Deputy Prime Minister of Australia facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
Flag of Australia
Commonwealth Coat of Arms
Incumbent Richard Marles since 23 May 2022
Executive branch of the Australian Government Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Style	The Honourable
Abbreviation	DPM
Member of	Parliament Cabinet Federal Executive Council National Security Committee
Reports to	Prime Minister
Seat	Canberra
Nominator	Prime Minister
Appointer	Governor-General of Australia on the advice of the prime minister
Term length	At the Governor-General's pleasure
Formation	10 January 1968; 57 years ago (1968-01-10)
First holder	John McEwen
Salary	AU$416,212

The Deputy Prime Minister of Australia is the second most important leader in the Australian Government. This person is like the second-in-command to the Prime Minister. The job of Deputy Prime Minister was officially created in 1968. However, people used the title unofficially for many years before that.

The Governor-General appoints the Deputy Prime Minister. They do this based on the Prime Minister's advice. If the government is led by the Labor Party, their deputy leader becomes the Deputy Prime Minister. If the government is a Coalition (a group of parties working together), the leader of the National Party usually becomes the Deputy Prime Minister. This is because the Coalition agreement says the leader of the Liberal Party will be Prime Minister.

In 2017, the position became empty for a short time. This happened because Barnaby Joyce, who was the Deputy Prime Minister, was found to have New Zealand citizenship. Australian law says that members of parliament cannot be citizens of another country. He later won a special election and got his job back.

What is the Deputy Prime Minister's Role?

The Deputy Prime Minister is a very important member of the Cabinet. The Cabinet is a group of senior ministers who make big decisions for the country. The Deputy Prime Minister always has at least one other important job, called a "portfolio." This means they are in charge of a specific area, like defence or trade.

Who Takes Over if the Prime Minister is Away?

The Deputy Prime Minister becomes the acting Prime Minister if the Prime Minister is sick, travelling overseas, or on holiday. If both the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister are unavailable, another senior minister steps in. If a Prime Minister were to pass away, the Governor-General would appoint the Deputy Prime Minister as the new Prime Minister. This would be a temporary role until the government chooses a new leader.

How Did the Deputy Prime Minister Position Start?

Before 1968, the Deputy Prime Minister was not an official job. It was more of an honorary title given to the second most important minister. This unofficial role became more important after the 1922 federal election. The Nationalist Party needed help to form a government. They teamed up with the Country Party. The Country Party leader, Earle Page, became the second-in-command. Even though his official title was Treasurer, he was seen as the deputy to Prime Minister Stanley Bruce.

By 1946, the title "deputy prime minister" was being used in official government documents. From then until 1968, when the Liberal Party and Country Party formed a government, the Country Party leader was always the second most important person in the Cabinet. This is still the case today when the Coalition is in power. For Labor governments, their deputy leader holds the second-highest rank.

The first official Deputy Prime Minister was John McEwen. He was the leader of the Country Party. In 1967, Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared. McEwen became the temporary Prime Minister. When John Gorton became the new Prime Minister in 1968, he officially created the role of Deputy Prime Minister. McEwen, who had been the unofficial deputy since 1958, became the first person to hold this new official title.

Before the official creation of the role, this position was sometimes called "deputy leader of the Government."

Deputy Prime Ministers Who Became Prime Minister

Since 1968, only three Deputy Prime Ministers have later become Prime Minister. All of them were from the Labor Party:

• Paul Keating
• Julia Gillard
• Anthony Albanese

Both Paul Keating and Julia Gillard became Prime Minister after the current Prime Minister lost the support of their party. Anthony Albanese, who was briefly Deputy Prime Minister in 2013, later led the Labor Party to win the 2022 election and became Prime Minister.

In 2007, Julia Gillard made history. She became Australia's first female Deputy Prime Minister. She was also the first Deputy Prime Minister born outside Australia.

How Much Does the Deputy Prime Minister Earn?

Members of parliament receive a base salary. The Deputy Prime Minister gets an extra amount on top of this. This makes their total salary around AU$416,212. They also receive other allowances and benefits.

List of Deputy Prime Ministers of Australia

Here are the people who have officially served as Deputy Prime Minister since the job was created in 1968:

