The former Labor leader has been given the title on Monday, using the occasion to recognise indigenous Australians and urge the nation to continue the important work of reconciliation.

"I dedicate this award to our indigenous brothers and sisters," Mr Rudd said in a statement.

"These first Australians are the oldest continuing civilisations on earth, and for those of us who have arrived in recent centuries, it is a privilege to share this vast and ancient continent with them."

Mr Rudd, who issued a national apology to the Stolen Generations in 2008, says he and wife Therese established the National Apology Foundation for Indigenous Australians to make their own contribution to reconciliation.

But at a national level, the next step should be constitutional recognition, he believes.

"This important work must continue."

The leader has previously turned down an appointment as an AC, believing serving as prime minister and foreign minister was its own reward.

That was a position similar to the one long-held by fellow former prime minister Paul Keating.

"I wanted instead time to make a wider contribution beyond political life," Mr Rudd said.

But the former Labor leader has since gone on to work at the Asia Society to promote understanding of the peoples and cultures of Asia and chair the International Peace Institute.

He is also now chair of the Global Partnership on Sanitation and Water for All.

Mr Rudd is among a swag of former politicians receiving an honour.

Former Democrat senator Natasha Stott Despoja, now chair of anti-domestic violence group Our Watch, has been appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO).

So too has former Liberal minister Nick Minchin, a South Australian senator for almost two decades before retiring in 2011.

Across the aisle, former Labor minister Arch Bevis, the federal member for Brisbane from 1990 and 2010, has been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).

His ministerial contemporary Laurie Ferguson, who represented the electorate of Reid for Labor from 1990 to 2010 and Werriwa for six years after that, has also been awarded an OAM.

Queenslander Bruce McIver, the former state Liberal National Party president becomes a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).

Former Queensland government minister Martin Tenni will be awarded the OAM.

Australians who have made their mark in government agencies have also earned a nod.

Retired public service veteran Martin Bowles - the former head of the health department - is becoming an AO, as it economist and Australia's ambassador to China from 2007 to 2011, Geoff Raby.

Australian Associated Press