SQL Sorting by date column stored as a string

Right so you have a column in Oracle table thats stores a date field – trouble is that its stored as a CHAR.  How can I Sort it then ?

This is how….

COLUMN metadataname FORMAT A16;

COLUMN metadatavalue FORMAT A20;

select metadataname, metadatavalue fromectd_prod_3x.ectd_metadata where metadataname = ‘Submission Date’ order by to_date(metadatavalue,’dd/mm/yyyy’);