Indian-Australian Vinod Daniel conferred with Order of Australia Medal

The honour was announced by Australia’s Governor General David Hurley.

The Medal of the Order (OAM) is conferred for outstanding achievement and service. It is an honour for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia on the advice of the Australian government replacing British honours.

Earlier in the year, Vinod Daniel, who is also India Vision Institute’s CEO, won the India Australia Business Community Alliance (IABCA) 2023 Social Impact Award.

The OAM has been awarded to Vinod Daniel for conservation and environment.

Daniel is an internationally-recognised museum expert. An Australian citizen of Indian origin, he is known for his work in heritage preservation both nationally in Australia, and overseas.

He has contributed to the promotion of the Australian heritage industry and is equally well known for his far-reaching and extensive work in preserving museums and institutions in the Pacific islands, Asia, Europe and America.

Daniel has held a number of positions including as Chairman of the Board for AusHeritage, former Member, International Council of Museums (second term), and Chief Executive Officer and Managing Trustee of India Vision Institute. He has been a Board Member of the Australia India Council (1995 – 2011) and Vice Chairman of the International Council of Museums-Committee for Conservation (2008 – 2014).

Daniel has represented and coordinated Australia’s functional interaction with the ASEAN-Committee on Culture and Information (ASEAN-COCI) and India.

He has negotiated and signed cultural heritage memorandum of understandings between AusHeritage and ASEAN-COCI, AusHeritage and the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage and the Australian Museum and the Pacific Islands Museums Association.

He co-chaired the Salzburg Global Forums during the 2009 session on “Conserving the World’s Collections”, which brought together 50 of the world’s prominent cultural heritage professionals.

He negotiated and Chaired the Olympic Arts festival exhibition on heritage recognition for the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

He was awarded the Indo-Australian Award for Meritorious Service by the Indo Australian Association in 2009, the International Council of Museums Australia award for International Relations in 2011, the Association of Community Ophthalmologists of India (ACOIN) Golden Eye Award in 2012 and the ASTRA (Association of Soft Skills Trainers) Service Excellence Award (2014) for sustainable contribution to the field of Human Resource Development and Human Resource Management relating to Cultural Heritage and Blindness Prevention, 2015 American Academy of Optometry-Essilor Award for Outstanding International Contributions to Optometry, 2019 GEMCO Award for Lifetime Work in India on Heritage and Social Work, and 2020 India-Australia Community Awards (IABCA) for Community service. In October 2019, he was re-elected for a second term as Member, International Council of Museums (ICOM), Paris. Mr Daniel has contributed to national and international heritage preservation, including as a member of the executive council and on the board of ICOM.

He has represented and coordinated Australia’s functional interaction with the ASEAN-Committee on Culture and Information (ASEAN-COCI), India and the Pacific, as well as negotiate and sign the cultural heritage memorandum of understandings between AusHeritage and ASEAN-COCI, AusHeritage and the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage and the Australian Museum and the Pacific Islands Museums Association.

He has co-chaired the Salzburg Global Forums 2009 session on ‘Conserving the World’s Collections’, which brought together 50 of the world’s prominent cultural heritage professionals.

He also negotiated and Chaired the Olympic Arts festival exhibition on heritage recognition for the Sydney 2000 Olympics In India, Daniel has worked on prestigious projects, notable among them being the Madras Museum, The Prince of Wales Museum in Mumbai, Shantiniketan, Victoria Memorial in Kolkata, and the Indira Gandhi Memorial and National Museum, both in Delhi.

Daniel holds an MS (Chemistry)-Texas Christian University, USA (1990), MS (Chemical Engineering) from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras in Chennai, India (1986) and BS (Chemical Engineering) from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (1984).