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

Minister of the Crown

Minister of the Crown is the formal constitutional term used in the Commonwealth realms to describe a minister to the reigning sovereign. The term indicates that the minister serves at His/Her Majesty's pleasure, and advises the monarch, or viceroy, on how to exercise the Crown prerogatives...

. The Attorney-General is usually a member of the Federal Cabinet

Cabinet of Australia

The Cabinet of Australia is the council of senior ministers of the Crown, responsible to parliament. The Cabinet is appointed by the Governor-General, on the advice of the Prime Minister the Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, and serves at the former's pleasure. The strictly private...

, but there is no constitutional requirement that this be the case since the Constitution does not refer to the existence of the Cabinet. Under the Constitution he or she is appointed by the Governor-General

Governor-General of Australia

The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth...

 on the advice of the Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Australia

The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...

, 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 is head of the Attorney-General's Department

Attorney-General's Department (Australia)

The Attorney-General's Department is an Australian Government Department. Its role is to serve the people of Australia by providing essential expert support to the Government in the maintenance and improvement of Australia's system of law and justice...

, and is the minister responsible for the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation is Australia's national security service, which is responsible for the protection of the country and its citizens from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign interference, politically-motivated violence, attacks on the Australian defence system, and...

 (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 distinguished lawyer, and 11 former Attorneys-General have received senior judicial appointments after their ministerial service. Billy Hughes

Billy Hughes

William Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923....

 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

Minister for Justice (Australia)

The Australian Minister for Justice is the Hon Brendan O'Connor MP. The position supports the Attorney-General. Michael Tate was appointed the first minister with this title on 18 September 1987 and there have ministers with responsibilities for justice ever since except between 3 December 2007...

.

Following the 2007 general election, at which Labor's Kevin Rudd

Kevin Rudd

Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...

 defeated the Liberal/National coalition led by John Howard

John Howard

John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....

, Robert McClelland

Robert McClelland (Australian politician)

Robert Bruce McClelland is the Attorney-General of Australia. He has been an Australian Labor Party member of theAustralian House of Representatives since March 1996, representing the Division of Barton, New South Wales...

 replaced Philip Ruddock

Philip Ruddock

Philip Maxwell Ruddock is an Australian politician who is currently a member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Berowra, New South Wales, for the Liberal Party of Australia...

 as Attorney-General on 3 December 2007. He has retained this portfolio under the prime ministership of Julia Gillard

Julia Gillard

Julia Eileen Gillard is the 27th and current Prime Minister of Australia, in office since June 2010.Gillard was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales and migrated with her family to Adelaide, Australia in 1966, attending Mitcham Demonstration School and Unley High School. In 1982 Gillard moved...

.

