52-407: Yoram Jerzy Gross AM (18 October 1926 – 21 September 2015) was a Polish-born, Australian film and television producer, animation director, and writer of children's and family entertainment. He founded the animation studio Flying Bark Productions . He was known for his adaptation of children's characters from books and films, and best known for the production of the films Dot and
104-487: A Google Doodle was made for what would have been his 95th birthday to celebrate his life and works. Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II , Queen of Australia , on the advice of then prime minister Gough Whitlam . Before
156-515: A newsreel and documentary cameraman. He then became an independent film producer and director and began winning prizes at international film festivals. His full-length feature, Joseph the Dreamer (1962), a biblical story, received special prizes in many countries. His experimental film Chansons Sans Paroles (1958) was heralded by some international film critics as the most interesting film of 1959. Another comedy, One Pound Only (1964), set
208-600: A bow on the left shoulder, although they may wear the same insignia as males if so desired. A gold lapel pin for daily wear is issued with each badge of the order at the time of investiture; AK/AD and AC lapel pins feature a citrine central jewel, AO and AM lapel pins have a blue enamelled centre and OAM lapel pins are plain. The different levels of the order are awarded according to the recipients' levels of achievement: Since 1976 any Australian citizen may nominate any person for an Order of Australia award. People who are not Australian citizens may be awarded honorary membership of
260-623: A brand new series, Old Tom . The Seven Network programmed a dedicated block of television produced by Yoram Gross – a fulfilment of its commitment to screen quality 'C classified' drama for children. Gross and EM.TV also launched the Junior TV channel in Germany, but shut down in many years later. Gross's autobiography, My Animated Life , was released in April 2011. Gross died in Sydney at
312-509: A challenge to take the prime ministership in September 2015. Two months after coming into office, the new republican prime minister announced that the Queen had approved his request to amend the Order's letters patent and cease awards at this level. Existing titles would not be affected. The move was attacked by monarchists and praised by republicans. The amendments to the constitution of
364-589: A member of the British Empire, members of the colonies and later federated nation of Australia were able to have achievement awarded under the British Imperial Honours system . However, existing criticism of the aristocratic nature of the awards grew following a cash-for-honours corruption scandal in the UK in 1922. Moves to abolish the awards federally and the states were unsuccessful; however
416-585: A representation of the states (with whom Whitlam's government was constantly in dispute) through the state badges within the Commonwealth Coat of Arms . The original three-level structure of the Order of Australia was modelled closely upon the Order of Canada , though the Order of Australia has been awarded rather more liberally, especially in regard to honorary awards to non-citizens. As of July 2024 only 30 non-Canadians have been appointed to
468-685: A special retrospective screening of his career highlights, including the screening of Gross's most recent project, Autumn in Krakow , a poignant short film on his home town of Kraków, based on his late brother Nathan's poetry. In 2011, Gross was awarded the Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland and the Medal for Merit to polish Culture – "Gloria Artis".. For users in four countries: Australia, Greece, Germany, and Israel,
520-607: A total of 16 feature films for 19 children. Eight films featuring the adventures of Dot from the original film Dot and the Kangaroo . Dot and the Bunny (1984) was the winner of the 1983 Best Animated Film at the 28th Asia Pacific Film Festival , and Dot and Keeto (1985) won the Red Ribbon Award at the 1986 American Film and Video Festival. Coinciding with the release of the films, Gross also published books based on
572-444: Is a convex golden disc decorated with citrines, with a blue royally crowned inner disc bearing an image of the coat of arms of Australia. The ribbon of the order is royal blue with a central stripe of mimosa blossoms. Awards in the military division are edged with 1.5 mm golden bands. AKs, male ACs and AOs wear their badges on a necklet and male AMs and OAMs wear them on a ribbon on the left chest. Women usually wear their badges on
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#1732793697221624-434: Is a registered charity, whose stated purpose is "[t]o celebrate and promote outstanding Australian citizenship". It also supports the "community and social activities" of members and promotes and encourages the nomination of other Australians to the Order. The Order also runs a foundation that provides scholarships to tertiary students that show potential as future leaders and are involved in community activities. Branches of
676-563: Is likely to feel a bit second-rate, and the public is likely to agree. We hate to be the first to say it, but there is no doubt that the Order of Australia (OA) will be labelled as the Ocker Award. Satire and mockery also greeted the awards, being dubbed "Gough’s Gongs" and "the Order of the Wombat". The newly elected Liberal Fraser government decided to once again make recommendations for imperial awards, whilst maintaining and expanding
728-599: Is similar, without the citrines. For the AM badge, only the crown is enamelled, and the OAM badge is plain. The AK/AD badge is similar to that of the AC badge, but with the difference that it contains at the centre an enamelled disc bearing an image of the coat of arms of Australia . The colours of royal blue and gold are taken from the livery colours of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms , the then national colours . The star for knights and dames
