Tennis great Rod Laver has been appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia for his service to the sport.
Pop star Tina Arena and retired tennis player Lleyton Hewitt appointed Members of the Order.
Former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick has been appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia.
Politicians were also recognised, with former federal opposition leader Brendan Nelson appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia, while ex-South Australian premier Mike Rann was made a Companion of the Order.
Among those recognised are migrants and members of the Indigenous community.
Indian-born physics professor Chennupati Jagadish arrived in Australia in 1990, with his wife and their then-two-month-old baby.
Impressed with the weather and countryside he'd accepted a two year contract at the newly established Department of Electronic Materials Engineering at the Australian National University.
Twenty-five years on Professor Jagadish is still there.
His eminent service to physics and engineering is now being recognised with the highest civilian honour bestowed by the Governor-General - the Companion of the Order of Australia.
Particular mention has been made of his work in the field of nanotechnology.
Professor Jagadish explains:
"So nanotechnology is considered a technology of the future which is expected to have a huge impact on all industry sectors. For example we have been developing nanotechnology based lasers, which have the potential to be used in the future optical communication systems, that means internet for example. And if you want to have faster internet and faster devices, lasers will help in terms of transmitting the information. But also nanotechnology is opening up new opportunities to develop a new class of solar cells. And we are developing nanotechnology for doing bio-medical imaging."
January 26th has long been a special day for Professor Jagadish's family.
"My birth country India also celebrates Republic Day on January 26th. And of course we celebrate now, being Australians, Australia Day on January 26th. And also two years back my daughter got married on January 26th. So it is really a very special day for us Australia Day. And this honour makes it even more special."
A special day, too, for 69-year-old Sharyn Mackenzie, awarded the medal of the Order of Australia for her service helping refugees.
In 2003, she and her husband helped a newly arrived Sudanese family settle in the New South Wales seaside city of Wollongong.
Believing more people would help out given the opportunity, in 2005 they founded the charitable organisation SCARF to assist more refugees.
"How amazing. Very humbling and a huge surprise to be recognised for a work that I consider to be a great privilege. And it is have been a great source of joy to my husband and myself. But you know it is really something to be shared with the Wollongong host community because we have gathered a wonderful team of people around us over these last ten years and they have helped make my vision become a reality."
Yirrgandji elder Doctor George Skeene is happy to have been awarded the medal of the Order of Australia for service to the Indigenous community of North Queensland.
He grew up in Cairns in the 1950s during assimilation, when Aboriginal people were expected to give up their heritage and adopt the culture of white Australia.
He has been involved in the return of Aboriginal remains from Queensland Museum, and helped catalogue Aboriginal artefacts held in Germany.
The 67 year-old lectures at James Cook University on Aboriginal camps in Cairns, sharing his cultural knowledge with the community.
"I want to get the correct message acrosWs. Because I came through the assimilation program here in Cairns and segregation. Segregation was all around during the 1950s. And I wanted to get that message across so that part of Cairns Aboriginal history would not be forgotten."
Fifty-two year-old father of two Albert Vella has been recognised for his work promoting multicultural education.
The son of Maltese migrants, he didn't have an opportunity to attend a language school growing up.
As President of the New South Wales Federation of Community Language Schools, he's made it his mission to increase opportunities for people to learn and use the language of their heritage.
"It helps promote the economic well-being of Australia into the future. It will help build bridges between us and other countries in a globalised world. It will give these children a head-start linguistically to be great communicators. And it it also helps builds great community connections."
Just some of the Australians being honoured for their service to the nation.
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