List of Australian Attorneys-General

#	Person	Party	Time frame
1	Alfred Deakin Alfred Deakin Alfred Deakin , Australian politician, was a leader of the movement for Australian federation and later the second Prime Minister of Australia. In the last quarter of the 19th century, Deakin was a major contributor to the establishment of liberal reforms in the colony of Victoria, including the...	Protectionist Protectionist Party The Protectionist Party was an Australian political party, formally organised from 1889 until 1909, with policies centred on protectionism. It argued that Australia needed protective tariffs to allow Australian industry to grow and provide employment. It had its greatest strength in Victoria and in...	1901–1903
2	Senator James Drake James Drake James George Drake , Australian politician, was a member of the first federal ministry.Drake was born in London and educated at King's College School, and migrated to Australia in 1873, working as a storekeeper and journalist in Queensland...		1903–1904
3	H.B. Higgins	Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia... *	1904
4	Senator Josiah Symon Josiah Symon Hon Sir Josiah Henry Symon KCMG , Scottish-Australian lawyer and politician, was a member of the Australian Senate in the First Australian Parliament, and an Attorney-General of Australia.-Biography:...	Free Trade Free Trade Party The Free Trade Party which was officially known as the Australian Free Trade and Liberal Association, also referred to as the Revenue Tariff Party in some states and renamed the Anti-Socialist Party in 1906, was an Australian political party, formally organised between 1889 and 1909...	1904–1905
5	Isaac Isaacs Isaac Isaacs Sir Isaac Alfred Isaacs GCB GCMG KC was an Australian judge and politician, was the third Chief Justice of Australia, ninth Governor-General of Australia and the first born in Australia to occupy that post. He is the only person ever to have held both positions of Chief Justice of Australia and...	Protectionist	1905–1906
6	Littleton Groom Littleton Groom Sir Littleton Ernest Groom, KCMG was an Australian Commonwealth Minister, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Australia's 17th longest serving federal Parliamentarian . He was a member of every non-Australian Labor Party ministry from 1905 to 1926...		1906–1908
7	Billy Hughes Billy Hughes William Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923....	Labor	1908–1909
8	Patrick Glynn Patrick Glynn Patrick McMahon Glynn KC was an Attorney General of Australia and Minister for External Affairs.-Early life:...	Free Trade Free Trade Party The Free Trade Party which was officially known as the Australian Free Trade and Liberal Association, also referred to as the Revenue Tariff Party in some states and renamed the Anti-Socialist Party in 1906, was an Australian political party, formally organised between 1889 and 1909...	1909–1910
-	Billy Hughes	Labor	1910–1913
9	William Irvine	Commonwealth Liberal Commonwealth Liberal Party The Commonwealth Liberal Party was a political movement active in Australia from 1909 to 1916, shortly after federation....	1913–1914
-	Billy Hughes	Labor	1914–1917
		Nationalist Nationalist Party of Australia The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...	1917–1921
6	Littleton Groom Littleton Groom Sir Littleton Ernest Groom, KCMG was an Australian Commonwealth Minister, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Australia's 17th longest serving federal Parliamentarian . He was a member of every non-Australian Labor Party ministry from 1905 to 1926...		1921–1925
10	John Latham		1925–1929
11	Frank Brennan Frank Brennan (Australian politician) Francis Brennan was an Australian lawyer and Australian Labor Party politician.Brennan was born at Upper Emu Creek near Bendigo, Victoria and was a younger brother of Tom Brennan, later an assistant minister in the conservative Lyons government. He studied law at the University of Melbourne and...	Labor	1929–1932
-	John Latham	United Australia Party United Australia Party The United Australia Party was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. It was the political successor to the Nationalist Party of Australia and predecessor to the Liberal Party of Australia...	1932–1934
12	Robert Menzies Robert Menzies Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....		1934–1938
-	Billy Hughes		1938–1941
13	Dr H. V. Evatt	Labor	1941–1949
14	Senator John Spicer John Spicer (Australian politician) Sir John Armstrong Spicer was an Australian lawyer, politician, cabinet minister and judge.Spicer was born in the Melbourne suburb of Prahran, but was taken to England by his family in 1905 and educated at Chelston School, Torquay. His family returned to Australia in 1911 and he attended Hawksburn...	Liberal Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...	1949–1956
15	Senator Neil O'Sullivan Neil O'Sullivan Sir Michael Neil O'Sullivan KBE was an Australian politician and lawyer.O'Sullivan was born in the Brisbane suburb of Toowong and educated at Taringa State School and St. Joseph's Nudgee College and was admitted as a solicitor in December 1922. In April 1929, he married Jessie Margaret Mary...		1956–1958
16	Sir Garfield Barwick Garfield Barwick Sir Garfield Edward John Barwick, was the Attorney-General of Australia , Minister for External Affairs and the seventh and longest serving Chief Justice of Australia...		1958–1964
