The Victoria Cross for Australia (VC) is the highest military decoration given for bravery "in the face of the enemy" to members of the Australia Armed Forces. The medal was called the Victoria Cross, but the name was changed in 1991. The Victoria Cross was started in 1856 for bravery in the Crimean War. The first medals were made from captured Russian cannons. The Victoria Cross for Australia looks exactly the same as the Victoria Cross.

The first winner of the Victoria Cross for Australia is SAS Trooper Mark Donaldson. Donaldson won the medal for bravery in Afghanistan in September 2008. The medal was given to him in a ceremony on January 16, 2009. He was the first winner of a VC for 40  years.

Australian winners of the Victoria Cross

1900 to 1920
 1900 - John Bisdee, Second Boer War
 1900 - Sir Neville Howse, Second Boer War
 1900 - Guy Wylly, Second Boer War
 1901 - Frederick Bell, Second Boer War
 1901 - Leslie Maygar, Second Boer War, Geelhoutboom, South Africa
 1901 - James Rogers, Second Boer War
 1915 - Alexander Burton, Gallipoli Campaign
 1915 - Wilbur Dartnell, Maktau, Kenya
 1915 - William Dunstan, World War I, Gallipoli Campaign
 1915 - John Patrick Hamilton, World War I, Gallipoli Campaign
 1915 - Albert Jacka, Gallipoli Campaign
 1915 - Leonard Keysor, World War I, Gallipoli Campaign
 1915 - Alfred Shout, Gallipoli Campaign
 1915 - William Symons, World War I, Gallipoli Campaign
 1915 - Hugo Throssell, World War I, Gallipoli Campaign
 1915 - Frederick Tubb, World War I, Gallipoli Campaign
 1916 - Arthur Blackburn, World War I, Pozières, France
 1916 - Claud Castleton, Pozières, France
 1916 - Thomas Cooke, Pozières, France
 1916 - William Jackson, World War I, Armentières, France
 1916 - John Leak, World War I, Pozières, France
 1916 - Martin O'Meara, World War I, Pozières, France
 1917 - Frederick Birks, Battle of Passchendaele
 1917 - Patrick Bugden, Zonnebeke, Belgium
 1917 - Percy Cherry, Lagnicourt, France
 1917 - John Carroll, World War I, Battle of Messines (1917)
 1917 - John Dwyer, World War I, Zonnebeke, Belgium
 1917 - Robert Grieve, World War I, Battle of Messines (1917)
 1917 - George Howell, World War I, Battle of Arras (1917)
 1917 - Roy Inwood, World War I, Battle of the Menin Road Ridge
 1917 - Clarence Jeffries, First Battle of Passchendaele
 1917 - Jørgen Jensen, World War I, Noreuil, France
 1917 - Bede Kenny, World War I, Hermies, France
 1917 - Lewis McGee, Battle of Ypres
 1917 - Frank McNamara, World War I, Capture of Wadi el Hesi
 1917 - Mick Moon, World War I, Battle of Arras (1917)
 1917 - Harry Murray, World War I
 1917 - James Newland, World War I, Bapaume, France
 1917 - Walter Peeler, World War I, Battle of Ypres
 1917 - Charles Pope, Louveral, France
 1917 - John Whittle, World War I
 1918 - Thomas Axford, World War I, Battle of Hamel
 1918 - Robert Beatham, Battle of Rosières
 1918 - Albert Borella, World War I, Villers-Bretonneux, France
 1918 - Walter Brown, World War I, Villers-Bretonneux, France
 1918 - Alexander Buckley, Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin
 1918 - Maurice Buckley, World War I, Le Verguier, France
 1918 - George Cartwright, World War I, Bouchavesnes, France
 1918 - William Currey, World War I, Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin
 1918 - Henry Dalziel, World War I, Battle of Hamel
 1918 - Phillip Davey, World War I, Merris, France
 1918 - Alfred Gaby, Villers-Bretonneux, France
 1918 - Bernard Gordon, World War I, Battle of Amiens
 1918 - Arthur Hall, World War I, Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin
 1918 - George Ingram, World War I, Montbrehain, France
 1918 - William Joynt, World War I, Battle of Herleville Wood
 1918 - Alby Lowerson, World War I, Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin
 1918 - Robert MacTier, Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin
 1918 - Joseph Maxwell, World War I, Estrees, France
 1918 - Dominic McCarthy, World War I, Vermandovillers, France
 1918 - Stanley McDougall, World War I, Dernancourt, France
 1918 - William Ruthven, World War I, Ville-sur-Ancre, France
 1918 - John Ryan, World War I, Hindenburg Defences, France
 1918 - Clifford Sadlier, World War I, Villers-Bretonneux, France
 1918 - Percy Statton, World War I, Proyart, France
 1918 - Percy Storkey, World War I, Hangard Wood, France
 1918 - Edgar Towner, World War I, Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin
 1918 - Blair Wark, World War I, Bellicourt, France
 1918 - Lawrence Weathers, World War I, Peronne, France
 1918 - James Park Woods, World War I, Le Verguier, France
 1919 - Arthur Percy Sullivan, North Russia Campaign
 1919 - Samuel Pearse, North Russia Campaign

1941 - 1969 
 1941 - Roden Cutler, Syria–Lebanon Campaign
 1941 - Corporal John Edmondson, Tobruk
 1941 - Hughie Edwards, Bremen
 1941 - Jim Gordon, Djezzine, Lebanon
 1942 - Charles Groves Wright Anderson, Malaya
 1942 - Percy Gratwick, El Alamein, Egypt
 1942 - Stan Gurney, Egypt
 1942 - Jack French, Milne Bay, New Guinea
 1942 - Percy Gratwick
 1942 - Bill Kibby, El Alamein, Egypt
 1942 - Bruce Kingsbury, Kokoda Trail, Papua New Guinea
 1942 - Ron Middleton, Turin, Italy
 1943 - Tom Derrick, New Guinea
 1943 - Richard Kelliher, New Guinea
 1943 - Bill Newton, New Guinea
 1945 - Albert Chowne, Dagua, New Guinea
 1945 - Edward Kenna, New Guinea
 1945 - John Bernard Mackey, Tarakan Island, Borneo
 1945 - Frank Partridge, Bougainville Campaign, Solomon Islands
 1945 - Reg Rattey, Bougainville, Solomon Islands
 1945 - Leslie Thomas Starcevich, Battle of North Borneo
 1965 - Kevin Wheatley, Vietnam
 1967 - Peter Badcoe, Huong Tra, Vietnam
 1969 - Keith Payne, Ben Het Camp, Vietnam
 1969 -Ray Simpson, Vietnam

Winners of the Victoria Cross for Australia
 2008 - Mark Donaldson, SAS, for bravery in Afghanistan, Urozgan Province
 2010 - Ben Roberts-Smith, War in Afghanistan, Kandahar Province
 2010 - Daniel Keighran, War in Afghanistan, Urozgan Province
 2013 - Cameron Baird, War in Afghanistan, Khod Valley

References

Orders, decorations, and medals of Australia
1856 establishments in Australia