What is the Victoria Cross?

The Victoria Cross is the highest decoration for valour available to Australian service members, awarded for the most conspicuous courage or pre-eminent act of valour, self-sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty in the face of the enemy. It is the rarest and most prestigious gallantry award in the Australian honours system.

The medal traces back to 28 January 1856, when Queen Victoria instituted the British Victoria Cross to recognise courage shown by British and Commonwealth forces during the Crimean War. From federation in 1901 until 1991, Australian service members were awarded the same British Victoria Cross alongside other Commonwealth recipients. In 1991, Queen Elizabeth II established the Victoria Cross for Australia as a separate award within the Australian honours system, with the same design and criteria.

Ninety-eight Australian service members were awarded the Victoria Cross between 1900 and 1969, including Albert Jacka, the first Australian recipient at Gallipoli in 1915; Roden Cutler, who served in Lebanon in 1941 and later as Governor of New South Wales; and Keith Payne, awarded for service in Vietnam in 1969 and the last Australian to receive the British Victoria Cross. Four Australians have received the Victoria Cross for Australia, all for service in Afghanistan: Mark Donaldson, Ben Roberts-Smith, Daniel Keighran, and Cameron Baird (posthumously).

The medal is a bronze cross suspended from a crimson ribbon, struck from cannon captured at the siege of Sevastopol in 1855. The inscription on the obverse reads 'For Valour'. Recipients are entitled to use the post-nominal letters VC and to be formally saluted regardless of rank, even by a senior officer. As of 2026, four living Australians hold the Victoria Cross for Australia, and their original medals are held at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.