780-471: Is the sovereign head of the order, and the governor-general is the principal companion and chancellor of the order. The governor-general's official secretary , Paul Singer (appointed August 2018), is secretary of the order. The order is divided into a general and a military division. The five levels of appointment to the order in descending order of seniority are: Honorary awards at all levels may be made to non-citizens. These awards are made additional to
832-488: The Australian Labor Party remained opposed and generally refused to recommend awards whilst in office, with this a part of the party's platform since 1918. This was confirmed in a resolution adopted unanimously by the party conference in 1921. However, the non-Labor parties remained supportive, with the long running Menzies government making significant use of the imperial system. The Order of Australia
884-565: The Blinky Bill series, The Adventures of Blinky Bill and Blinky Bill's Extraordinary Excursion , totalled 52 half-hour episodes and achieved significant international success, particularly in Europe. After Blinky Bill , Gross co-produced the series Tabaluga (26 half hours) with EM.TV & Merchandising AG , which became a top-rated children's show in Germany. An animated series adapting Australia's best-known kangaroo, Skippy ,
936-573: The Sydney Film Festival in 1970, he was awarded second prize for The Politicians in the category of best Australian-made film, and at the 1971 Australian Film Awards, his film To Nefertiti won the bronze award. After 1977 Gross devoted his energies to animated films and series, but maintained an interest in experimental films with awards to assist young filmmakers including the Yoram Gross Award for Best Animated Film at
988-474: The 435 people who have received the nation's top Order of Australia honours since they were first awarded in 1975, shows they disproportionately attended a handful of elite Victorian secondary schools. Scotch College alumni received the highest number of awards, with 19 former students receiving Australia's [then] highest honour". On 26 January 1980 the Order of Australia Association was created as an incorporated body with membership open to award recipients. It
1040-662: The Kangaroo and Blinky Bill: The Mischievous Koala . Gross was born in Kraków , Poland to a religious Jewish family and was the brother of the film director Natan Gross. Gross endured World War II under the Nazi regime. His family was on Oskar Schindler 's list, but chose to make their own risky escape, moving hiding places 72 times. Gross studied music and musicology at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow (also known as Krakow University). He first entered
1092-418: The Order of Australia and the award of 199 Honorary Medals of the Order of Australia. Notable honorary awards include: Since 1975, just over 30 per cent of recipients of an Order of Australia honour have been women. The number of nominations and awards for women is trending up, with the 2023 Australia Day Honours resulting in the highest percentage of awards for women to date (47.1 per cent, 47.9 per cent in
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#17327936972211144-545: The Order of Australia. This was done by with the addition of two additional award levels: Knight or Dame (AK or AD) above the level of Companion, and the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) below Members. The Civil Division was also renamed the General Division, so that awards could be given to those in the Defence Force for non-military achievement. These changes were made on 24 May 1976. The reaction to
1196-486: The Order of Canada, while 537 non-Australians have been appointed to the Order of Australia, with 46 to the Companion level. Public reaction to the new awards was mixed. Only the state Labor governments of Tasmania and South Australia agreed to submit recommendations for the new awards, with the remaining governments affirming their committent to the existing imperial honours system. Newspaper editorials similarly praised
1248-498: The Order were gazetted on 22 December 2015. Yvonne Kenny AM represented the Order at the 2023 Coronation . King Charles III , when he was Prince of Wales , was appointed a Knight of the Order of Australia (AK) on 14 March 1981. As he is not an Australian citizen, even though he was the heir to the Australian throne at the time, this would have required the award to be honorary. To overcome this issue, his appointment
1300-594: The Order would be determined by the Council of the Order of Australia. Awards of the Order of Australia are sometimes made to people who are not citizens of Australia to honour extraordinary achievements. These achievements, or the people themselves, are not necessarily associated with Australia, although they often are. On 1 July 2024, the Australian Honours website listed appointments for 46 Honorary Companions, 118 Honorary Officers, 174 Honorary Members of
1352-441: The Queen to reinstate the level of knight or dame and the Queen co-signed letters patent to bring this into effect. The change was publicly announced on 25 March, and gazetted on 17 April 2014. Up to four knights or dames could be appointed each year, by the Queen of Australia on the advice of the prime minister after consultation with the chairman of the Order of Australia Council. Five awards of knight and dame were then made, to
1404-775: The Sydney Film Festival and the Yoram Gross Best Animation Award at the Flickerfest International Film Festival. Gross wrote a book on making animated films, titled The First Animated Step (1975) and produced a film of the same title. The first animated feature film produced by the Yoram Gross Film Studio, called Dot and the Kangaroo (1977), used a special aerial image technique of drawings over live action backgrounds. The film
