Australia — Recognition for members of the Australian Defence Force for service in Papua New Guinea after 1975

Defence Hon­ours and Awards Tri­bunal report – inquiry into recog­ni­tion for mem­bers of the Aus­tralian Defence Force for ser­vice in Papua New Guinea after 1975
The Par­lia­men­tary Sec­re­tary for Defence Sup­port, the Hon Dr Mike Kel­ly AM MP, today announced the rec­om­men­da­tion of the inde­pen­dent Defence Hon­ours and Awards Tri­bunal inquiry into recog­ni­tion for mem­bers of the Aus­tralian Defence Force for ser­vice in Papua New Guinea after 1975.

The Report rec­om­mend­ed that no gen­er­al medal­lic recog­ni­tion should be giv­en to Aus­tralian Defence Force mem­bers who have served in Papua New Guinea after 16 Sep­tem­ber 1975. 

“The release of this report ful­fils an Aus­tralian Gov­ern­ment elec­tion com­mit­ment to review this ser­vice,’ said Dr Kelly. 

“I acknowl­edge that for­mer and cur­rent Aus­tralian Defence Force mem­bers who served in Papua New Guinea after Inde­pen­dence may be dis­ap­point­ed by this rec­om­men­da­tion,” Dr Kel­ly said 

“The inquiry into this mat­ter and the Tribunal’s report demon­strates the Government’s com­mit­ment to the inde­pen­dent review of long-stand­ing Defence hon­ours and awards issues.” 

The Tribunal’s full report is avail­able at www.defence-honours-tribunal.gov.au. Fur­ther infor­ma­tion on Defence hon­ours and awards is avail­able at: www.defence.gov.au/medals/

Media con­tacts:
lyse Gatt (Dr Mike Kel­ly): (02) 6277 4840 or 0437 502 246 

Press release
Min­is­te­r­i­al Sup­port and Pub­lic Affairs,
Depart­ment of Defence,
Can­ber­ra, Australia