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
South African honours system most important awards were the Woltemade Decoration for Bravery (1970–88) and the Decoration for Meritorious Service (DMS) (1970–86). The civil honours system was enlarged during the 1980s. A series of five national orders was established in 1986, and a Chancery of Orders was established in the Office of the State President (now 'the Presidency') to administer them. The most important order was the Order of the Southern Cross (1986–2002). The old South African honours were retained for a few years after the Republic was reconstituted as a fully representative democratic state in 1994. A new series of national orders was