The legend of Archie Roach lives on with the Killarney singer-songwriter being posthumously awarded one of Australia's highest accolades.

Archie was listed in the Australia Day 2023 Honours List, receiving a Companion (AC) of the Order of Australia for "eminent service to the performing arts as a songwriter and musician" - a feat that left his family with mixed emotions.

"I'm in a bit of shock but also very, very happy and just a little sad because Uncle is not here," niece Tracy Roach told The Standard.

"I am just overwhelmed. He would be so honoured."

Archie died in Warrnambool on July 30, 2022.

Tracy and her uncle shared painful experiences as survivors of the Stolen Generations and she cared for him in his later years of life as he battled with a long illness.

She said Archie's legend was kept alive through accolades such as the AC, as well as the Archie Roach Foundation, which will host a stage at Port Fairy Folk Festival again this year.

"We will be back at the festival this year on the Archie Roach Foundation stage, as our final goodbye to him on country," Tracy said.

"Uncle was a giving man, a sharing man, a caring man. He wanted to teach the world on what happened and we will continue that (legacy)."

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The Australia Day honour also recognised Archie's service to Indigenous rights and reconciliation and his support for emerging First Nations artists.

It follows his appointment as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2015.

Archie's music career spanned more than three decades. He released his debut album Charcoal Lane in 1990.

It featured the iconic track Took the Children Away, shining a light on the Stolen Generations - of which he was a part of - when Aboriginal children were forcibly removed from their families.

The single won an international Human Rights Achievement Award (the first time ever awarded for a song), while the album was certified gold and won two ARIA Awards.

He was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2020.

More recently, a track off his latest release, his 2022 anthology My Songs: 1989-2021, won the best independent release at the ARIA Awards in November.

The Archie Roach Foundation was established in 2014 to "nurture meaningful and potentially life changing opportunities for First Nation artists", supporting people working in the arts and young people "heading down the wrong track just like Archie was".

For eight years from 2014 Archie worked as a patron with Parkville College and the Melbourne Youth Justice Centre.

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