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Attorney General of New South Wales facts for kids

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Attorney-General of New South Wales
Flag of New South Wales.svg
Coat of Arms of New South Wales.svg
Michael Daley, official portrait (cropped).jpg
Incumbent
Michael Daley
since 28 March 2023
Department of Communities and Justice
Style The Honourable
Member of
Reports to Premier of New South Wales
Seat 52 Martin Place, Sydney
Nominator Premier of New South Wales
Appointer Governor of New South Wales
on the advice of the premier
Term length At the Governor's pleasure
Formation 14 April 1824
First holder Saxe Bannister
Deputy Solicitor General

The Attorney General of New South Wales, in formal contexts also Attorney-General or Attorney General for New South Wales and usually known simply as the Attorney General, is a minister in the Government of New South Wales who has responsibility for the administration of justice in New South Wales, Australia. In addition, the attorney general is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General, Crown Advocate, and Crown Solicitor, the attorney general serves as the chief legal and constitutional adviser of the Crown and Government of New South Wales.

The current attorney general, since 28 March 2023, is Michael Daley, SC.

The attorney general and the Ministers administer the portfolio through the Stronger Communities cluster, in particular the Department of Communities and Justice and a range of other government agencies.

Ultimately, the attorney general and the Ministers are responsible to the Parliament of New South Wales.

History and function

SirWilliamMontaguManning
Sir William Montagu Manning, Solicitor-General: 1844–1848; Chancellor of Sydney University: 1878–1895.
MrJusticeSirWilliamCharlesWindeyer
Sir William Charles Windeyer, Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales: 1881–1896; Chancellor of Sydney University: 1895–1898.
EBarton1-1
Sir Edmund Barton, Prime Minister of Australia: 1901–1903; Judge of the High Court of Australia: 1903–1920.
Wade Charles
Sir Charles Wade, Premier of New South Wales: 1907–1910; Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales: 1920–1922.
Edward McTiernan 1920s
Sir Edward McTiernan, Justice of the High Court of Australia: 1930–1976.
Sir Henry Manning 1947
Sir Henry Manning, First leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council: 1941–1958.

The position of Attorney General has existed since 1824, well before the full establishment of the New South Wales Parliament (in 1856) but coinciding with the establishment of the New South Wales Legislative Council. From the beginning, the attorney general has been the Crown's advisor and representative in legal matters. It was modelled after the office of the Attorney General for England and Wales. As such the attorney general advises and represents the Crown and government departments in court. The person appointed to this role provides legal advice to the Government, acts as the representative of the public interest and resolves issues between government departments.

The attorney general also has supervisory powers over the prosecution of criminal offences, but is not personally involved with prosecutions. Today, prosecutions are carried out by the Public Prosecution Office and most legal advice to government departments is provided by the Government Legal Service, both under the supervision of the attorney general. The attorney general may appeal cases to the higher courts where, although the particular case is settled, there may be a point of law of public importance at issue. The attorney general is responsible to Parliament for activities of the Department of Justice and has responsibility for the all state's courts and tribunals and the appointment of judges, magistrates and statutory officers in New South Wales.

List of ministers

Attorneys general

The following individuals have served as Attorney General of New South Wales:

