Agfdhyk

Attorney-General
	; ; Incumbent; Christian Porter; since 20 December 2017 (2017-12-20);
	Attorney-General's Department
Style	The Honourable
Appointer	; Governor-General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Australia;
Inaugural holder	Alfred Deakin
Formation	1 January 1901 (1901-01-01);

The Attorney-General for Australia^{[note 1]} is the First Law Officer of the Crown in right of the Commonwealth of Australia, chief law officer of the Commonwealth of Australia and a minister of the Crown. The Attorney-General is usually a member of the Federal Cabinet, but need not be. Under the Constitution, they are appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the Prime Minister, and serve at the Governor-General's pleasure. In practice, the Attorney-General is a party politician and their tenure is determined by political factors. By convention, but not constitutional requirement, the Attorney-General is a lawyer by training (either a barrister or solicitor).

Since 20 December 2017, the Attorney-General has been Christian Porter, a Liberal member of the House of Representatives from Western Australia.

History

The Attorney-General is nearly always a person with legal training, and eleven former Attorneys-General have received senior judicial appointments after their ministerial service.

Billy Hughes was the longest-serving Attorney-General of Australia, serving for thirteen and a half years over four non-consecutive terms; this included six years during his own prime ministership.

Historically, the attorney-generalship was seen as a stepping stone to higher office – Alfred Deakin, Billy Hughes, and Robert Menzies all became prime minister, while John Latham, H. V. Evatt, and Billy Snedden were leaders of the opposition. Lionel Bowen was deputy prime minister under Bob Hawke in the 1980s. Additionally, four former attorneys-general have won appointment to the High Court – Isaac Isaacs, H. B. Higgins, John Latham, Garfield Barwick, and Lionel Murphy. Isaacs later became Governor-General.

Role and Functions

Role

The Attorney-General is the minister responsible for legal affairs, national and public security. The Attorney-General also serves as a general legal adviser to the Cabinet, and has carriage of legislation dealing with copyright, human rights and a range of other subjects. Those objectives are Australian Legal Commissions as legal instrument in Constitutional Powers, and ACLEI, operations Agency.

Functions

Functions of the state and federal attorneys-general include the administration of the selection of persons for nomination to judicial posts and the authorizing of prosecutions. In normal circumstances, the prosecutorial powers of the Attorney-General are exercised by the Director of Public Prosecutions and staff; however, the Attorney-General maintains formal control—including the power to initiate and terminate public prosecutions and take over private prosecutions.

Statutory criminal law provides that prosecutions for certain offences require the individual consent of the Attorney-General. This is generally for offences whose illegality is of a somewhat controversial nature or where there is perceived to be a significant risk that prosecutions of a political nature may be embarked upon. The Attorney-General also generally has the power to issue certificates legally conclusive of certain facts (e.g., that the revelation of certain matters in court proceedings might constitute a risk to national security); the facts stated in such certificates must be accepted by the courts and cannot legally be disputed by any parties. The Attorney-General also has the power to issue a nolle prosequi with respect to a case, which authoritatively determines that the state (in whose name prosecutions are brought) does not wish to prosecute the case, so preventing any person from doing so.

Relationship with the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation

See: Australian Security Intelligence Organisation

List of Attorneys-General

The following individuals have been appointed as Attorney-General for Australia:^[1]