1456-584: The age of 88 on 21 September 2015. Gross won more than 80 international awards for his various films. Gross was honoured in the 1995 Australia Day Honours with a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to the Australian film industry, particularly in animation techniques. Gross celebrated his 60th anniversary in the film industry in May 2007. To celebrate the milestone, the New South Wales Film and Television Office honoured him by hosting
1508-511: The association are in all the states and territories of Australia as well as the UK and the USA. Total inductees as of July 2024 . The order of wearing Australian and other approved honours is determined by the government. The award is parodied in the play Amigos , where the central character is determined to be awarded the AC, and uses persuasion, bribery and blackmail in his (ultimately successful) attempts to get himself nominated for
1560-502: The award to Prince Philip in a ReachTEL poll. The Australian Labor Party continued to oppose knighthoods and damehoods. Leader of the opposition Bill Shorten stated in March 2014 that the party would again discontinue the level if it were to win the next Australian federal election. The knighthood decision was a significant factor that caused Liberal party members to question Abbott's leadership, with Malcolm Turnbull succeeding in
1612-542: The award. During the 1996 season of the popular television programme Home and Away , the character Pippa Ross was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for her years of service as a foster carer. Asia Pacific Film Festival The Asia-Pacific Film Festival (abbreviated APFF ) is an annual film festival hosted by the Federation of Motion Picture Producers in Asia-Pacific (FPA). The festival
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1664-411: The awards as an example of Australia's greater independence, whilst also noting that the awards would likely appear second-rate. The Australian stated that There is no longer a British Empire; everyone knows that. But somehow the phrase "imperial honours" still carries a ring of regal authenticity that somehow transcends nationalism. For the time being a recipient ... of the Order of Australia
1716-401: The box office record of the year. In 1967 Gross, his wife Sandra and young family migrated to Australia and lived in Sydney. They established Yoram Gross Film Studio in their house, as remote workers. Gross continued to make experimental films and to win awards. He originally produced film clips for the popular weekly television music program Bandstand for such artists as John Farnham . At
1768-519: The changes to the awards were similarly split along party lines. Following the 1983 federal election , Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke recommitted to the end of recommendations for imperial awards. No knighthoods were awarded during his first term in office and he advised the abolition of the knight/dame level after being re-elected in 1986. During the time the division was active from 1976 to 1983, twelve knights and two dames were created. On 19 March 2014, monarchist prime minister Tony Abbott advised
1820-518: The establishment of the order, Australians could receive British honours , which continued to be issued in parallel until 1992. Appointments to the order are made by the governor-general , "with the approval of The Sovereign", according to recommendations made by the Council for the Order of Australia . Members of the government are not involved in the recommendation of appointments, other than for military and honorary awards. The King of Australia
1872-463: The exception of awards recommended by the soon to be independent government of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea ); however this did not affect the constitutional right of state governments to recommend imperial awards. According to the governor general's then-secretary Sir David Smith , Whitlam was furious when he first saw Devlin's design for the insignia of the order, due to the inclusion of
1924-742: The film industry in 1947 at the age of 20 when he became one of the first students of Jerzy Toeplitz (founder of the Polish Film Institute , the Swiss Film Institute and the Australian Film and Television School ). Gross began his career as an assistant to Polish directors Eugene Cenkalski and Leonard Buczkowski as well as the Dutch director Joris Ivens and studied script writing under Carl Foreman . In 1950 Gross moved from Poland to Israel, where he worked as
1976-828: The films Dot and the Kangaroo , The Little Convict and Save the Lady . Gross's 1991 animated film The Magic Riddle was based on an original story and is a mixture of fairy tales from Hans Christian Andersen , the Brothers Grimm , and others. In 1992 Gross released Blinky Bill: The Mischievous Koala , based on the Australian children's classic by Dorothy Wall . This film featured an Australian koala and introduced Blinky Bill to an international audience. Blinky Bill generated one of Australia's most successful merchandising programs, bringing in millions of dollars in export earnings. In 1993 Yoram Gross Film Studio diversified into animated series for television. The first two of
2028-489: The general division). Advocacy groups such as Honour a Woman and the Workplace Gender Equality Agency have called for greater effort to be made to reach equal representation of men and women in the order. In December 2010, The Age reported a study of the educational backgrounds of all people who had received Knight/Dame and Companion level awards at that time. It reported: "An analysis of
