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The Victoria Cross for Australia is the highest award in the [[Australian Honours Order of Precedence]]. As such, it takes precedence over all other [[Commonwealth Realms orders and decorations#Australia|Australian orders and decorations]], except the Imperial [[Victoria Cross]], with which it shares equal precedence. This postnominal is valid only for the recipient and is not transferred to the recipient's heirs.<ref>Ashcroft, Michael, Introduction</ref> "Tradition holds that even the most senior officer will salute a Victoria Cross recipient as a mark of the utmost respect for their act of valour."<ref name="Houston salutes"/> While it has been a tradition for many years to salute a Victoria Cross recipient the Australian Army Ceremonial Manual, Volume 1, Annex B to Chapter 13 states "Victoria Cross winners, unless they are serving commissioned officers in the armed forces, are not saluted". [[Air Chief Marshal (Australia)|Air Chief Marshal]] [[Angus Houston]] saluted Trooper [[Mark Donaldson]] after he received his VC.<ref name="Houston salutes">{{cite news|url=http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-national/im-no-hero-says-aussie-soldier-with-vc-20090116-7imy.html |title=I'm no hero says Aussie soldier with VC |work=[[The Age]] |date=16 January 2009|access-date=16 January 2009}}</ref><ref>[http://www.defence.gov.au/media/DepartmentalTpl.cfm?CurrentId=8677 The Chief of the Defence Force salutes Trooper Mark Donaldson, VC], Defence Media Release MSPA19/09, 16 January 2009.</ref> Under Section 103, Subsection (4), of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986, the Australian Government pays a Victoria Cross Allowance to any service person awarded the medal.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/vea1986261/ |title=Veteran's Entitlement Act 1986 |publisher= Australasian Legal Information Institute |access-date=16 June 2007}}</ref> The act set this amount at [[Australian dollar|A$]]3,230 per year. Since 20 September 2005, this amount has been indexed annually in line with Australian Consumer Price Index increases.<ref>'''Australian Veteran's Entitlement Act 1986, section 103, ''' ''(4) Victoria Cross allowance granted to a veteran under this section is payable at the rate of $3,230 per year. Note: The amount fixed by this subsection is indexed annually in line with CPI increases. See section 198FA.'', {{cite web | url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/vea1986261/s198fa.html |title=Veteran's Entitlement Act 1986, section 198a |publisher=Australasian Legal Information Institute |access-date=30 June 2007}}</ref> This amount is in addition to any amount that the veteran may be awarded under the general decoration allowance of $2.10 per fortnight.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/vea1986261/s102.html |title=Veteran's Entitlement Act 1986, Section 102 |publisher= Australasian Legal Information Institute |access-date=31 October 2007}}</ref>
The various forms of the Victoria Cross are inherently valuable, as was highlighted on 24 July 2006, when at the auctionhouse [[Bonhams]] in Sydney, the VC which had been awarded to [[First World War]] soldier Captain [[Alfred John Shout|Alfred Shout]], fetched a world-record [[hammer price]] of $1 million. Shout had been awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously in 1915 for hand-to-hand combat at the [[Battle of Lone Pine|Lone Pine]] trenches in [[Gallipoli]], [[Turkey]]. The buyer, [[Kerry Stokes]], has lent it to the [[Australian War Memorial]] for display with the eight other Victoria Crosses awarded to Australians at Gallipoli.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Gallipoli-VC-medal-sets-auction-record/2006/07/24/1153593264537.html |title=Gallipoli VC medal sets auction record |work=[[The Age]] |date=24 July 2006 |access-date=2 November 2007}}</ref><ref name=AWMholdings>{{cite web |url=http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/vic_cross.htm |title=List of Victoria Crosses Held |publisher=[[Australian War Memorial]] |access-date=17 June 2007}}</ref> The Australian War Memorial in [[Canberra]] currently holds 66 Victoria Crosses, 63 awarded to Australians—including Mark Donaldson's Victoria Cross for Australia on loan—and three to British soldiers; this formed the largest publicly displayed collection in the world,<ref name=AWMholdings /> until the opening of the Lord Ashcroft Gallery at the [[Imperial War Museum]] (IWM) in [[London]] during November 2010, which displays the 168 VCs owned by [[Michael
== Recipients ==
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