When Bill Lark is awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), it is not just a personal honour. For Australia’s bar industry, it is recognition of the man who fundamentally changed what sits on our back bars, how Australian whisky is perceived, and what local distilling could aspire to become.
Known universally as the Godfather of Australian Whisky, Lark has spent more than three decades reshaping the country’s spirits landscape – from overturning a 150-year-old distilling ban in Tasmania to building Lark Distilling Co. into a global reference point for New World whisky.
For bartenders, Lark’s influence is tangible. Before Lark, Australian whisky was largely absent from premium back bars. Today, Tasmanian single malt is poured alongside – and increasingly instead of – imported Scotch, embraced not as a novelty but as a benchmark of quality and provenance.
Driven by curiosity and a refusal to accept convention, Lark began his whisky journey in the late 1980s, inspired by a fishing trip with his Scottish father-in-law who recognised Tasmania’s uncanny resemblance to Scotland. That moment sparked a fight to legalise small-scale distillation in Tasmania – a fight Lark and his wife Lyn ultimately won.
“I am genuinely humbled by receiving this award and feel immensely honoured to be recognised as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM). I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the sharing and collegiality offered to me by the Scottish industry, a sentiment which is largely shared today throughout the industry in Australia,” Lark said.
That spirit of sharing is one of Lark’s most enduring legacies. Long before “community over competition” became industry shorthand, Lark actively mentored emerging distillers, shared knowledge, and encouraged experimentation.
For bartenders, this openness helped foster a whisky culture built on education rather than intimidation.
“Today our craft encompasses manufacturing, hospitality and tourism employing many people. I would also like to thank the many people across Australia who have helped make an amazing industry a reality,” he said.
His contribution has been formally recognised before – Lark was the first Australian inducted into the World Whisky Hall of Fame in 2015 and an inaugural inductee into the Australian Distillers Hall of Fame – but the AM places his impact in a broader national context, acknowledging whisky’s role in hospitality, tourism and cultural identity.
Importantly, Lark is not a pioneer who has stepped away. He remains actively involved in the business and continues to champion Australian whisky on the global stage. In recent weeks, he travelled to Asia to launch Lark’s latest Single Malt releases in Malaysia and Singapore, reinforcing the brand’s international relevance and the credibility of Australian whisky behind bars worldwide.
Lark CEO, Stuart Gregor, said the honour reflects what the trade has long understood.
“Australian whisky owes almost everything to Bill Lark and this recognition could not be more richly deserved. His name is synonymous with great quality, integrity and imagination, and for what the New World of Whisky, with Tasmania at the forefront, can become,” Gregor said.
For bartenders, Lark’s legacy is not abstract. It’s the confidence to recommend an Australian single malt without hesitation. It’s the presence of Tasmanian whisky on premium cocktail menus and tasting flights. And it’s the knowledge that local distilling can sit proudly on the world stage.
As Lark himself puts it, the industry today is bigger than any one person. But for Australia’s bars, this recognition honours the man who made it possible to pour Australian whisky with pride – and with purpose.
The whole industry raises a glass.