Former Melbourne lord mayor Robert Doyle (Image: AAP/James Ross)
Former Melbourne lord mayor Robert Doyle (Image: AAP/James Ross)

Former Melbourne lord mayor Robert Doyle has been stripped of his Order of Australia after what Crikey understands has been a long campaign to have the governor-general revoke the award.

The decision was made following a recommendation by the Council of the Order of Australia, which was overhauled 12 months ago following the election of the Albanese government. It potentially signals an important change in how the governor-general’s office will deal with cases where there are serious findings — but no criminal conviction — against the holder of an honours award.

Two separate inquiries into Doyle’s behaviour in recent years have found substance to allegations of sexual harassment. The first inquiry, conducted in 2018 into allegations from two female councillors, concluded that he had acted in a way that could constitute sexual harassment and gross misconduct. A second inquiry found he had behaved in a “sleazy” and “sexually inappropriate way” towards a woman at a Melbourne Health function in 2016. Doyle had allegedly placed his hand on the inside of the woman’s leg. She was seated next to him at a black-tie dinner. Both inquiries were conducted by Ian Freckelton QC — but did not require a criminal standard of proof and were not heard in a court.

Victoria Police launched a criminal investigation into Doyle but ultimately dropped the investigation without laying charges. Doyle has always denied he acted inappropriately.  

Doyle, who is also a former Liberal member of the Victorian Parliament, was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), Australia’s highest honour, in 2017.  

The removal of Doyle’s AC was announced quietly in the pages of the Commonwealth government Gazette last Friday in a single paragraph signed by the governor-general’s official secretary, Paul Singer MVO. No reason was given.

As Crikey has reported, the governor-general has faced calls over recent years to strip honours from several luminaries.

They include the late Cardinal George Pell who was the subject of adverse findings from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse, as well as former High Court justice Dyson Heydon, who was found by an independent inquiry commissioned by the High Court to have sexually harassed six former judges’ associates. There were also calls for social commentator Bettina Arndt to be stripped of her award after she appeared to publicly make excuses for a man who murdered his former partner and their children.

The governor-general has wide powers to remove awards. These include if “a court, tribunal or other body exercising judicial or administrative power” has made an adverse finding on the person or if “in the opinion of the governor-general” a person has behaved or acted “in a manner that has brought disrepute on the order”. By convention, the office of the governor-general has not used these powers, even though they are not subject to appeal. 

No action was taken against Pell. In Dyson Heydon’s case it appears that the former judge resigned his membership of the AC, rather than it being removed from him.

As Crikey has documented, over its nearly 50-year history, the Council of the Order of Australia has stripped awards from 46 people. In most cases it has been because of a criminal conviction or because a person lied about their achievements. 

In the wake of escalating criticism, particularly during the years of the Morrison government, the governor-general has vowed to address a serious gender imbalance in the awards.

In light of that it would seem impossible for the governor-general to ignore the sexual harassment allegations against Doyle, despite there being no criminal conviction.

Another factor is the new membership of the Council of the Order of Australia. Albanese government appointments include:

  • Shelley Reys (AO) as chair of the council. Reys is a Djirribul woman from far north Queensland who had a significant role in the Rudd government’s official apology to the Stolen Generations
  • Annie Butler, federal secretary of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, Australia’s biggest union.
  • Cathy McGowan, formerly the independent federal member for Indi. McGowan’s sister Ruth has been a driving force of Honour A Woman, which lobbied hard to fix the gender disparity which has been ingrained in the awards.

It is hard to imagine a council like this tolerating the likes of Doyle especially as it seeks to rebuild trust in awards that were so tarnished over the life of Coalition rule.