be done to improve recognition of the awards among culturally and linguistically diverse communities and to encourage them to nominate.
How the 2024 Australia Day Honours list is comprised
Some 1,042 people have been recognised this year.
That includes 739 people in the Order of Australia (General Divison), a category anyone can be nominated for. Some 373 (50.5 per cent) of this year’s recipients are women — the second time in the honours system’s 49-year history that more women have featured in this division,
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The youngest recipient is 32 years old, while the oldest is a centenarian.
Source: Supplied / Governor-general’s office
Some 224 people have been recognised with meritorious awards. These are individuals in a particular service, including emergency services and the public service, who have excelled in their positions.
Twenty people that Defence Minister Richard Marles has recommended to the governor-general are recognised in the Order of Australia (Military Divison).
There are also 59 distinguished and conspicuous awards recipients — the former awarded to individuals for their service in warlike operations, and the latter for outstanding service or achievement in non-warlike situations.
Among the well-known recipients in the General Divison are Victoria’s former chief health officer Brett Sutton, former Tasmanian premiers Lara Giddings and Robin Gray, and former host of the Seven Network’s Sunrise program David Koch.
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