Ordinal Attorney General Party Term begin Term end Time in office
1 Bannister, SaxeSaxe Bannister   Not a member of
Legislative Council		 14 April 1824 13 October 1826 2 years, 182 days
2 Moore, William HenryWilliam Henry Moore (acting) 13 October 1826 31 July 1827 291 days
3 Baxter, AlexanderAlexander Baxter  1 August 1827 24 January 1831 3 years, 176 days
– Moore, William HenryWilliam Henry Moore (acting) 24 January 1831 24 June 1831 151 days
4 Kinchela, JohnJohn Kinchela   Prior to responsible government 25 June 1831 18 April 1836 4 years, 298 days
5 Plunkett, JohnJohn Plunkett 17 September 1836 5 June 1856 19 years, 262 days
6 Manning, WilliamWilliam Manning   No party 6 June 1856 25 August 1856 80 days
7 Martin, JamesJames Martin 26 August 1856 2 October 1856 37 days
– Manning, WilliamWilliam Manning 3 October 1856 25 May 1857 1 year, 80 days
8 Darvall, JohnJohn Darvall 26 May 1857 7 September 1857 104 days
– Martin, JamesJames Martin QC 7 September 1857 8 November 1858 1 year, 62 days
9 Lutwyche, AlfredAlfred Lutwyche QC 15 November 1858 21 February 1859 98 days
10 Bayley, LyttletonLyttleton Bayley 21 February 1859 26 October 1859 247 days
11 Wise, EdwardEdward Wise 27 October 1859 13 February 1860 109 days
– Sir William Manning QC 21 February 1860 8 March 1860 16 days
12 Hargrave, JohnJohn Hargrave 2 April 1860 31 July 1863 3 years, 120 days
– Darvall, JohnJohn Darvall QC 1 August 1863 15 October 1863 75 days
– Martin, JamesJames Martin QC  16 October 1863 2 February 1865 1 year, 109 days
– Darvall, JohnJohn Darvall QC 3 February 1865 20 June 1865 137 days
– Plunkett, JohnJohn Plunkett QC 25 August 1865 21 January 1866 149 days
– Martin, JamesJames Martin QC  22 January 1866 26 October 1868 2 years, 278 days
– Sir William Manning QC 21 October 1868 15 December 1870 2 years, 55 days
– Sir James Martin QC  16 December 1870 13 May 1872 1 year, 149 days
13 Butler, EdwardEdward Butler 15 May 1872 10 November 1873 1 year, 179 days
14 Innes, JosephJoseph Innes 20 November 1873 8 February 1875 1 year, 80 days
15 Dalley, WilliamWilliam Dalley 9 February 1875 21 March 1877 2 years, 40 days
16 Windeyer, WilliamWilliam Windeyer 22 March 1877 16 August 1877 147 days
– Dalley, WilliamWilliam Dalley QC 17 August 1877 17 December 1877 122 days
17 Foster, WilliamWilliam Foster 18 December 1877 20 December 1878 1 year, 2 days
– Windeyer, WilliamWilliam Windeyer 21 December 1878 10 August 1879 232 days
18 Wisdom, RobertRobert Wisdom 13 August 1879 4 January 1883 3 years, 144 days
– Dalley, WilliamWilliam Dalley QC 5 January 1883 6 October 1885 2 years, 274 days
19 Want, JackJack Want 7 October 1885 21 December 1885 75 days
20 Simpson, GeorgeGeorge Simpson 22 December 1885 25 February 1886 65 days
– Want, JackJack Want 26 February 1886 19 January 1887 327 days
– Foster, WilliamWilliam Foster QC   Free Trade

Free Trade || align=center | 20 January 1887 || align=center | 18 May 1887 || align=right| 118 days
21 Wise, BernhardBernhard Wise 27 May 1887 7 February 1888 256 days
– Simpson, GeorgeGeorge Simpson QC 10 February 1888 16 January 1889 341 days
22 Barton, EdmundEdmund Barton   Protectionist

Protectionist || align=center | 17 January 1889 || align=center | 7 March 1889 || align=right| 49 days
– Simpson, GeorgeGeorge Simpson QC   Free Trade

Free Trade || align=center | 8 March 1889 || align=center | 22 October 1891 || align=right| 2 years, 228 days
– Barton, EdmundEdmund Barton QC   Protectionist

Protectionist || align=center | 23 October 1891 || align=center | 14 December 1893 || align=right| 2 years, 52 days
23 Heydon, CharlesCharles Heydon 15 December 1893 2 August 1894 230 days
– Simpson, GeorgeGeorge Simpson QC   Free Trade

Free Trade || align=center | 3 August 1894 || align=center | 1 December 1894 || align=right| 120 days
– Want, JackJack Want QC 18 December 1894 18 April 1899 4 years, 121 days
24 Reid, GeorgeGeorge Reid QC 19 April 1899 13 September 1899 147 days
– Wise, BernhardBernhard Wise QC   Protectionist

Protectionist / Progressive Progressive || align=center | 14 September 1899 || align=center | 14 June 1904 || align=right| 4 years, 274 days
25 Gannon, JamesJames Gannon   Progressive

Progressive || align=center | 15 June 1904 || align=center | 29 August 1904 || align=right| 75 days
26 Wade, CharlesCharles Wade QC    Liberal Reform

Liberal Reform || align=center | 29 August 1904 || align=center | 20 October 1910 || align=right| 6 years, 52 days
27 Holman, WilliamWilliam Holman    Labor

Labor || align=center | 21 October 1910 || align=center | 29 January 1914 || align=right| 3 years, 100 days
28 Hall, DavidDavid Hall 29 January 1914 15 November 1916 2 years, 291 days
  Nationalist

Nationalist || 15 November 1916 || align=center | 23 July 1919 || align=right| 2 years, 250 days
29 Garland, JohnJohn Garland 23 July 1919 12 April 1920 264 days
30 McTiernan, EdwardEdward McTiernan   Labor

