Unlawful Wearing of Australian Honours
For some time, UNOPAA has been seeking legislative change to outlaw the unlawful wearing of Australian Honours. This follows an incident in Western Australia, where Barry Urban MP was found to be wearing a Police Overseas Service Medal (POSM) which had not been awarded to him.
Prior to the last Federal Election, the Morrison Government advised UNOPAA that, if re-elected, they would examine legislative options "to make it unlawful for individuals to falsely represent themselves as having been decorated with an Australian honour or award, or to wear the insignia of such a decoration when not entitled to do so."
Two follow-up letters seeking advice on progress have since been sent to the Prime Minister, as the responsible Minister form the Australian Honours System.
In late February 2021, a reply was received from the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister (see below). It states that, after consultation, the government is satisfied that "the community will make its own judgement against those who dishonour legitimate medal recipients". Therefore it "has no plans to introduce legislative penalties in relation to this."
UNOPAA is disappointed with the response and is therefore seeking advice from its members of any other cases where a person has been found wearing an Australian civilian honour they weren't entitled to.
If you know of any, please email our National Secretary at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
