With the recent natural disasters that have plagued Australia, the Federal Government has relaxed its policy on reissuing medals.
A government policy for many years has been that medals can only be issued to the ADF members who earned them.
This has meant in the past medals can only be replaced if they are lost or destroyed after the ADF member has died.
Following the Victorian bushfires in 2009, the policy was relaxed for a period of time while people assessed the damage and determined whether they had medals that would have to be replaced.
For Queenslanders, this means they will have the opportunity to have their own, or their loved ones medals replaced after the wide-spread flooding throughout Queensland and Cyclone Yasi in the North of Queensland.
Parliamentary Secretary for Defence, Senator the Honourable David Feeney made the announcement on Thursday, February 10.
The Federal Government believes in protecting the rights of those who have been awarded medals but also understands the importance of giving family members the opportunity to claim for the medals.
“While the Government is committed to maintaining the integrity of our system of military honours and awards, there are circumstances in which the Australian community rightly expects us to show greater flexibility in implementing the existing policy. I believe this unprecedented series of natural disasters is one of those circumstances,” Senator Feeney said.
ADF medals are able to be reissued to next of kin, or other appropriate members of deceased ADF members if the medals have been lost or destroyed in current natural disasters.
However, medals pre World War I cannot be replaced as they are no longer in production.
Applicants should use the application form and statutory declaration located on the Defence Honours and Awards website at: www.defence.gov.au/medals