Labor || align=center | 12 April 1920 || align=center | 20 December 1921 || align=right| 1 year, 252 days
31 Bavin, ThomasThomas Bavin   Nationalist

Nationalist || align=center | 20 December 1921 || align=center | 20 December 1921 || align=right | &10000000000000000290000 7 hours
– McTiernan, EdwardEdward McTiernan   Labor

Labor || align=center | 20 December 1921 || align=center | 13 April 1922 || align=right| 114 days
– Bavin, ThomasThomas Bavin   Nationalist

Nationalist || align=center | 13 April 1922 || align=center | 17 June 1925 || align=right| 3 years, 65 days
– McTiernan, EdwardEdward McTiernan   Labor

Labor || align=center | 17 June 1925 || align=center | 26 May 1927 || align=right| 1 year, 343 days
32 Lysaght, AndrewAndrew Lysaght 27 May 1927 18 October 1927 144 days
33 Francis Boyce   Nationalist

Nationalist || align=center | 18 October 1927 || align=center | 3 November 1930 || align=right| 3 years, 16 days
– Lysaght, AndrewAndrew Lysaght   Labor

Labor || align=center | 4 November 1930 || align=center | 16 June 1931 || align=right| 224 days
34 Lamaro, JosephJoseph Lamaro 16 June 1931 15 October 1931 121 days
  Labor (NSW)

Labor (NSW) || align=center | 15 October 1931 || align=center | 13 May 1932 || align=right| 211 days
35 Levy, DanielDaniel Levy   United Australia

United Australia || align=center | 16 May 1932 || align=center | 17 June 1932 || align=right| 32 days
36 Manning, HenryHenry Manning 18 June 1932 16 May 1941 8 years, 332 days
37 Martin, ClarrieClarrie Martin   Labor

Labor || align=center | 16 May 1941 || align=center | 23 February 1953 || align=right| 11 years, 283 days
38 Sheahan, BillBill Sheahan 23 February 1953 15 March 1956 3 years, 21 days
39 Downing, RegReg Downing 15 March 1956 13 May 1965 9 years, 59 days
40 McCaw, KenKen McCaw   Liberal

Liberal || align=center | 13 May 1965 || align=center | 3 January 1975 || align=right| 9 years, 235 days
41 Maddison, JohnJohn Maddison 3 January 1975 14 May 1976 1 year, 132 days
42 Walker, FrankFrank Walker   Labor

Labor || align=center | 14 May 1976 || align=center | 1 February 1983 || align=right| 6 years, 263 days
43 Landa, PaulPaul Landa 1 February 1983 24 November 1984 1 year, 297 days
44 Wran, NevilleNeville Wran (acting) 27 November 1984 12 December 1984 15 days
45 Sheahan, TerryTerry Sheahan 12 December 1984 26 November 1987 2 years, 349 days
46 Mulock, RonRon Mulock 26 November 1987 21 March 1988 116 days
47 Dowd, JohnJohn Dowd   Liberal

Liberal || align=center | 25 March 1988 || align=center | 6 June 1991 || align=right| 3 years, 73 days
48 Collins, PeterPeter Collins 6 June 1991 3 July 1992 1 year, 27 days
49 Hannaford, JohnJohn Hannaford 3 July 1992 4 April 1995 2 years, 275 days
50 Shaw, JeffJeff Shaw   Labor

Labor || align=center | 4 April 1995 || align=center | 28 June 2000 || align=right| 5 years, 85 days
51 Debus, BobBob Debus 28 June 2000 2 April 2007 6 years, 278 days
52 Hatzistergos, JohnJohn Hatzistergos 2 April 2007 (2007-04-02) 28 March 2011 (2011-03-28) 3 years, 360 days
53 Smith, GregGreg Smith   Liberal

Liberal || align=center | 3 April 2011 (2011-04-03) || align=center | 23 April 2014 (2014-04-23) || align=right| 3 years, 20 days
54 Hazzard, BradBrad Hazzard 23 April 2014 (2014-04-23) 2 April 2015 (2015-04-02) 344 days
55 Upton, GabrielleGabrielle Upton 2 April 2015 (2015-04-02) 30 January 2017 (2017-01-30) 1 year, 303 days
56 Speakman, MarkMark Speakman SC 30 January 2017 (2017-01-30) 28 March 2023 (2023-03-28) 6 years, 57 days
57 Daley, MichaelMichael Daley   Labor

Labor|| align=center | 28 March 2023 || align=center | incumbent || align=right| 2 years, 68 days

See also

  • List of New South Wales government agencies
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