RBA boss gets top honour

Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens has been appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for his contribution to finance and central banking, as well as his community work.

Stevens has made Australia's central bank his home since 1980, the year after graduating with first class honours from the University of Sydney.

He became governor in September, 2006, six months before the US housing market began a slump, setting off a financial chain reaction that created the global financial crisis.

With conventional economic theory offering only patchy guidance at best, it was a time for pragmatism.

Mr Stevens oversaw a strategy that slashed interest rates to long-time lows, flooded the banking system with cash to provide much-needed liquidity, and cajoled commercial banks into shoring up their capital buffers.

Australia's financial system emerged intact and its economy was one of the few to escape a full-blown recession.

During and beyond this turbulent time, Mr Stevens maintained a notably dry sense of humour.

Confronted with a complaint at a recent public forum that he was unlikely to answer a question about the interest rate outlook - delicate territory for a central banker - he quickly replied: "Well I can't shoot you in front of all these people".

Reluctant to be interviewed about his AC, Mr Stevens issued a statement as measured and uncontroversial as any from a career central banker.

"I have been very honoured to have been able to serve the country in this role for 10 years," he said.

"I feel humbled by this recognition. Really the recognition is for the institution as much as for the individual."

But there is more to Glenn Stevens than the RBA.

A keen aviator, he is active in the charity Angel Flight which transports people from remote areas to medical treatment in distant centres.

He is on the board of the Anika Foundation, which funds research and raises awareness of adolescent depression and suicide, and chairs the Financial Markets Foundation for Children.