Order	Minister		Prime Minister	Prior legal experience	Alma mater	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	Alfred Deakin KC	Protectionist	Barton	Barrister	University of Melbourne	1 January 1901 (1901-01-01)	24 September 1903 (1903-09-24)	2 years, 266 days
2	Senator James Drake	Protectionist	Deakin	Barrister	King's College School, London	24 September 1903 (1903-09-24)	27 April 1904 (1904-04-27)	216 days
3	H. B. Higgins QC	Protectionist¹	Watson	Barrister	University of Melbourne	27 April 1904 (1904-04-27)	17 August 1904 (1904-08-17)	112 days
4	Senator Sir Josiah Symon, KCMG, QC	Free Trade	Reid	Barrister	Free Church Training College	17 August 1904 (1904-08-17)	5 July 1905 (1905-07-05)	322 days
5	Isaac Isaacs QC	Protectionist	Deakin	Barrister	University of Melbourne	5 July 1905 (1905-07-05)	12 October 1906 (1906-10-12)	1 year, 99 days
6	Littleton Groom KC	Protectionist	Deakin	Lawyer	University of Melbourne	12 October 1906 (1906-10-12)	13 November 1908 (1908-11-13)	2 years, 32 days
7	Billy Hughes, KC²	Labor	Fisher	Barrister	n/a	13 November 1908 (1908-11-13)	2 June 1909 (1909-06-02)	201 days
8	Paddy Glynn, KCMG, KC	Commonwealth Liberal	Deakin	Barrister	Trinity College, Dublin	2 June 1909 (1909-06-02)	29 April 1910 (1910-04-29)	331 days
n/a	Billy Hughes KC	Labor	Fisher	Barrister	n/a	29 April 1910 (1910-04-29)	24 June 1913 (1913-06-24)	3 years, 56 days
9	William Irvine KC	Commonwealth Liberal	Cook	Barrister	Trinity College, Dublin; University of Melbourne	24 June 1913 (1913-06-24)	17 September 1914 (1914-09-17)	1 year, 85 days
n/a	Billy Hughes KC	Labor	Fisher	Barrister	n/a	17 September 1914 (1914-09-17)	27 October 1915 (1915-10-27)	7 years, 95 days
		Labor	Hughes			27 October 1915 (1915-10-27)	14 November 1916 (1916-11-14)
		National Labor				14 November 1916 (1916-11-14)	13 June 1917 (1917-06-13)
		Nationalist				13 June 1917 (1917-06-13)	21 December 1921 (1921-12-21)
n/a	Sir Littleton Groom, KCMG, KC			Lawyer	University of Melbourne	21 December 1921 (1921-12-21)	9 February 1923 (1923-02-09)	3 years, 362 days
n/a	Sir Littleton Groom, KCMG, KC		Bruce	Lawyer	University of Melbourne	9 February 1923 (1923-02-09)	18 December 1925 (1925-12-18)	3 years, 362 days
10	John Latham KC		Bruce	Barrister	University of Melbourne	18 December 1925 (1925-12-18)	22 October 1929 (1929-10-22)	3 years, 308 days
11	Frank Brennan	Labor	Scullin	Barrister	University of Melbourne	22 October 1929 (1929-10-22)	6 January 1932 (1932-01-06)	2 years, 76 days
n/a	Sir John Latham, GCMG, KC	United Australia	Lyons	Barrister	University of Melbourne	6 January 1932 (1932-01-06)	12 October 1934 (1934-10-12)	2 years, 279 days
12	Robert Menzies KC			Barrister	University of Melbourne	12 October 1934 (1934-10-12)	20 March 1939 (1939-03-20)	4 years, 159 days
n/a	Billy Hughes, CH, KC			Barrister	n/a	20 March 1939 (1939-03-20)	7 April 1939 (1939-04-07)	2 years, 201 days
			Page			7 April 1939 (1939-04-07)	26 April 1939 (1939-04-26)
			Menzies			26 April 1939 (1939-04-26)	29 August 1941 (1941-08-29)
			Fadden			29 August 1941 (1941-08-29)	7 October 1941 (1941-10-07)
13	Dr. H. V. Evatt KC	Labor	Curtin	Barrister, Judge	University of Sydney	7 October 1941 (1941-10-07)	6 July 1945 (1945-07-06)	8 years, 73 days
			Forde			6 July 1945 (1945-07-06)	13 July 1945 (1945-07-13)
			Chifley			13 July 1945 (1945-07-13)	19 December 1949 (1949-12-19)
14	Senator John Spicer KC	Liberal	Menzies	Barrister	University of Melbourne	19 December 1949 (1949-12-19)	14 August 1956 (1956-08-14)	6 years, 239 days
15	Senator Neil O'Sullivan			Solicitor		15 August 1956 (1956-08-15)	12 October 1958 (1958-10-12)	2 years, 58 days
16	Sir Garfield Barwick QC			Barrister	University of Sydney	12 October 1958 (1958-10-12)	4 March 1964 (1964-03-04)	5 years, 144 days
17	Billy Snedden QC			Barrister	University of Western Australia	4 March 1964 (1964-03-04)	26 January 1966 (1966-01-26)	2 years, 285 days
17	Billy Snedden QC		Holt	Barrister	University of Western Australia	26 January 1966 (1966-01-26)	14 December 1966 (1966-12-14)	2 years, 285 days
18	Nigel Bowen QC		Holt	Barrister	University of Sydney	14 December 1966 (1966-12-14)	19 December 1967 (1967-12-19)	2 years, 333 days
			McEwen			19 December 1967 (1967-12-19)	10 January 1968 (1968-01-10)
			Gorton			10 January 1968 (1968-01-10)	12 November 1969 (1969-11-12)
19	Tom Hughes QC		Gorton	Barrister	University of Sydney	12 November 1969 (1969-11-12)	10 March 1971 (1971-03-10)	1 year, 130 days
19	Tom Hughes QC		McMahon	Barrister	University of Sydney	10 March 1971 (1971-03-10)	22 March 1971 (1971-03-22)	1 year, 130 days
n/a	Nigel Bowen			Barrister	University of Sydney	22 March 1971 (1971-03-22)	2 August 1971 (1971-08-02)	133 days
20	Senator Ivor Greenwood QC			Barrister	University of Melbourne	2 August 1971 (1971-08-02)	5 December 1972 (1972-12-05)	1 year, 125 days
21	Gough Whitlam QC³	Labor	Whitlam	Barrister	University of Sydney	5 December 1972 (1972-12-05)	19 December 1972 (1972-12-19)	14 days
22	Senator Lionel Murphy QC			Barrister	University of Sydney	19 December 1972 (1972-12-19)	10 February 1975 (1975-02-10)	2 years, 53 days
23	Kep Enderby QC			Barrister	University of Sydney University of London	10 February 1975 (1975-02-10)	11 November 1975 (1975-11-11)	274 days
n/a	Senator Ivor Greenwood QC	Liberal	Fraser	Barrister	University of Melbourne	11 November 1975 (1975-11-11)	22 December 1975 (1975-12-22)	41 days
24	Bob Ellicott QC			Barrister	University of Sydney	22 December 1975 (1975-12-22)	6 September 1977 (1977-09-06)	1 year, 258 days
25	Senator Peter Durack QC			Barrister	University of Western Australia Lincoln College, Oxford	6 September 1977 (1977-09-06)	11 March 1983 (1983-03-11)	5 years, 186 days
26	Senator Gareth Evans QC	Labor	Hawke	Barrister	University of Melbourne Magdalen College, Oxford	11 March 1983 (1983-03-11)	13 December 1984 (1984-12-13)	1 year, 277 days
27	Lionel Bowen			Solicitor	University of Sydney	13 December 1984 (1984-12-13)	4 April 1990 (1990-04-04)	5 years, 112 days
28	Michael Duffy, ONZ			Solicitor	University of Melbourne	4 April 1990 (1990-04-04)	27 December 1991 (1991-12-27)	2 years, 354 days
28	Michael Duffy, ONZ		Keating	Solicitor	University of Melbourne	27 December 1991 (1991-12-27)	24 March 1993 (1993-03-24)	2 years, 354 days

