Former Lord Mayor Robert Doyle stripped of Order of Australia honour

Melbourne’s disgraced former Lord Mayor has had his Order of Australia honour revoked by the Governor-General in the latest chapter of his downfall.

Former Lord Mayor Robert Doyle. Picture: Nicole Garmston

Disgraced former Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle has been stripped of his prestigious Order of Australia honour.

Governor-general David Hurley quietly terminated Mr Doyle’s Companion of the Order of Australia last month.

The latest chapter in Mr Doyle’s downfall puts him in an inglorious club of former officials to have their awards and honours revoked, including crooked NSW Labor powerbrokers Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald, jailed former Federal Court Judge Marcus Einfeld and fraudster businessman Alan Bond.

Mr Hurley did not disclose the reasons for stripping Mr Doyle of his Order of Australia, but he acted according to detailed protocols governing Australian honours and awards.

The protocols allow a Governor-General to revoke a person’s honours and awards “if a court, tribunal or other body exercising judicial or administrative power … has made a finding that is adverse to the holder”.

An honour can also be revoked if the Governor-General believes “the holder of the appointment or award has behaved or acted in a manner that has brought disrepute on the Order”.

Mr Doyle was elected Lord Mayor in 2008. Picture: Michael Dodge

Mr Doyle, a former schoolteacher at Scotch College, Lauriston Girls’ School and Geelong College, was awarded the Queen’s Birthday honour in 2017 for his service to the people of Melbourne through local government, as well as his contributions to medical research and charity work.

He resigned as Lord Mayor in February the following year amid a sexual harassment scandal, leading to subsequent investigations by the City of Melbourne and Department of Health that found Mr Doyle had acted “inappropriately” towards women.

Mr Doyle was never charged by police and denied any wrongdoing during the investigations.

The Council for the Order of Australia confirmed early last year it would review Mr Doyle’s Companion of the Order of Australian following a separate complaint from a member of the public.

In 2022, Melbourne occupational therapist Joseph Cooper-Nolan called for the honour to be revoked after his father died in “preventable” circumstances at the Royal Melbourne Hospital while Mr Doyle was chairman.

Mr Doyle was first elected Lord Mayor in 2008 and previously served in parliament for 14 years, including four as opposition leader.

Mr Doyle could not be reached for comment.