17	Billy Snedden Billy Snedden Sir Billy Mackie Snedden, KCMG, QC was an Australian politician representing the Liberal Party. He was Leader of the Opposition at the 1974 federal election, failing to defeat the Labor incumbent Gough Whitlam.-Early life:...		1964–1966
18	Nigel Bowen Nigel Bowen Sir Nigel Hubert Bowen, AC, KBE was an Australian politician and judge.-Biography:Bowen was born in a log cabin in Summerland, British Columbia, Canada, of Welsh and English parents. He came to Australia as a boy and was educated for two years in England and later at The King's School in Parramatta...		1966–1969
19	Tom Hughes		1969–1971
-	Nigel Bowen Nigel Bowen Sir Nigel Hubert Bowen, AC, KBE was an Australian politician and judge.-Biography:Bowen was born in a log cabin in Summerland, British Columbia, Canada, of Welsh and English parents. He came to Australia as a boy and was educated for two years in England and later at The King's School in Parramatta...		1971
20	Senator Ivor Greenwood Ivor Greenwood Ivor John Greenwood was an Australian politician and barrister.-Biography:Greenwood was born in North Melbourne and educated at Hartwell Central State School, Mont Albert Central State School, Scotch College and the University of Melbourne...		1971–1972
21	Gough Whitlam Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...	Labor	1972
22	Senator Lionel Murphy Lionel Murphy Lionel Keith Murphy, QC was an Australian politician and jurist who served as Attorney-General in the government of Gough Whitlam and as a Justice of the High Court of Australia from 1975 until his death.- Personal life :...		1972–1975
23	Kep Enderby Kep Enderby Keppel Earl "Kep" Enderby QC is a former Australian politician and retired judge. Enderby was a member of the House of Representatives, representing the Australian Labor Party between 1970 and 1975, and became a senior cabinet minister in the Gough Whitlam government...		1975-1975
-	Senator Ivor Greenwood Ivor Greenwood Ivor John Greenwood was an Australian politician and barrister.-Biography:Greenwood was born in North Melbourne and educated at Hartwell Central State School, Mont Albert Central State School, Scotch College and the University of Melbourne...	Liberal	1975
24	Robert Ellicott		1975–1977
25	Senator Peter Durack Peter Durack Peter Drew Durack, QC was an Australian politician, representing the Liberal Party. He rose to become Attorney-General of Australia....		1977–1983
26	Senator Gareth Evans Gareth Evans (politician) Gareth John Evans, AO, QC , is a former Australian politician from 1978 to 1999 representing the Australian Labor Party, serving in a number of ministries including Attorney-General and Foreign Minister from 1983 to 1996 in the Hawke and Keating governments. He was president and chief executive...	Labor	1983–1984
27	Lionel Bowen Lionel Bowen Lionel Frost Bowen AC , Australian politician, was a senior Labor Party figure, serving in the ministries of Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke...		1984–1990
28	Michael Duffy Michael Duffy (politician) Michael John Duffy, ONZ , Australian politician, was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives for the Division of Holt from 1980 to 1996...		1990–1993
29	Duncan Kerr Duncan Kerr Duncan James Colquhoun Kerr SC is an Australian Senior Counsel and former politician.Born in Hobart, Tasmania, Kerr was educated at the University of Tasmania, where at one stage he was President of the Tasmania University Union and has degrees in both law and social work...		1993
30	Michael Lavarch Michael Lavarch Michael Hugh Lavarch is an Australian lawyer, educator and former politician. He was the Attorney-General of Australia between 1993 and 1996, and since 2004 has been Dean and Professor of Law at Queensland University of Technology , his alma mater.Lavarch commenced his legal career in Brisbane as...		1993–1996
31	Daryl Williams Daryl Williams Daryl Robert Williams AM QC , Australianpolitician, was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1993 to October 2004, representing the Division of Tangney, Western Australia.-Biography:...	Liberal	1996–2003
32	Philip Ruddock Philip Ruddock Philip Maxwell Ruddock is an Australian politician who is currently a member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Berowra, New South Wales, for the Liberal Party of Australia...		2003–2007
33	Robert McClelland Robert McClelland (Australian politician) Robert Bruce McClelland is the Attorney-General of Australia. He has been an Australian Labor Party member of theAustralian House of Representatives since March 1996, representing the Division of Barton, New South Wales...	Labor	2007–

* Higgins served in the Labor cabinet of Chris Watson

Chris Watson

John Christian Watson , commonly known as Chris Watson, Australian politician, was the third Prime Minister of Australia...

 but was not a member of the Labor Party. He was a Protectionist

Protectionist Party

The Protectionist Party was an Australian political party, formally organised from 1889 until 1909, with policies centred on protectionism. It argued that Australia needed protective tariffs to allow Australian industry to grow and provide employment. It had its greatest strength in Victoria and in...

, but agreed to serve because Labor had no suitably qualified lawyer in Parliament.