Attorney-General of Australia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Attorney-General of Australia |
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Attorney-General's Department | |
Style | The Honourable (formal) Attorney-General (spoken) |
Member of | Cabinet of Australia Federal Executive Council National Security Committee Indigenous Policy Committee Governance Committee |
Seat | Canberra, ACT |
Appointer | Governor-General
on the advice of the prime minister
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Term length | At the Governor-General's pleasure |
Formation | 1 January 1901 |
First holder | Alfred Deakin |
Salary | $336,599.25 |
The Attorney-General of Australia (often called the AG) is a very important government minister. They are the main legal officer for the whole country. Their job is to look after Australia's legal matters and public safety. They lead the Attorney-General's Department.
The current Attorney-General is Mark Dreyfus. He was chosen by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in June 2022, after the 2022 federal election. Usually, the Attorney-General is a lawyer.
This role is one of only four jobs in the Commonwealth Government that have existed since Australia became a nation. The others are the Prime Minister, the Minister for Defence, and the Treasurer. The Attorney-General gets help with their duties from an assistant minister. Currently, this is Matt Thistlethwaite, who is also the Assistant Minister for the Republic.
Contents
History of the Attorney-General Role
The Attorney-General almost always has legal training. Many former Attorneys-General have become senior judges after serving in this role.
Billy Hughes was the longest-serving Attorney-General. He held the position for over thirteen years across different times. This included six years while he was also the Prime Minister.
Historically, being Attorney-General was a step towards even bigger jobs. Alfred Deakin, Billy Hughes, and Robert Menzies all became Prime Minister. Others, like John Latham, H. V. Evatt, and Billy Snedden, became leaders of the opposition parties. Lionel Bowen was the Deputy Prime Minister in the 1980s. Also, five former Attorneys-General became judges on the High Court. One of them, Isaac Isaacs, later became the Governor-General.
What Does the Attorney-General Do?
Key Responsibilities
The Attorney-General is the minister in charge of legal affairs and national safety. They also give legal advice to the Cabinet, which is the main decision-making group in the government. They handle laws about things like copyright and human rights. They are also responsible for groups like the Australian Law Reform Commission. This commission helps to improve Australia's laws.
Daily Functions
The Attorney-General helps choose people for judge positions. They also approve when legal cases go to court. Usually, a special team called the Director of Public Prosecutions handles court cases. However, the Attorney-General still has the final say. They can start or stop public court cases.
For some serious crimes, the Attorney-General must personally agree to start a prosecution. This happens for cases that might be sensitive or political. The Attorney-General can also issue special certificates. These certificates state certain facts, for example, that revealing information in court could harm national security. Courts must accept these facts. The Attorney-General can also issue a nolle prosequi. This means the government decides not to continue with a case.
Working with Security Agencies
The Attorney-General also works closely with the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). ASIO is Australia's main security intelligence agency.
List of Attorneys-General
Here is a list of the people who have served as Attorney-General for Australia:
Order | Minister | Party | Prime Minister | Prior legal experience | Alma mater | Term start | Term end | Term in office | |
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1 | Alfred Deakin KC | Protectionist | Barton | Barrister | University of Melbourne | 1 January 1901 | 24 September 1903 | 2 years, 266 days | |
2 | Senator James Drake | Deakin | Barrister | King's College School, London | 24 September 1903 | 27 April 1904 | 216 days | ||
3 | H. B. Higgins QC | Protectionist | Watson | Barrister | University of Melbourne | 27 April 1904 | 17 August 1904 | 112 days | |
