Government House Investiture Ceremony C - September 2023

Representing the Queensland Police Commissioner, Detective A/Chief Superintendent Michael O’Dowd; representing The Order of Australia Association, Mrs Paula Penfold AM; Queensland President of the Australian Bravery Association, Dr Sally Gregory; award recipients, your families and friends, welcome. 

I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the lands around Brisbane, the Turrbal and Jagera people, and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and to any First Nations people1 here today. 

I welcome you all most warmly to Government House for this afternoon’s investitures. 

One of the greatest privileges and pleasures for me as Governor is investing Queenslanders with the medals and decorations they have received through Australia’s system of honours and awards. 

It is particularly pleasing to be able to host Queensland Investiture Ceremonies in this intimate space with only 22 recipients, enabling each of you to invite close family, and other guests who are important to you, to share this occasion – and also so that, after the ceremony, I can meet and hear more from each of you when you join us for refreshments. 

I hope this is an exciting and enjoyable occasion for you all – it is certainly a much less intimidating experience than you would have if you were to be invested by our King at Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle. There, he hosts some 30 ceremonies each year with more than 60 recipients present on each occasion, as well as the Lord Chamberlain, a Body Guard of five Yeomen of the Guard, the King’s two Gurkha Orderly Officers – and an orchestra. 

Unlike British honours such as the Order of the Bath and the Order of the Garter, which were created many centuries ago, Australia’s system of awards was established in 1975, with the Order of Australia and our Australian Bravery decorations.  

More than 50 additional honours have since been approved by our Head of State, including the Australian Police Medal, which was created in 1986 to replace the Imperial awards used until then to honour the service of Australian police.2  

For almost half a century since then, our system has earned and maintained a reputation around the world for its inclusiveness and integrity – and you only have to consider the strict process that nominations go through to understand why our system is so respected. 

For the Bravery decorations, for instance, a clear distinction is made between bravery, on the one hand, and fortitude in a crisis situation. Bravery is then further carefully defined as “a deliberate choice to go from a place of safety to danger, or to remain in a perilous position to provide help”.  

To ensure that nominations meet that definition, they are first thoroughly researched by the Honours and Awards Branch of the Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General, before being sent to an independent 14-member Australian Bravery Decorations Council. The council members individually and collectively scrutinise each nomination and must reach consensus before they can make a recommendation to the Governor-General for a final decision.  

The process is similar for every other award in the system, which means that the decision on a nomination can take up to two years, but, importantly, it also means that each of you can be assured of the complete integrity of the awards and decorations you have received today. 

Our honours system exists so that Australian citizens can be recognised for excellence, achievement, or meritorious service and contributions to our society, whatever their walk of life.  

Honours help define, encourage and reinforce our national aspirations, ideals and standards by identifying role models. We give honours to recognise and celebrate those who make a difference, those who achieve their best, and those who serve others – and for that, I thank and congratulate you all. 

Today, as you heard from the citations, each of the Awardees has given back to Australia in a myriad of ways. For some it has been through acts of bravery, for others through loyal and dedicated service in various roles in our Police Service, others have contributed significantly to their community or profession in fields as varied as midwifery and community health, local and state government, the Church, firefighting, the Eisteddfod, sporting organisations and Navy Cadets. The common thread is that each one of you has made our community stronger through your action. 

Thank you.