Members of Australia’s technology industry have been named on the 2025 King’s Birthday Honours list, recognising their work improving the nation’s technological capabilities.
Announced on Sunday night by Governor-General Sam Mostyn, this year’s King’s Birthday Honours list recognised 830 Australians.
Among them, space expert and engineer Roger Franzen was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) — the second-highest honour behind Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) — for his service to the country’s space sector, including complex systems engineering, aerospace, and satellite communications technology.
Franzen was CEO of Australian aerospace company Auspace between 1998 and 2006, before taking up roles with the Australian National University (ANU) and CSIRO.
He is now the primary consultant at Earthspace, a firm he founded in 2007 to support government, defence, and commercial space initiatives.
“I am extremely proud and humbled by this award and I will now need to live up to its high expectations,” Franzen wrote on LinkedIn, where he argued “bad decisions” by political leaders had held back Australia’s space industry.
“So despite the fog and confusion muddling good governance, I applaud those space startups brave enough to stand up and risk their all in the hope of success,” he said.
“Hence, my mission, as it remains, is to educate, inform and help professionalise the nascent space industries in Australia and those that would be the customers.”
‘I am very proud of my work’
Renewable energy engineer Geoffrey Stapleton was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for his service to the sustainable energy sector, including training and development.
“I am very proud of my work in the solar industry and feel lucky to have been involved,” he wrote on LinkedIn.
“I am also very pleased to see that this industry has grown to a level where people involved with the development of the industry are deemed worthy to receive Order of Australia awards.”
Victorian engineer and designer Dianne Blood (née Boddy) was also appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to mechanical engineering through innovation and robotic design, and to diversity and inclusion.
The Mallacoota unit of the State Emergency Service (SES) thanked Blood for her work.
“Dianne generously lends her engineering and other expertise to community organisations including our unit,” it wrote on social media.
“Our warmest congratulations Dianne.”
Engineer Christopher Jenkins, a former CEO of the Australia and New Zealand arm of defence, aerospace, and cybersecurity firm Thales, was also appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for his work in advanced manufacturing and business.
Entrepreneurs, military personnel, public servants honoured
Several technology industry figures were appointed members of the Order of Australia (AM), including electrical engineer and executive Merryn York, who leads system design for Australia’s energy grid at AEMO (Australian Energy Market Operator).
Medtech entrepreneur Lusia Guthrie was awarded for her work bringing advanced technologies to Australia’s medical industry, while digital entrepreneur Anthony Surtees was recognised for his work in technological and charitable entrepreneurialism.
Sportstech veteran James Demetriou, the founding chair of the Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN), was also appointed a Member of the Order of Australia, having mentored more than 150 startups and helped to develop Australia’s sportstech industry.
Among the honours received by military personnel, the Royal Australian Navy’s Captain Andreas Buttler received the Conspicuous Service Cross (CSC) for outstanding achievement as the Commander of the Fleet Information Warfare Force, whose work involves data networks, communications, cybersecurity, and intelligence.
Australian Army Captain Benjamin Corsini also received a Conspicuous Service Medal for leading the design, development, and implementation of an IT system which “increases collaboration with industry partners and foreign militaries while reducing cybersecurity risk”, according to the governor-general's office.
In the public service, the Public Service Medal (PSM) was awarded to Michelle Ricks, who worked to modernise Services Australia’s myGov platform to support 500,000 concurrent users during the COVID-19 pandemic; and Kylie Wright, who helped "establish and optimise technology transfer and information sharing between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States (AUKUS)”.
The governor-general's office said this year's King’s Birthday Honours list saw awards handed to almost 30 per cent more people than the 2025 Australia Day Honours list, which also recognised several members of Australia’s technology industry.
Any Australian can nominate someone for an Honours award, with nominations assessed by the Honours and Awards Secretariat and considered by the Council of the Order of Australia before being recommended to the governor-general.