4 | Senator Sir Josiah Symon, KCMG, QC | Free Trade | Reid | Barrister | Free Church Training College | 17 August 1904 | 5 July 1905 | 322 days | |
5 | Isaac Isaacs QC | Protectionist | Deakin | Barrister | University of Melbourne | 5 July 1905 | 12 October 1906 | 1 year, 99 days | |
6 | Littleton Groom KC | Lawyer | University of Melbourne | 12 October 1906 | 13 November 1908 | 2 years, 32 days | |||
7 | Billy Hughes, KC | Labor | Fisher | Barrister | n/a | 13 November 1908 | 2 June 1909 | 201 days | |
8 | Paddy Glynn, KCMG, KC | Commonwealth Liberal |
Deakin | Barrister | Trinity College Dublin | 2 June 1909 | 29 April 1910 | 331 days | |
n/a | Billy Hughes KC | Labor | Fisher | Barrister | n/a | 29 April 1910 | 24 June 1913 | 3 years, 56 days | |
9 | William Irvine KC | Commonwealth Liberal |
Cook | Barrister | Trinity College, Dublin; University of Melbourne | 24 June 1913 | 17 September 1914 | 1 year, 85 days | |
n/a | Billy Hughes KC | Labor | Fisher | Barrister | n/a | 17 September 1914 | 27 October 1915 | 7 years, 95 days | |
Hughes | 27 October 1915 | 14 November 1916 | |||||||
National Labor | 14 November 1916 | 13 June 1917 | |||||||
Nationalist | 13 June 1917 | 21 December 1921 | |||||||
n/a | Sir Littleton Groom, KCMG, KC | Lawyer | University of Melbourne | 21 December 1921 | 9 February 1923 | 3 years, 362 days | |||
Bruce | 9 February 1923 | 18 December 1925 | |||||||
10 | John Latham KC | Barrister | University of Melbourne | 18 December 1925 | 22 October 1929 | 3 years, 308 days | |||
11 | Frank Brennan | Labor | Scullin | Barrister | University of Melbourne | 22 October 1929 | 6 January 1932 | 2 years, 76 days | |
n/a | Sir John Latham, GCMG, KC | United Australia | Lyons | Barrister | University of Melbourne | 6 January 1932 | 12 October 1934 | 2 years, 279 days | |
12 | Robert Menzies KC | Barrister | University of Melbourne | 12 October 1934 | 20 March 1939 | 4 years, 159 days | |||
n/a | Billy Hughes, CH, KC | Barrister | n/a | 20 March 1939 | 7 April 1939 | 2 years, 201 days | |||
Page | 7 April 1939 | 26 April 1939 | |||||||
Menzies | 26 April 1939 | 29 August 1941 | |||||||
Fadden | 29 August 1941 | 7 October 1941 | |||||||
13 | H. V. Evatt KC | Labor | Curtin | Barrister, Judge | University of Sydney | 7 October 1941 | 6 July 1945 | 8 years, 73 days | |
Forde | 6 July 1945 | 13 July 1945 | |||||||
Chifley | 13 July 1945 | 19 December 1949 | |||||||
14 | Senator John Spicer KC | Liberal | Menzies | Barrister | University of Melbourne | 19 December 1949 | 14 August 1956 | 6 years, 239 days | |
15 | Senator Neil O'Sullivan | Solicitor | 15 August 1956 | 12 October 1958 | 2 years, 58 days | ||||
16 | Sir Garfield Barwick QC | Barrister | University of Sydney | 12 October 1958 | 4 March 1964 | 5 years, 144 days | |||
17 | Billy Snedden QC | Barrister | University of Western Australia | 4 March 1964 | 26 January 1966 | 2 years, 285 days | |||
Holt | 26 January 1966 | 14 December 1966 | |||||||
18 | Nigel Bowen QC | Barrister | University of Sydney | 14 December 1966 | 19 December 1967 | 2 years, 333 days | |||
McEwen | 19 December 1967 | 10 January 1968 | |||||||
Gorton | 10 January 1968 | 12 November 1969 | |||||||
19 | Tom Hughes QC | Barrister | University of Sydney | 12 November 1969 | 10 March 1971 | 1 year, 130 days | |||
McMahon | 10 March 1971 | 22 March 1971 | |||||||
n/a | Nigel Bowen | Barrister | University of Sydney | 22 March 1971 | 2 August 1971 | 133 days | |||
20 | Senator Ivor Greenwood QC | Barrister | University of Melbourne | 2 August 1971 | 5 December 1972 | 1 year, 125 days | |||
21 | Gough Whitlam QC | Labor | Whitlam | Barrister | University of Sydney | 5 December 1972 | 19 December 1972 | 14 days | |
22 | Senator Lionel Murphy QC | Barrister | University of Sydney | 19 December 1972 | 10 February 1975 | 2 years, 53 days | |||
23 | Kep Enderby QC | Barrister | University of Sydney University of London |
10 February 1975 | 11 November 1975 | 274 days | |||
n/a | Senator Ivor Greenwood QC | Liberal | Fraser | Barrister | University of Melbourne | 11 November 1975 | 22 December 1975 | 41 days | |
24 | Bob Ellicott QC | Barrister | University of Sydney | 22 December 1975 | 6 September 1977 | 1 year, 258 days | |||
25 | Senator Peter Durack QC | Barrister | University of Western Australia Lincoln College, Oxford |
