Two prominent aviation administrators have been awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2026 Australia Day Honours List released on Monday evening.
Air Vice Marshal (Retd) Margaret Staib and Air Sport Australia Confederation (ASAC) president Grahame Hill have both been awarded AMs.
AVM Staib, who was CEO of Airservices Australia 2012-15 after she retired from the RAAF, was honoured for her service to the aviation and logistics sectors. Staib's expertise in logistics in both civil and military aviation has been the cornerstone of her career. In 2015, a joint military logistics centre at Amberley was named after her.
Currently the president of the Australian Division of the Royal Aeronautical Society, Staib is also the independent chair of the Australian Logistics Council, non-executive director of Sydney Airport, was a director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute for three years and was defence and national security advocate for the Northern Territory government 2017-2020.
Staib also served as non-executive director and chair of the ACT Chapter of the organisation Chief Executive Women.
This is the second award of an AM to Staib, matching her AM in the military division from 2009.
Skydiver Grahame Hill was honoured for his contribution to air sports governance and safety. Hill, who served as pilot and chief parachuting instructor at Sydney Skydive for 23 years, is one of GA's most prolific advocates.
Currently Australian vice-president of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, Hill has also been president of ASAC since 2017, board member and secretary of Safeskies Australia since 2019, was chair of the Australian Parachute Federation (APF) 2014-18 and Director of Aircraft Operations for the APF since 1972, an amazing 54 years.
Hill has also been a member of the NSW Regional Airspace Procedures Advisory Committee (RAPAC - now AVSEF) since the committee was founded 30 years ago.
Since 2018, Hill has been a key member of the General Aviation Advisory Network (GAAN), which provides advice on general aviation policy directly to the minister for infrastructure and transport.
Several other aviators have been mentioned in the honours list at varying levels, but only these two have been honoured specifically for their contributions to aviation.
-Steve Hitchen