Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory
Flag of the Australian Capital Territory
Coat of arms of the Australian Capital Territory
Incumbent Andrew Barr since 11 December 2014
Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate
Style	The Honourable
Abbreviation	CM
Member of	Cabinet National Cabinet
Reports to	Legislative Assembly
Seat	1 Constitution Avenue, Canberra
Appointer	Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
Constituting instrument	Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988 (Cth), section 40
Formation	11 May 1989
First holder	Rosemary Follett
Deputy	Deputy Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory
Salary	A$353,833

The chief minister of the Australian Capital Territory is the head of government of the Australian Capital Territory. The leader of the party with the largest number of seats in the unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly usually takes on the role. Unlike other states and territories, the chief minister is not appointed by a governor or administrator, but elected directly by the Assembly.

The chief minister is the rough equivalent of the state premiers, and has been a member of the National Cabinet since its creation in 2020. The chief minister previously also represented the ACT on the Council of Australian Governments (COAG). Since there are no local governments in the territory, the chief minister's role is also similar to that of the mayor of a local government area. The chief minister sits on the Council of Capital City Lord Mayors.

The current chief minister is Andrew Barr of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), who was first elected by the Assembly on 11 December 2014 following the resignation of Katy Gallagher.

List of chief ministers

No.	Portrait	Name	Election	Term of office			Ministry
				Term of office	Left office	Time in office
1		Rosemary Follett	1989	11 May 1989	5 December 19891	208 days	Follett I Labor minority
2		Trevor Kaine	—	5 December 1989	6 June 19912	1 year, 183 days	Kaine Liberal—Residents Rally—Independents Group majority coalition
(1)		Rosemary Follett	—	6 June 1991	2 March 1995	3 years, 269 days	Follett II Labor minority
			1992				Follett III Labor minority
3		Kate Carnell	1995	2 March 1995	18 October 20003	5 years, 230 days	Carnell I Liberal minority
			1998				Carnell II Liberal minority supported by Independents
4		Gary Humphries	—	18 October 2000	5 November 2001	1 year, 18 days	Humphries Liberal minority supported by Independents
5		Jon Stanhope	2001	5 November 2001	12 May 20114	9 years, 188 days	Stanhope I Labor minority supported by Greens and Democrats
			2004				Stanhope II Labor majority
			2008				Stanhope III Labor minority supported by Greens
6		Katy Gallagher	—	16 May 2011	11 December 20145	3 years, 209 days	Gallagher I Labor minority supported by Greens
			2012				Gallagher II Labor—Greens majority coalition
7		Andrew Barr	—	11 December 2014	Incumbent	8 years, 292 days	Barr I Labor—Greens majority coalition
			2016				Barr II Labor—Greens majority coalition
			2020				Barr III Labor—Greens majority coalition

¹ Lost a no confidence vote in the Assembly originating from allegations made on a television program that the Follett led Labor Government had sought to secure by persuasion the vote of David Prowse, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, for the Business Franchise ("X" Videos) Bill.
² Lost a no confidence vote in the Assembly following unpopular decisions to close schools, close the Royal Canberra Hospital and amend planning laws that led to the collapse of the Kaine led Liberal Alliance Government with Residents Rally.
³ Resigned when faced with a no confidence vote due to the high costs of the Bruce Stadium renovations; and was replaced by Gary Humphries without the motion being put to the Assembly.
⁴ Resigned on 12 May 2011 for personal reasons; was replaced by his deputy Katy Gallagher on 16 May 2011 by vote of the Assembly.
⁵ Resigned on 11 December 2014 to contest the ACT Senate position vacated by Kate Lundy; was replaced by her deputy Andrew Barr.

Graphical timeline

See also

• States and territories of Australia (includes some information about the role of the chief minister)
• Deputy Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory
• Australian Capital Territory ministries
• List of chief ministers of the Australian Capital Territory by time in office