6 September 1977 | 11 March 1983 | 5 years, 186 days | |||
26 | Senator Gareth Evans QC | Labor | Hawke | Barrister | University of Melbourne Magdalen College, Oxford |
11 March 1983 | 13 December 1984 | 1 year, 277 days | |
27 | Lionel Bowen | Solicitor | University of Sydney | 13 December 1984 | 4 April 1990 | 5 years, 112 days | |||
28 | Michael Duffy, ONZ | Solicitor | University of Melbourne | 4 April 1990 | 27 December 1991 | 2 years, 354 days | |||
Keating | 27 December 1991 | 24 March 1993 | |||||||
29 | Duncan Kerr | Labor | Keating | Barrister | University of Tasmania | 1 April 1993 | 27 April 1993 | 26 days | |
30 | Michael Lavarch | Solicitor | Queensland University of Technology | 27 April 1993 | 11 March 1996 | 2 years, 319 days | |||
31 | Daryl Williams, AM, QC | Liberal | Howard | Barrister | University of Western Australia Wadham College, Oxford |
11 March 1996 | 7 October 2003 | 7 years, 210 days | |
32 | Philip Ruddock | Solicitor | University of Sydney | 7 October 2003 | 3 December 2007 | 4 years, 57 days | |||
33 | Robert McClelland | Labor | Rudd | Solicitor | University of New South Wales University of Sydney |
3 December 2007 | 24 June 2010 | 4 years, 11 days | |
Gillard | 24 June 2010 | 14 December 2011 | |||||||
34 | Nicola Roxon | Solicitor | University of Melbourne | 14 December 2011 | 2 February 2013 | 1 year, 50 days | |||
35 | Mark Dreyfus QC | Barrister | University of Melbourne | 2 February 2013 | 26 June 2013 | 228 days | |||
Rudd | 26 June 2013 | 18 September 2013 | |||||||
36 | Senator George Brandis QC | Liberal | Abbott | Barrister | University of Queensland; Magdalen College, Oxford | 18 September 2013 | 15 September 2015 | 4 years, 93 days | |
Turnbull | 15 September 2015 | 20 December 2017 | |||||||
37 | Christian Porter | Lawyer | University of Western Australia, London School of Economics | 20 December 2017 | 28 August 2018 | 3 years, 100 days | |||
Morrison | 28 August 2018 | 30 March 2021 | |||||||
38 | Senator Michaelia Cash | Solicitor | Curtin University; University of London; University of Western Australia | 30 March 2021 | 23 May 2022 | 1 year, 54 days | |||
n/a | Senator Katy Gallagher | Labor | Albanese | n/a | Australian National University | 23 May 2022 | 1 June 2022 | 9 days | |
39 | Mark Dreyfus KC | Barrister | University of Melbourne | 1 June 2022 | Incumbent | 3 years, 5 days |
Notes
- A member of the Protectionist Party, Higgins served in the Labor ministry of Chris Watson. This was because Labor did not have a qualified lawyer in Parliament at the time.
- Hughes became a King's Counsel in 1909.
- Whitlam served as part of a two-person ministry for fourteen days. This was before the full ministry was officially appointed.
- Prime Minister Paul Keating's first choice for Attorney-General in 1993 was Michael Lavarch. However, Lavarch's re-election was delayed. Duncan Kerr held the job in the meantime until Lavarch won the election. Kerr was Attorney-General for 26 days. There was no Attorney-General for eight days between Michael Duffy's term ending and Duncan Kerr's term starting.
- Gallagher served as part of an interim five-person ministry for nine days. This was before the full ministry was officially appointed.
Assistant Ministers for the Republic
This position was created to help promote the Albanese government's plan to make Australia a republic. This means Australia would have its own head of state, not the British monarch. It is the first time a Commonwealth minister has held such a role.
Order | Minister | Party | Prime Minister | Title | Term start | Term end | Term in office | |
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1 | Matt Thistlethwaite | Labor | Albanese | Assistant Minister for the Republic | 1 June 2022 | Incumbent | 3 years, 5 days |
Attorneys-General in States and Territories
Each Australian state and territory also has its own Attorney-General. These state ministers have similar duties to the federal minister, but they deal with state laws. You can find more information about them here:
- Attorney-General of the Australian Capital Territory
- Attorney-General of New South Wales
- Attorney-General of the Northern Territory
- Attorney-General of Queensland
- Attorney-General of South Australia
- Attorney-General of Tasmania
- Attorney-General of Victoria
- Attorney-General of Western Australia
See also
- Attorney general
- Justice ministry