No.	Portrait	Deputy Prime Minister	Political Party and position	Portfolio(s)	Term of office			Prime Minister
					Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		John McEwen	Country Leader 1958–71	Trade and Industry	10 January 1968 (1968-01-10)	5 February 1971 (1971-02-05)	3 years, 26 days		John Gorton
2		Doug Anthony	Country Leader 1971–84		5 February 1971 (1971-02-05)	5 December 1972 (1972-12-05)	1 year, 304 days
									William McMahon
3		Lance Barnard	Labor Deputy Leader 1967–74	Defence	5 December 1972 (1972-12-05)	12 June 1974 (1974-06-12)	1 year, 189 days		Gough Whitlam
4		Jim Cairns	Labor Deputy Leader 1974–75	Treasurer	12 June 1974 (1974-06-12)	2 July 1975 (1975-07-02)	1 year, 20 days
5		Frank Crean	Labor Deputy Leader 1975	Overseas Trade	2 July 1975 (1975-07-02)	11 November 1975 (1975-11-11)	132 days
(2)		Doug Anthony	Country National Leader 1971–84	Trade and Industry	12 November 1975 (1975-11-12)	11 March 1983 (1983-03-11)	7 years, 119 days		Malcolm Fraser
6		Lionel Bowen	Labor Deputy Leader 1977–90	Trade Attorney-General	11 March 1983 (1983-03-11)	4 April 1990 (1990-04-04)	7 years, 24 days		Bob Hawke
7		Paul Keating	Labor Deputy Leader 1990–91	Treasurer	4 April 1990 (1990-04-04)	3 June 1991 (1991-06-03)	1 year, 60 days
8		Brian Howe	Labor Deputy Leader 1991–95	Health, Housing and Community Services, Assisting for Social Justice, Assisting for Commonwealth-State Relations	3 June 1991 (1991-06-03)	20 December 1991 (1991-12-20)	4 years, 17 days
					20 December 1991 (1991-12-20)	24 March 1993 (1993-03-24)			Paul Keating
				Housing, Local Government and Community Services	24 March 1993 (1993-03-24)	23 December 1993 (1993-12-23)
				Housing, Local Government and Human Services	23 December 1993 (1993-12-23)	25 March 1994 (1994-03-25)
				Housing and Regional Development	25 March 1994 (1994-03-25)	20 June 1995 (1995-06-20)
9		Kim Beazley	Labor Deputy Leader 1995–96	Finance	20 June 1995 (1995-06-20)	11 March 1996 (1996-03-11)	265 days
10		Tim Fischer	National Leader 1990–99	Trade	11 March 1996 (1996-03-11)	20 July 1999 (1999-07-20)	3 years, 131 days		John Howard
11		John Anderson	National Leader 1999–2005	Transport and Regional Development	20 July 1999 (1999-07-20)	6 July 2005 (2005-07-06)	5 years, 351 days
12		Mark Vaile	National Leader 2005–2007	Trade Transport and Regional Services	6 July 2005 (2005-07-06)	3 December 2007 (2007-12-03)	2 years, 150 days
13		Julia Gillard	Labor Deputy Leader 2006–10	Employment and Workplace Relations Education Social Inclusion	3 December 2007 (2007-12-03)	24 June 2010 (2010-06-24)	2 years, 203 days		Kevin Rudd
14		Wayne Swan	Labor Deputy Leader 2010–13	Treasurer	24 June 2010 (2010-06-24)	27 June 2013 (2013-06-27)	3 years, 3 days		Julia Gillard
15		Anthony Albanese	Labor Deputy Leader 2013	Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Infrastructure and Transport	27 June 2013 (2013-06-27)	18 September 2013 (2013-09-18)	83 days		Kevin Rudd
16		Warren Truss	National Leader 2007–16	Infrastructure and Regional Development	18 September 2013 (2013-09-18)	18 February 2016 (2016-02-18)	2 years, 153 days		Tony Abbott
									Malcolm Turnbull
17		Barnaby Joyce	National Leader 2016–18	Agriculture and Water Resources Resources and Northern Australia (2017)	18 February 2016 (2016-02-18)	27 October 2017 (2017-10-27)	1 year, 251 days
				Infrastructure and Transport	6 December 2017 (2017-12-06)	26 February 2018 (2018-02-26)	82 days
18		Michael McCormack	National Leader 2018–2021	Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development	26 February 2018 (2018-02-26)	22 June 2021 (2021-06-22)	3 years, 116 days
									Scott Morrison
(17)		Barnaby Joyce	National Leader 2021–2022		22 June 2021 (2021-06-22)	23 May 2022 (2022-05-23)	335 days
19		Richard Marles	Labor Deputy Leader 2019–present	Defence	23 May 2022 (2022-05-23)	Incumbent	3 years, 50 days		Anthony Albanese

Living Former Deputy Prime Ministers

As of 12 July 2025, there are 11 people who used to be Deputy Prime Minister and are still alive. The oldest is Brian Howe, born in 1936.

• Paul Keating (1990–91)
• Brian Howe (1991–95)
• Kim Beazley (1995–96)
• John Anderson (1999–05)
• Mark Vaile (2005–07)
• Julia Gillard (2007–10)
• Wayne Swan (2010–13)
• Anthony Albanese (2013)
• Warren Truss (2013–16)
• Barnaby Joyce (2016–18, 2021–22)
• Michael McCormack (2018–21)

Images for kids

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  Prime Minister John McEwen with John Gorton on 9 January 1968. The next day, Gorton became Prime Minister, and McEwen became the first official Deputy Prime Minister.