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Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
Flag of Australia (converted).svg
Coat of Arms of Australia.svg
Richard Marles in Feb 2023.jpg
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:

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 1969.jpg 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 1971 (cropped).jpg 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 1973 (1).jpg 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 1974 (cropped).jpg 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 1974 (cropped).jpg 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.jpg 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.jpg 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 Keating Paul BANNER.jpg 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 Second Keating Cabinet 1994 (cropped Howe).jpg 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 crop.jpg 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.jpg 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 at Newstead (cropped).jpg 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 (TM).jpg 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 2010.jpg 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 Treasurer Wayne Swan, 2009, crop.jpg 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.jpg 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 Portrait 2010.jpg 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 portrait.jpg 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 2018-02 (cropped).jpg 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 portrait.jpg Barnaby Joyce National
Leader 2021–2022
22 June 2021 (2021-06-22) 23 May 2022 (2022-05-23) 335 days
19 Richard Marles in Feb 2023.jpg Richard Marles Labor
Deputy Leader 2019–present
Defence 23 May 2022 (2022-05-23) Incumbent 3 years, 32 days   Anthony Albanese

Living Former Deputy Prime Ministers

As of 24 June 2025, there are 11 people who used to be Deputy Prime Minister and are still alive. The oldest is Brian Howe, born in 1936.

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