What happens to Andrew O’Keefe’s Australia Day Honour

Charged with assault, the former Channel 7 game show host Andrew O’Keefe could also potentially lose his 2017 Australia Day honour.

The decision on whether to strip former Channel 7 star Andrew O’Keefe of his 2017 Australia Day Honours will not be made until such time as all legal processes are completed, including any possible appeals, it can be revealed.

The former host of The Chase was arrested and charged on Thursday after allegations he assaulted a 38-year prospective business partner in a Sydney CBD unit. He is due to appear in court on Friday.

O’Keefe was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2017 “for significant service to the broadcast media as a television presenter, and to social welfare and charitable organisations”.

O’Keefe would not be the first high-profile Australian to lose an Australia Day honour; indeed there have been 47 such terminations since 1975.

A Council for the Order of Australia spokesman said the organisation “investigates matters brought to its attention and considers each case individually”.

“After due process, the Council recommends appropriate action to the Governor-General. In all matters relating to the termination or cancellation of an award or appointment to the Order of Australia, the Governor-General acts on recommendations made by the Council for the Order of Australia,” the spokesman said.

Former Channel 7 host Andrew O'Keefe at Waverley court in Sydney in June 2021 after being accused of assaulting his ex-girlfriend. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

But the council will not make any decision over O’Keefe until the matter is investigated, and all legal processes including appeals are finalised.

O’Keefe’s honours citation in 2017 listed his extensive charity work, including his role as a founding Australian ambassador for the White Ribbon campaign, which is devoted to eliminating violence against women.

On Thursday afternoon White Ribbon Australia CEO Melissa Perry released a statement expressing “dismay” over O’Keefe’s arrest.

“We were dismayed to hear news that Andrew O’Keefe, who was previously aligned with White Ribbon Australia, was arrested following the alleged assault of a woman in Sydney on Tuesday,” Ms Perry said.

Mr O’Keefe had played no role with White Ribbon since its reformation in 2020, following the previous organisation's liquidation in 2019, Ms Perry said. The ambassador program he was part of has also been discontinued.

Prominent Australians who lost their Australia Day honours include the former Federal Court Judge Marcus Einfeld, businessman Alan Bond and the disgraced former NSW Labor politician Eddie Obeid.