Australian honours system support, but Australian Labor Party (ALP) governments, both national and state, ceased making recommendations for Imperial awards – in particular, appointments to the Order of the British Empire mainly after 1972. During the Second World War, the Governor-General, on the advice of wartime Labor governments, made recommendations for gallantry awards, including eleven for the Victoria Cross. Appointments to the Order of the British Empire were for officers and men engaged in operational areas. In 1975, the ALP (which had been out of power federally from 1949 until 1972) created the Australian Honours System. Recommendations were processed centrally, but State Governors
Australian honours system any time, but conventionally most new honours are awarded on Australia Day (26 January) and on the Queen's Birthday (as observed in the eastern states, that is, on the second Monday in June) every year, when lists of new honours are published. The Australian states and the Commonwealth of Australia originally used the Imperial honours system, also known as the British honours system. The creation in 1975 of the Australian Honours System saw Australian recommendations for the Imperial awards decline, with the last awards being gazetted in 1989. The Commonwealth of Australia ceased making recommendations for Imperial awards in 1983,