Sports stars, a celebrity chef and Australia's newest High Court judge were among those recognised on the Australia Day honours list.
In all, 439 people received awards for their contributions to Australian society.
The federal government also named 40 People of Australia Ambassadors, chosen for their work promoting multiculturalism in the community.
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Among them was Dr Tien Nguyen who fled Vietnam by boat in 1980, re-trained as a doctor in Australia and has spent most of his life helping other refugees both here and in Asia.
It's just the latest in a string of honours for Dr Nguyen, who is also a recipient of an Order of Australia Medal.
But despite all of the acclaim, Dr Nguyen retains a grateful outlook.
"I consider myself being extremely lucky. I consider myself having everything I ever dream for and the people ambassadorship is just another honour that I treasure very much," he says.
"I try to do things that pay back the favours that life gave me in all my voluntary things that I've done," says Dr Nguyen.
"I started setting up an organisation to help Vietnamese asylum-seekers. Hundreds and thousands of them were stranded in camps in South East Asia and Hong Kong and we tried to help them both financially and legally," he says.
"I'm proud of the integration of my people ... we've got a lot of problems a lot more to learn and to adapt but so far... we're doing very well and I'm glad about it."
