Bravery Medal (BM)

Awards › Bravery Medal (BM)

The Bravery Medal (BM) is the third highest Australian Bravery Decorations, where it is awarded for acts of bravery in hazardous circumstances. Other Australian Bravery Decorations include:

cross of valour (cv) medal

Cross of Valour (CV)

Star of Courage (SC) Medal

Star of Courage (SC)

Bravery Medal (BM)

Commendation for Brave Conduct Medal

Commendation for Brave Conduct

HISTORY

Australian Bravery Decorations date from the establishment of the Australian honours system in February 1975. The Group Bravery Citation was added in 1990. The decorations recognise acts of bravery by members of the community.

How it is awarded

Anyone may nominate any other person for a bravery decoration. The nomination may be for a brave act by an Australian citizen in Australia or overseas. A decoration may be awarded to a person who is not an Australian citizen for either an act done in Australia or for an act which, though done outside Australia, merits recognition as an act in the interest of Australia. Bravery decorations may be made posthumously.

The Honours Secretariat at Government House researches the nominations. The Australian Bravery Decorations Council then considers them. The Council has fourteen members including representatives of each state and territory, two ex-officio members and four community members appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister, by the Governor-General.

The Australian Bravery Decorations Council makes recommendations for awards direct to the Governor-General. The Council also recommends the level of awards.

Announcements

There is no set timeframe for announcing bravery awards. Generally there are two announcements each year in April and August. After the announcement of awards, recipients are invited to a ceremony or investiture at Government House in their state to receive their award.

Recipients

Dr. Richard Harris and Craig Challen were awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) and the Star of Courage (SC) bravery decoration in 2018 for their role in rescuing 12 young boys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave in Thailand.

David Andren BM was awarded the Bravery Medal (BM) in 2011 for saving “saved a number of people following the capsizing of a three-storey cruising vessel at Halong Bay, North Vietnam.”

Senior Constable Timothy Britten was awarded the Cross of Valor (CV) – one out of five total recipients – in 2003 for “his actions in the immediate aftermath of the 2002 Bali bombings.“

Alastar Adams BM was awarded the Bravery Medal (BM) in 1996 for rescuing a “distraught man from land-mine field in Cambodia.”

All information is sourced from Australian Government. n.d. Australian Bravery Decorations