Governor of Victoria

Governor of Victoria
Viceroy
Provincial/State
Badge of the governor
Incumbent: Alex Chernov
Style:	His Excellency
Appointed by:	Elizabeth II as Queen of Australia
First viceroy:	Sir Charles Hotham
Formation:	22 May 1855
Term:	At Her Majesty's pleasure

The Governor of Victoria is the representative in the Australian state of Victoria of its monarch, Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. The Governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the Governor-General of Australia at the national level. The Governor's office and official residence is Government House in central Melbourne.

The current Governor of Victoria is former judge Alex Chernov.

Powers

In accordance with the conventions of the Westminster system of parliamentary government, the Governor nearly always acts solely on the advice of the head of the elected government, the Premier of Victoria. Nevertheless, the Governor retains the reserve powers of the Crown, and has the right to dismiss the Premier.

Related offices

There is also a Lieutenant-Governor and an Administrator. The Chief Justice of Victoria is ex-officio the Administrator, unless he or she is the Lieutenant-Governor, in which case, the next most senior judge is the Administrator. The Lieutenant-Governor takes on the responsibilities of the Governor when that post is vacant or when the Governor is out of the State or unable to act. The Administrator takes on those duties if both the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor are not able to act for the above reasons.

See Governors of the Australian states for a description and history of the office of Governor.

Australian-born governors

The first Australian- (and Victorian-) born Governor of Victoria was Sir Henry Winneke (appointed 1974). With the exceptions of Dr Davis McCaughey (b. Ireland), Professor David de Kretser (b. Ceylon) and incumbent Alex Chernov (b. Lithuania), all subsequent governors have been Australian-born.

List of Governors of Victoria

Standard of the Governor of Victoria

Standard of the Governor of Victoria 1903–1984. Prior to 1953, a Tudor Crown was used

Lieutenant-Governors

Until Victoria obtained responsible government in 1855, the Governor-General of New South Wales appointed Lieutenant-Governors to Victoria. The Governor-General of New South Wales was reverted to Governor in 1861.

No.	Image	Lieutenant-Governor	From	To
1		Captain Charles La Trobe	1851	1854
2		Captain Sir Charles Hotham KCB RN	1854	1855

Governors

No.	Image	Governor	From	To
1		Captain Sir Charles Hotham KCB RN	22 May 1855	31 December 1855
2		Sir Henry Barkly GCMG KCB FRS FRGS	26 December 1856	10 September 1863
3		Sir Charles Darling KCB	11 September 1863	7 May 1866
4		The Rt Hon. Viscount Canterbury GCMG KCB	15 August 1866	2 March 1873
5		The Rt Hon. Sir George Bowen GCMG	30 July 1873	22 February 1879
6		The Most Hon. Marquess of Normanby GCB GCMG PC	29 April 1879	18 April 1884
7		The Rt Hon. Lord Loch GCMG KCB	15 July 1884	15 November 1889
8		The Most Hon. Earl of Hopetoun KT GCMG GCVO PC	28 November 1889	12 July 1895
9		The Rt Hon. Earl Brassey GCB JP DL TD	25 October 1895	31 March 1900
10		The Rt Hon. Baron Sydenham of Combe GCSI GCIE GCMG GBE	10 December 1901	24 November 1903
11		The Hon. Major-General Sir Reginald Talbot KCB	25 April 1904	6 July 1908
12		The Rt Hon. Lord Carmichael GCSI GCIE KCMG DL	27 July 1908	19 May 1911
13		The Rt Hon. Sir John Fuller Bt KCMG	24 May 1911	24 November 1913
14		The Rt Hon. Lord Sheffield KCMG	23 February 1914	30 January 1920
15		The Rt Hon. Earl of Stradbroke KCMG CB CVO CBE VD TD	24 February 1921	7 April 1926
16		The Rt Hon. Lord Somers KCMG DSO MC	28 June 1926	23 June 1931
17		The Rt Hon. Lord Huntingfield KCMG	14 May 1934	4 April 1939
18		The Rt Hon. Major General The Lord Dugan GCMG CB DSO	17 July 1939	20 February 1949
19		General Sir Reginald Brooks GCMG KCB KCVO DSO	18 October 1949	7 May 1963
20		Major General Sir Rohan Delacombe KCMG KBE CB DSO	8 May 1963	31 May 1974
21		The Hon. Sir Henry Winneke AC KCMG KCVO OBE QC	1 June 1974	28 February 1982
22		Rear Admiral Sir Brian Murray KCMG AO	1 March 1982	3 October 1985
23		The Reverend Dr Davis McCaughey AC	18 February 1986	22 April 1992
24		The Hon. Richard McGarvie AC QC	23 April 1992	23 April 1997
25		The Hon. Sir James Gobbo AC CVO QC	24 April 1997	31 December 2000
26		Mr. John Landy AC CVO MBE	1 January 2001	7 April 2006
27		Professor David de Kretser AC	7 April 2006	7 April 2011
28		The Hon. Alex Chernov AC QC	8 April 2011	Present

Living former governors

As of April 2011, three former governors are alive, the oldest being John Landy (2001–06, born 1930). The most recent governor to die was Davis McCaughey (1986–92), on 25 March 2005. The most recently-serving governor to die was Richard McGarvie (1992–1997), on 24 May 2003.

Name	Term as governor	Date of birth and age
Sir James Gobbo	1997–2000	22 March 1931 (1931-03-22)
John Landy	2001–2006	12 April 1930 (1930-04-12)
David de Kretser	2006–2011	27 April 1939 (1939-04-27)

Lieutenant-Governor

There is also a Lieutenant-Governor and an Administrator. The Chief Justice of Victoria is ex-officio the Administrator, unless he or she is the Lieutenant-Governor, in which case, the next most senior judge is the Administrator. The Lieutenant-Governor takes on the responsibilities of the Governor when that post is vacant or when the Governor is out of the State or unable to act. The Administrator takes on those duties if both the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor are not able to act for the above reasons.

The Lieutenant-Governor is appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Premier of Victoria. Appointment as Lieutenant-Governor of itself confers no powers of functions. If there is no Governor or if the Governor is unavailable to act for a substantial period, the Lieutenant-Governor assumes office as Administrator and exercises all the powers and functions of a Governor. If expecting to be unavailable for a short period only, the Governor with the consent of the Premier, usually commissions the Lieutenant-Governor to act as Deputy for the Governor, performing some or all of the powers and functions of the Governor.

Marilyn Warren, AC, the Chief Justice of Victoria, is the current Lieutenant-Governor.

See also

• Governors of the Australian states

External links

• The Official Website of the Governor of Victoria
• Governors of Victoria, Parliament of Victoria