Australia will no longer appoint knights and dames

Australia will no longer appoint knights and dames under its honours system, PM Malcolm Turnbull has said.

The new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who in 1999 led Australia's unsuccessful campaign to abandon the monarchy and become a republic, has dropped knights and dames. Former PM Tony Abbott reintroduced knighthoods and damehoods in 2014.

Mr Turnbull said the Order of Australia awards were "an important way of honouring the achievements and service of many Australians, including those unsung heroes who might not otherwise be recognised outside their local communities". But he said his cabinet had recently reviewed the system and decided that the knighthoods and damehoods were "not appropriate in our modern honours system". Mr Turnbull said the titles were "not appropriate" in modern Australia, and that Queen Elizabeth had accepted the cabinet's recommendation to drop them.

Existing knights and dames would not be affected by the change, he said.