Attorney-General of Australia

Attorney-General
Incumbent Nicola Roxon since 14 December 2011
Style	The Honourable
Appointer	Governor-General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Australia
Inaugural holder	Alfred Deakin
Formation	1901

The Attorney-General of Australia is the first law officer of the Crown, 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 he or she is appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the Prime Minister, and serves at the Governor-General's pleasure. In practice the Attorney-General is a party politician and his or her tenure is determined by political factors.

The Attorney-General administers the Attorney-General's Department, and is the minister responsible for the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and the OFLC, the government agency responsible for classification of films, literature and video games. 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.

The Attorney-General is nearly always a person with legal training, and 11 former Attorneys-General have received senior judicial appointments after their ministerial service.

Billy Hughes was the longest-serving Attorney-General of Australia, serving for nearly 11 years over three non-consecutive terms. Since 1987 the Attorney-General has usually been assisted by a Minister for Justice.

Following the 2007 general election, at which Labor's Kevin Rudd defeated the Liberal/National coalition led by John Howard, Robert McClelland replaced Philip Ruddock as Attorney-General on 3 December 2007. He retained this portfolio under the prime ministership of Julia Gillard until 14 December 2011, when he was replaced by Nicola Roxon, who became Australia's first female Attorney-General.

List of Australian Attorneys-General

#	Person	Party	Time frame
1	Alfred Deakin	Protectionist	1901–1903
2	Senator James Drake		1903–1904
3	H.B. Higgins	Labor*	1904
4	Senator Josiah Symon	Free Trade	1904–1905
5	Isaac Isaacs	Protectionist	1905–1906
6	Littleton Groom		1906–1908
7	Billy Hughes	Labor	1908–1909
8	Patrick Glynn	Free Trade	1909–1910
-	Billy Hughes	Labor	1910–1913
9	William Irvine	Commonwealth Liberal	1913–1914
-	Billy Hughes	Labor	1914–1917
		Nationalist	1917–1921
6	Littleton Groom		1921–1925
10	John Latham		1925–1929
11	Frank Brennan	Labor	1929–1932
-	John Latham	United Australia Party	1932–1934
12	Robert Menzies		1934–1938
-	Billy Hughes		1938–1941
13	Dr H. V. Evatt	Labor	1941–1949
14	Senator John Spicer	Liberal	1949–1956
15	Senator Neil O'Sullivan		1956–1958
16	Sir Garfield Barwick		1958–1964
17	Billy Snedden		1964–1966
18	Nigel Bowen		1966–1969
19	Tom Hughes		1969–1971
-	Nigel Bowen		1971
20	Senator Ivor Greenwood		1971–1972
21	Gough Whitlam	Labor	1972
22	Senator Lionel Murphy		1972–1975
23	Kep Enderby		1975-1975
-	Senator Ivor Greenwood	Liberal	1975
24	Robert Ellicott		1975–1977
25	Senator Peter Durack		1977–1983
26	Senator Gareth Evans	Labor	1983–1984
27	Lionel Bowen		1984–1990
28	Michael Duffy		1990–1993
29	Duncan Kerr		1993
30	Michael Lavarch		1993–1996
31	Daryl Williams	Liberal	1996–2003
32	Philip Ruddock		2003–2007
33	Robert McClelland	Labor	2007–2011
34	Nicola Roxon		2011-

* Higgins served in the Labor cabinet of Chris Watson but was not a member of the Labor Party. He was a Protectionist, but agreed to serve because Labor had no suitably qualified lawyer in Parliament.

See also

• Attorney-General of Australian Capital Territory
• Attorney-General of New South Wales
• Attorney-General of Northern Territory
• Attorney-General of Queensland
• Attorney-General of South Australia
• Attorney-General of Tasmania
• Attorney-General of Victoria (Australia)
• Attorney-General of Western Australia

External links

• Official website
• Departmental official website