A brilliant mathematician, a mother who experienced unimaginable loss and a headline-making CEO are among 949 Australians recognised in the 2026 King’s Birthday Honours list.
Gender equality advocate and former senator Natasha Stott Despoja AC is one of five bestowed with the top award: the Companion of the Order of Australia (AC).
Natasha Stott Despoja AC is recognised with a top honour for service to the prevention of domestic, family and sexual violence. (ABC News: Che Chorley)
Ms Stott Despoja said she “had a little cry” when she was told about her honour.
“I’m quite overwhelmed. I’m well aware of the enormity and generosity of this honour,”
she said.
“But I prefer to focus on the policies that I’ve been working on and the people with whom I’ve worked.”
Ms Stott Despoja chaired South Australia’s Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence and is currently in a role with the United Nations committee for the elimination of discrimination against women.
“There is no more important time for us globally to be conscious of some of the most egregious violations of women and girls,” she said.
Mathematical magnificence
Professor Terry Tao AC is recognised for decades of mathematical excellence. (YouTube: Centre International de Rencontres Mathématiques)
Professor Terence Tao AC has been recognised for his service to mathematical sciences and academia.
The Adelaide-born professor of mathematics at the University of California in Los Angeles said “it’s sort of stunning that my country has given me this recognition”.
“I’m on the same list as Don Bradman,”
Professor Tao said.
The 50-year-old showed early signs of being a maths prodigy and attended classes at Flinders University as a child.
A young Terence Tao attends a maths class at Flinders University, circa July 1987. (ABC News)
During the US Biden administration, Professor Tao served on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and while much of his work is theoretical, one of his proudest achievements directly improved medical scans.
“We managed to find a new way to process signals from things like MRI machines, and now MRI scans that used to take several minutes can take 30 seconds … that’s particularly good for scanning children because sometimes children are restless,” he said.
“Many people don’t even know that being a mathematician is a job.“
Victorian philanthropist Elisabeth Calvert-Jones AC, former Tasmanian premier William Hodgman AC and NSW virologist Professor William Rawlinson AC join Ms Stott Despoja and Professor Tao in accepting the top honour.
‘Beyond just headlines’
One of the ABC’s most experienced and respected broadcasters Fran Kelly AO becomes an Officer of the Order.
The presenter of the Radio National Hour, Kelly previously hosted the agenda-setting program RN Breakfast for 17 years, and was a foreign correspondent and political correspondent.
ABC broadcaster Fran Kelly AO is recognised for contributions to journalism and social justice. (ABC News: John Gunn)
Kelly is recognised for service to broadcast journalism, advancing social justice and advocacy for the LGBTQIA+ community.
“Equity is important. It’s important for all of us, and as a democracy, if we’re not equitable, then we’re failing. So I’ve always seen that as part of my journalistic instincts,”
she said.
Kelly said she was “very proud” of her podcast, The Party Room, which has been running for 10 years and is popular with younger audiences.
“It just tells me we’re giving people something that they’re hungry for, which is more information beyond just the headlines, just the spin, just the top layer,” she said.
James Valentine was recognised for his significant service to the media. (Supplied)
ABC presenter James Valentine AM posthumously became a Member of the Order.
Valentine died aged 64 in April, using voluntary assisted dying, two years after being diagnosed with cancer.
At a public memorial last month, the veteran broadcaster was remembered as a “wonderful human being”, loving father and “funny, inclusive and empathic”.
Five former ABC staff members have also been recognised in this year’s honours list, including Timothy Entwisle AO and Bronwyn Fagan AM.
Craig Leeson OAM, Helen Gregory OAM and Paul Griffiths OAM have all been awarded a Medal of the Order.
Tiny town author
Author Gerald Murnane AO is honoured for a lifetime of influential and original Australian literature.
“I was absolutely frank and sincere in what I wrote. I’ve never pretended to be anyone I wasn’t,”
he said.
Gerald Murnane AO is recognised for service to literature. (ABC News: Tamara Clark)
Mr Murnane, who calls the tiny regional Victorian community of Goroke home, was a primary school teacher in the 60s and later a professor of literature at Deakin University.
His novels include The Plains, Inland, Barley Patch and A History Of Books and he has claimed the Patrick White Award, the Prime Minister’s Literary Award, and the Melbourne Prize for Literature, among others.
But he never set out to win prizes and prefers the quiet happiness that comes from readers’ feedback.
“I heard that this lady, unknown to me, her age, her appearance, her background … for a long time after she bought the book, she took it with her everywhere,” Mr Murnane said.
“That’s about my favourite tribute.“
Pat Turner AO is honoured as an Officer of the Order for services to First Nations communities. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
Leading Indigenous voice Pat Turner AO is honoured for services to First Nations communities.
The Arrente and Gurdanji woman, who was born in Alice Springs/Mparntwe, retired last month after decades of leadership and advocacy.
She became the first Indigenous person and woman to lead the then-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission and headed up the Joint Council on Closing the Gap, as well as the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, and a coalition representing 800 Indigenous organisations across the country.
Emotional message of hope
Jason Steinberg AM is on the Jewish Board of Deputies and established the Queensland Holocaust Museum. (ABC News: Mark Leonardi)
Tears swell when Queensland’s top Jewish leader Jason Steinberg AM reflects on what his Member of the Order of Australia honour means to him.
The Jewish Board of Deputies president has spent four decades advocating against racist hatred and the vilification of Jews.
“It is such an honour for me knowing what I have been working for and devoted myself to ensure we are safe,” he says wiping his eyes.