29	Duncan Kerr⁴	Labor	Keating	Barrister	University of Tasmania	1 April 1993 (1993-04-01)	27 April 1993 (1993-04-27)	26 days
30	Michael Lavarch	Labor	Keating	Solicitor	Queensland University of Technology	27 April 1993 (1993-04-27)	11 March 1996 (1996-03-11)	2 years, 319 days
31	Daryl Williams, AM, QC	Liberal	Howard	Barrister	University of Western Australia Wadham College, Oxford	11 March 1996 (1996-03-11)	7 October 2003 (2003-10-07)	7 years, 210 days
32	Philip Ruddock	Liberal	Howard	Solicitor	University of Sydney	7 October 2003 (2003-10-07)	3 December 2007 (2007-12-03)	4 years, 57 days
33	Robert McClelland	Labor	Rudd	Solicitor	University of New South Wales University of Sydney	3 December 2007 (2007-12-03)	24 June 2010 (2010-06-24)	4 years, 11 days
33	Robert McClelland		Gillard	Solicitor	University of New South Wales University of Sydney	24 June 2010 (2010-06-24)	14 December 2011 (2011-12-14)	4 years, 11 days
34	Nicola Roxon			Solicitor	University of Melbourne	14 December 2011 (2011-12-14)	2 February 2013 (2013-02-02)	1 year, 50 days
35	Mark Dreyfus QC			Barrister	University of Melbourne	2 February 2013 (2013-02-02)	26 June 2013 (2013-06-26)	228 days
35	Mark Dreyfus QC		Rudd	Barrister	University of Melbourne	26 June 2013 (2013-06-26)	18 September 2013 (2013-09-18)	228 days
36	Senator George Brandis QC	Liberal National	Abbott	Barrister	University of Queensland; Magdalen College, Oxford	18 September 2013 (2013-09-18)	15 September 2015 (2015-09-15)	4 years, 93 days
36	Senator George Brandis QC	Liberal National	Turnbull	Barrister	University of Queensland; Magdalen College, Oxford	15 September 2015 (2015-09-15)	20 December 2017 (2017-12-20)	4 years, 93 days
37	Christian Porter	Liberal	Turnbull	Lawyer	University of Western Australia, London School of Economics	20 December 2017 (2017-12-20)	24 August 2018	1 year, 82 days
37	Christian Porter	Liberal	Morrison	Lawyer	University of Western Australia, London School of Economics	24 August 2018	Incumbent	1 year, 82 days

