CANBERRA, June 11 (Xinhua) -- For the first time, women have outnumbered men on the list of Australians receiving one of the top Queen's Birthday honours.
Six out of the 10 Australians named on Monday as Companions of the Order of Australia (AC) are women.
The AC is one of the most prestigious of the Queen's Birthday honours -- leading civic awards recognising good deeds and significant achievements in the Australian community.
Of the 1,090 awards approved by Australian Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove on Monday, 372 women were recognised across a range of fields, compared with 718 men who received an Order of Australia award.
"To all recipients, I offer my deepest congratulations, admiration and respect for your contribution to our nation," said Cosgrove.
"We are fortunate as a community to have so many outstanding people willing to dedicate themselves to the betterment of our nation and it is only fitting that they have today been recognised through the Australian Honours system."
The list marks the highest number of women awarded in the history of the Order of Australia, which began in 1975, and a record 15 percent increase in female recipients compared to the Australia Day 2018 Honours List.
Apart from the AC recipients, a male dominance remains overall.
Order of Australia Council chairman Shane Stone said the boost in female recipients is an encouraging step towards acknowledging the significant contribution women have made to the Australian way of life.
"Women have always achieved great things and I am pleased to see so many of them recognised this year," he said Monday.
Stone, who has served on the award's general council in Canberra for four years, said the lack of female nominees in previous years demanded change.
"When you look at the talent in Australia, it has always perplexed me that we never had the number of nominations for women that we do for men," Stone said.
"Similarly, I am not satisfied by the number of indigenous Australian nominations or those for members of our ethnic communities. We can do better than this and we will continue to strive to do better," Stone added.