“We should never be victimised because of our faith.“
Jason Steinberg AM is recognised for significant service to the Jewish community in Queensland. (ABC News: Mark Leonardi)
Mr Steinberg has also been honoured for setting up The Queensland Holocaust Museum, which educates thousands of people, including school children, every year about the horrors of the Holocaust, which saw the persecution and murder of 6 million Jews by Nazi Germany.
“They are the leaders of tomorrow and if they do not understand what happened back in Germany in the 1930s, they can’t see it happening again,”
he said.
Career comeback
Christine Holgate AM is recognised for significant service to business. (ABC News: Marcus Stimson)
Businesswoman Christine Holgate AM, who made headlines after being forced out of her job as Australia Post boss in 2020, is among the recipients of the King’s Birthday Honours.
After finding herself homeless in London at the age of 18, she rose through the corporate ranks to become the first woman to ever serve as CEO of Australia Post.
“In life, there are good days, and there are difficult days, but you really learn what leadership is on the difficult days,”
she said.
“And I hope today, being recognised with this award creates some sort of inspiration for men and women who go through a difficult time in leadership. This time will pass. It’s a chapter, it’s not your whole book.”
Uniting ‘committed enemies’
Simon Tedeschi AM is honoured for using music to bring people together. (ABC News: Marcus Stimson)
Classical pianist Simon Tedeschi AM has been using music to promote harmony between Jews and Palestinians, as part of the grassroots movement Standing Together.
“I think music can even bring people, who would otherwise regard themselves committed enemies, together into a room,”
he said.
“At a time when we’re not quite sure in Australia how to really look at ourselves and what it is to be Australian, I think music and the arts can really help to reflect and tell a story to ourselves about ourselves.”
The Jewish musician says performing for children and regional communities are some of his career highlights.
“I’d love to collaborate somehow more within Indigenous communities. I’d like to work alongside Muslim Australian communities a lot more, and I want to be able to meet as many different facets of Australia as possible,” he said.
‘Rundown shack’ reviver
Terrence Roe AM contributed extensively to veteran welfare. (ABC News: Jake Grant)
Tasmanian Vietnam War veteran Terrence Roe AM is recognised for his service to veterans and their families.
When asked about his proudest accomplishment, he reflected on his work turning a “rundown shack” at Lake Sorell in central Tasmania into a retreat for contemporary veterans.
“It was clear to me that there was nothing being done for our contemporary veterans and I wanted to do something for them,”
Mr Roe said.
“Now they go up there with their families, their children or their mates to get away from the city … and then just enjoy the tranquil setting and pristine environment.”
Veteran Terrence Roe AM served in the Australian Army between 1969 and 1989. (ABC News: Jake Grant)
Mr Roe initially assumed there had been a mistake when told about the award, but that disbelief has been replaced by appreciation for those around him.
“Over the years, so many people have encouraged me and have volunteered and worked alongside me … so this award might be an individual one, but it belongs just as much to them as well,” Mr Roe said.
Mother of an ‘old soul’
Mechelle Turvey OAM has been recognised for her years of service to Indigenous communities. (ABC News: Keana Naughton)
Mechelle Turvey OAM, who rose to national prominence after her son Cassius was killed on his way home from school in Perth in 2022, has been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).
Cassius’s death changed her approach to support.
“My main focus is on young people because Cassius worked with a lot of his school mates and friends as a mentor, as an old soul,”
she said.
“I’ve got to go back and remember what he taught me as well. Not rushing in or not believing that I can solve any problems of a young person because there’s a huge generation gap.
“Until you’ve experienced real hard trauma and pain such as that, I mean, I was one that just sat and watched the news, and you’d see a tragedy and say, ‘Oh that’s sad’. But it’s ingrained in me now, that pain and what other people can feel.”
Mechelle Turvey OAM is the assistant director of Aboriginal Affairs at WA Police. (ABC News: Keana Naughton)
Even before the death of her 15-year-old Noongar-Yamatji son prompted rallies and vigils around the country, she had worked for Indigenous health services, radio and in prison support.
She is now the assistant director of Aboriginal Affairs at WA Police.
“I love making a difference … whether it’s small, whether it’s large, I think every difference is really, really important. I love yarning. I think yarning is the best tool,”
Ms Turvey said.
‘Community harmony’
Western Sydney’s Ziaul Ahmad OAM is the editor-in-chief of the Australasian Muslim Times. (ABC News: Geoff Kemp)
Western Sydney man Ziaul Ahmad OAM has spent decades fostering ties between people of different faiths.
The editor-in-chief of the Australasian Muslim Times is recognised for service to journalism and the Muslim community.
Ahmad said he was proud to continue his father’s legacy of promoting community harmony.
“It’s really rewarding. The paper is very popular among all people, you know, whether Muslims or non-Muslims or different ethnic communities,” he said.
“And now that I’ve got this OAM as well, because of journalism, that gives me a bit more motivation to keep going,”
he said.
Gender imbalance persists
Governor-General Sam Mostyn AC said the awards should reflect the community. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)
Most of the 2026 recipients were nominated by the public and then recommended to the Governor-General Sam Mostyn AC by the independent Council for the Order of Australia.
The awards have long been criticised for their marked gender imbalance with this year’s discrepancy only slightly improved on previous years.
In the general division 230 women and 471 men are honoured.
“Every Australian, regardless of their gender, social, cultural or economic background should be able to look at the honours list and see themselves,”
Ms Mostyn said.
“Our honours system recognises outstanding people who contribute so much to Australia. In our communities, in workplaces and across the country, recipients have made an exceptional contribution to Australia,” she said.
