Guidance for referees

When researching nominations for the Order of Australia, the Honours and Awards Secretariat contacts referees cross-check and validate information. Referees are sent an online referee form to complete. If you are a referee, this guidance will help you complete the process.

Guidance

Our new form is easy to use for you to provide comment on someone who has been nominated for an award in the Order of Australia.

You can save and return to the form for up to 14 days if you need to find any final information before submitting your comments. This form is hosted by the Australian Government Department of Industry and you will be redirected to the business.gov.au website to complete the form. 

Please note that nominations are confidential. It is preferable that the nominee not be made aware of this nomination.

System maintenance occurs every Thursday from 19:00 to 24:00 (AEST). During this time, the online form may be unavailable.

Using the referee form

The form can be used on most personal computers, tablets and smartphones.

Please use the “Continue” and “Go Back” buttons at the bottom of the page to navigate forward or backward through the form.

Using your browser’s back button may result in the loss of some information. There is a “Save For Later” button near the top right of every page of the form. Selecting save for later allows you to save and return to the form for up to 14 days if you need to find any final information before submitting your comments.

You have 14 days to submit or save the form. If you save the form you have another 14 days to either submit the form or save it again. Neither leaving the form open on your screen nor re-opening the form restarts the “clock”, so it is best not to wait until the last minute to re-open the form, and please make sure you re-save it or submit it before 14 days elapses since the last save.

Further Information:  For further information on the nomination process please refer to the Nominating: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). Click here for general information on the Order of Australia.