2080-683: The governments of each respective state and territory, and three ex officio members (the chief of the Defence Force , the vice-president of the Federal Executive Council and a public servant responsible for honours policy). The Council chair as of August 2024 is Shelley Reys. The Council makes recommendations to the governor-general. Awards are announced on Australia Day and on the King's Birthday public holiday in June, on
2132-586: The governor-general to remove an individual from the order, who may cancel an award. Announcements of all awards, cancellations and resignations appear in the Commonwealth Gazette . Nomination forms are confidential and not covered by the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) . The reasoning behind a nomination being successful or unsuccessful—and even the attendees of the meetings where such nominations are discussed—remains confidential. As
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2184-417: The occasion of a special announcement by the governor-general (usually honorary awards), and on the appointment of a new governor-general. The governor-general presents the order's insignia to new appointees. Appointments to the order may be made posthumously as long as a person was nominated for an award whilst they were still alive. Awardees may subsequently resign from the order, and the Council may advise
2236-674: The order at all levels. Nomination forms are submitted to the Director, Honours Secretariat, a position within the Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General of Australia , at Government House, Canberra , which are then forwarded to the Council for the Order of Australia . The council consists of 19 members: seven selected by the prime minister (described as "community representatives"), eight appointed by
2288-457: The outgoing governor-general , Quentin Bryce ; her successor, Peter Cosgrove ; a recent chief of the Defence Force , Angus Houston ; a recent governor of New South Wales , Marie Bashir ; and Prince Philip . This last award was widely met with ridicule and dismay by many in the Australian media. The award was also heavily criticised in the community, with 72% disapproving and 12% in favour of
2340-681: The prime minister alone, rather than by the Council of the Order of Australia, as is the case with all lower levels of the order. In accordance with the statutes of 2014, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh , was created a Knight of the Order by letters patent signed by the Queen on 7 January 2015, on Abbott's advice. Prince Philip's knighthood was announced as part of the Australia Day Honours on 26 January 2015 and his appointment attracted criticism of what Abbott described as his "captain's call". Abbott responded by announcing that future recommendations for appointments as Knights and Dames of
2392-536: The production of 10 new series over the next five years. In the following year the studio worked with the Canadian Nelvana to plan an animated adaptation of Dav Pilkey's Dumb Bunnies . The new millennium cemented Gross and EM.TV's position as the number-one family entertainment business in the Australian country and supplier of quality children's content to the world. The studio completed a second series of both Tabaluga and Flipper and Lopaka , as well as
2444-528: The quotas. The order's insignia was designed by Stuart Devlin . The badge of the Order of Australia is a convex disc (gold for AKs, ADs and ACs, gilt for AOs, AMs and OAMs) representing a single flower of mimosa . At the centre is a ring, representing the sea, with the word Australia below two branches of mimosa. The whole disc is topped by the Crown of St Edward . The AC badge is decorated with citrines , blue enamelled ring, and enamelled crown. The AO badge
2496-578: Was based on an Australian classic best seller by Ethel Pedley , and was described by ABC film critic John Hinde as a "brilliant technical success and the best cartoon film originated in Australia". It won Best Children's Film in Tehran and also won a Sammy Award for the Best Animated Film at the 1978 Australian Film Institute Television Awards . Gross went on to produce, direct, and script
2548-417: Was completed in 1998, whereupon the studio commenced the animation of Flipper and Lopaka . Both series comprise 26 half-hour episodes. In March 1999, EM.TV a 50% share ownership in Yoram Gross Film Studio acquired from Village Roadshow Limited to form Yoram Gross-EM.TV Pty Ltd (YGEM) was created. This new partnership marked the transition from a family business to a world brand. EM.TV and YGEM committed to
2600-447: Was created by an amendment to the constitution of the Order of Australia by special letters patent signed by the Queen, on the recommendation of Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser . In March 2014 the knight and dame levels, which had been abolished in 1986 by Prime Minister Bob Hawke , were reintroduced to the Order of Australia by Tony Abbott . At the same time, Abbott announced that future appointments at this level would be recommended by
2652-498: Was established on 14 February 1975 by letters patent of Queen Elizabeth II , acting as Queen of Australia , and on the advice of the newly elected Labor prime minister , Gough Whitlam . The original order had three levels: Companion (AC), Officer (AO) and Member (AM) as well as two divisions: Civil Division and Military Division. Whitlam had previously announced in 1972 (on his third day in office) that his government would no longer nominate persons for British Imperial honours (with
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#17327936972212704-799: Was first held in Tokyo , Japan , in 1954. The festival was first held in Tokyo, Japan, in 1954 as the Southeast Asian Film Festival (AFF). In addition to Japan, Hong Kong , the Federation of Malaya , the Philippines , Taiwan , and Thailand participated. The festival was subsequently held in a different country each year, and its name was changed to the Asia-Pacific Film Festival. From 1972 to 1976,
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