Notes

¹ A member of the Protectionist Party, Higgins served in the Labor ministry of Chris Watson, because Labor had no suitably qualified lawyer in Parliament.

² Hughes took silk in 1909, and became a King's Counsel.^[2]

³ Whitlam served as part of a two-man ministry together with Lance Barnard for fourteen days, until the full ministry was commissioned.

⁴ Prime Minister Paul Keating's original choice for Attorney-General in 1993 had been Michael Lavarch, but Lavarch's re-election was delayed by the death of an opposing candidate for the seat of Dickson; Duncan Kerr held the portfolio in the interim until Lavarch won the resulting supplementary election. Kerr served as Attorney-General for 26 days. There was no Attorney-General for the eight days between Duffy's commission ending on 24 March 1993 and Kerr's commission commencing on 1 April 1993.

Attorneys-General of the States and Territories

The Australian states each have separate attorneys-general, who are state ministers with similar responsibilities to the federal minister with respect to state law. For Attorneys-General of the various states and territories of Australia, see:

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

Notes

^ The title is officially "Attorney-General". For the purposes of distinguishing the office from other Attorneys-General, and in accordance with usual practice in the United Kingdom and other common law jurisdictions, the Australian Attorney-General currently refers to themselves as the "Attorney-General for Australia" or the "Commonwealth Attorney-General": see Attorney-General website. Historically, "Attorney-General of Australia" was also used.

References

^ "Ministries and Cabinets". 43rd Parliamentary Handbook: Historical information on the Australian Parliament. Parliament of Australia. 2010. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2013..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}

^ "William Morris Hughes: Before office". Australia's Prime Ministers. National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 15 July 2013.

External links

Official website

Departmental official website

[1] The title is officially "Attorney-General". For the purposes of distinguishing the office from other Attorneys-General, and in accordance with usual practice in the United Kingdom and other common law jurisdictions, the Australian Attorney-General currently refers to themselves as the "Attorney-General for Australia" or the "Commonwealth Attorney-General": see Attorney-General website. Historically, "Attorney-General of Australia" was also used.

[parl-2] "Ministries and Cabinets". 43rd Parliamentary Handbook: Historical information on the Australian Parliament. Parliament of Australia. 2010. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2013..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}

[3] "William Morris Hughes: Before office". Australia's Prime Ministers. National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 15 July 2013.

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