On Australia Day (26 January) 1986, Meldrum was made a Member of the Order of Australia, with a citation for "service to the fostering of international relief and to youth". At the ARIA Music Awards of 1993, he received a Special Achievement Award to acknowledge his contributions to popular music. In 1994 at the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) Awards he obtained the Ted Albert Award (named in honour of Ted Albert). Music journalists, Toby Creswell and Samantha Chenoweth describe Meldrum as "The single most important person in the Australian pop industry for forty years" in their 2006 book, "1001 Australians You Should Know". In November 2014, he was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame, together with his TV show, "Countdown", he became the first non-artist to receive the accolade. At the Music Victoria Awards of 2018, Meldrum was inducted into the Music Victoria Hall of Fame.