The Australia Day Honours 2026 list includes thirteen Australians of Indian origin, recognised across multiple medal categories.
These include five AMs, seven OAMs and one PSM.
Only three of these are women – Emeritus Professor Prem Ramburuth AM, Farah Madon AM and Professor Annamarie Jagose OAM, bucking the trend of recent years when our community’s women have outshone the men.
It is a statistic that is glaringly obvious in this year’s honours – which features only 184 females amongst the 680 recipients of awards in the General Division of the Order of Australia.
From our community, academics, medical professionals and civic champions dominate once more, with architecture a welcome addition – as opposed to social impact advocates and classical musicians in previous years.
Five people are appointed to the AM Order. These include Dr Ravinder Anand of Perth who has made a significant contribution to research and practice in the field of mining. His work on regolith (sediment and surface-rock) and landscapes has led to the discovery of gold, base metals, rare earths and critical minerals, as well as made procedures in mining more cost-effective, turning former obstacles into valuable resources.
Townsville’s Dr Kunwarjit Singh Sangla wins his AM honour for his work in endocrinology, and for delivering face-to-face outreach clinics in the rural and Indigenous communities of Queensland.
Farah Madon of Sydney receives her AM for significant service to architecture, and to people with disability, in a career that has created access, dignity and independence.
Australia Day Honours 2026
Pharmacist Dipak Sanghvi AM of Melbourne is recognised for his significant service to community health.
Emeritus Prof Prem Ramburuth of Sydney receives her AM honour for significant service to tertiary education, particularly through international partnerships.
Whether shaping minds, designing inclusive spaces, unlocking the nation’s mineral wealth or advancing health and care, these awardees reflect the many ways expertise, service and long-term commitment continue to strengthen Australia.
Amongst the seven OAM recipients are Dr Rondhir Jithoo of Melbourne, who is felicitated for his services to neurosurgery, not only in the public hospitals across Australia but also in the Pacific, and also as a medical officer in the Australian Defence Force, deployed in the middle east.
Dr Ravin Sadhai is recognised with the OAM for his work as a doctor in the Bacchus Marsh region of Victoria – including his community initiative of the ‘Pub Clinic’ and the ‘Ladies Lounge’ for men’s and women’s health respectively.
Professor Annamarie Rustom Jagose, of Sydney receives her OAM for service to tertiary education.
Amongst other OAM recipients are those who helped build communities decades ago, often quietly, but with lasting impact. Sydney’s Satwant Singh Calais is well-known in Australia’s Sikh community, for his work with Sikh Youth Australia – not only for helping others find their footing when they arrive in Australia, but also for guiding the next generation towards becoming well-adjusted Sikh Australians.
The OAM recognition for Brisbane’s Shyam Das comes for spending nearly four decades building bridges between cultures, institutions and communities across Queensland.
Social worker Palanichamy Thevar of Brisbane has been recognised by the Australian government for service to the Tamil and Indian communities of Queensland.
Tausif Khan, also from Brisbane, receives his OAM for service to the Indian community of his city, through a variety of business and cultural organisations.
Other South Asians in the Honours list this year include Sydney’s Professor Eliathamby Ambikairajah AO (for distinguished service to tertiary education and research, to technology innovation and to the Sri Lankan community of Australia); Melbourne’s Mohammad Kamruzzaman OAM (for service to the arts and to the Bengali community of Melbourne); Emeritus Professor Shahjahan Khan OAM of Toowoomba QLD (for service to the Islamic community of Australia); Melbourne’s Selliah Nalliah OAM (for service to the Tamil and Hindu communities of Victoria), and Sydney’s Bharat Nepal OAM (for service to the Nepali community of NSW, and to mental health).
Investiture ceremonies will take place in coming months, either by the Governor-General at Government House in Canberra, or by the State Governors or Administrator of the Northern Territory.
The gender balance in this year’s honours list was addressed by the organising body Council of the Order of Australia as “both a cause for concern and … a prompt for community action,” clarifying that honours can only be awarded based on the nominations received, and urging for more women to be nominated. Australia Day Honours 2026
READ MORE: Farah Madon AM: Australia Day Honours 2026
