Public servants, emergency workers lose Covid award exemption
Special measures to honour emergency workers and public servants in the pandemic have been clawed back, slowing any future acknowledgment of national contributions from the time.
The Order of Australia will soon phase out special extra awards honouring the contributions of emergency workers and public servants during the pandemic, as its dedicated Covid honour roll slows in growth.
As a part of the Order of Australia honours, a dedicated register was established in 2021 to recognise the efforts of emergency services, those in the public service, and medical and legal communities throughout the pandemic.
Queen Elizabeth II approved a measure that would allow job-specific awards such as the Public Service Medal, the Australian Police Medal and the Emergency Services Medal to be awarded in numbers beyond set quotas to better recognise contributions at the time.
The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet told The Australian the special exemptions would be phased out going forward, though the honour roll would continue.
“Nominations for a possible award within the Order of Australia are considered by the council for the order on a case-by-case basis,” a spokesperson said.
“After 25 January, 2025, any nomination for a meritorious award for Covid-19-related service will be counted towards the standard quota for these awards.”
This year, it had 24 inductees including three Members of the Order of Australia, two Medals of the Order of Australia, 16 Public Service Medals and one Officer of the order of Australia – disability rights lawyer James Simpson.
His work with the NSW Council for Intellectual Disability was recognised, having helped form many of the pandemic response measures catering to those with disabilities. He also developed much of the state’s legislation on legal guardianship as a respected authority within the Civil and Administrative Tribunal and Mental Health Review Tribunal.
Epidemiologist Allen Cheng was notably absent from the dedicated honour roll, despite receiving the order’s highest honour, being made a Companion of the Order of Australia, for his work leading Victoria’s Covid response.
“This honour is really unexpected as I thought everyone had forgotten about the pandemic,” Professor Cheng previously told The Australian. “To be honest, I’d rather we never had a pandemic and I had remained an obscure public health epidemiologist, but that isn’t the case.”
Professor Cheng was one of six ACs, and also one of many infectious disease specialists whose work was recognised, yet delineated from the Covid honour roll.
This was also the case for Thomas Gottlieb, a clinical senior lecturer at Sydney University’s Department of Infectious Diseases, and Microbiologist Richard Strugnell.
Upon the honour roll’s establishment, former prime minister Scott Morrison sold it as a means of recognising “an outstanding contribution, on the frontline or behind the scenes”.
“The pandemic has challenged our nation in a way we have not seen since World War II, yet we have seen the best of Australia as we have come together, helping one another to keep us safe,” he said. “There has been heartbreaking loss and hardship but our overall success has been built on the incredible sacrifices of many. From health professionals providing critical care to Covid-19 patients or those in aged care, mental health counsellors, to workers going above and beyond to keep critical services and the economy going.”
While the register initially handed out relatively few honours, it reached its peak number of new admissions on the Queen’s Birthday in 2022 when 93 people were recognised. This would decline to 74 honours the year following, then 49 by Australia Day 2024 and 34 by the King’s Birthday last year. It has now been expanded on nine occasions.
Many health authorities who became household names at the time have since been feted with honours, such as former state chief health officers Brett Sutton, Kerry Chant and Jeannette Young.
The Council of the Order of Australia was contacted.
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