The Attorney-GeneralThe 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 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

and other common law jurisdictions, the Australian Attorney-General uses the term "Attorney-General for Australia" or the "Commonwealth Attorney-General": se
Attorney-General website
Historically, "Attorney-General of Australia" was also used. for Australia 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 state Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. I ...

. The attorney-general is usually a member of the Federal Cabinet, but need not be. Under the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...

, they are appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

, 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). It is one of only four ministerial positions (along with Prime Minister,

Minister for Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

and

Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury ...

) that has existed since

Federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...

. The current attorney-general is Mark Dreyfus MP, who was sworn in on 1 June 2022 as part of his cabinet following the 2022 Australian federal election. Dreyfus is assisted in his portfolio by the Assistant Minister for the Republic held by Matt Thistlethwaite.

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 A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

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 Sir Garfield Edward John Barwick, (22 June 190313 July 1997) was an Australian judge who was the seventh and longest serving Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 1964 to 1981. He had earlier been a Liberal Party politician, serving as a m ...

, 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. They are responsible for the

Australian Law Reform Commission The Australian Law Reform Commission (often abbreviated to ALRC) is an Australian independent statutory body established to conduct reviews into the law of Australia. The reviews, also called inquiries or references, are referred to the ALRC by ...

and the

Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity The Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (ACLEI) is an Australian government statutory agency, created under the ''Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner Act 2006''. Its role is to support the Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner ...

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 , abbreviated or , is legal Latin meaning "to be unwilling to pursue".Nolle prosequi
. ref ...

'' 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: Notes : A member of the Protectionist Party, Higgins served in the Labor ministry of Chris Watson, because Labor had no suitably qualified lawyer in Parliament. : Hughes took silk in 1909, and became a King's Counsel. : Whitlam served as part of a two-man ministry together with

Lance Barnard Lance Herbert Barnard AO (1 May 19196 August 1997) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He was the deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1974 and held senior ministerial office in the Whitlam Government, most no ...

for fourteen days, until the full ministry was commissioned. : Prime Minister Paul Keating's original choice for Attorney-General in 1993 had been

Michael Lavarch Michael Hugh Lavarch AO (born 8 June 1961) is an Australian lawyer, educator and former politician. He was the Attorney-General for Australia between 1993 and 1996, and from 2004 to 2012 was Executive Dean of the Faculty of Law at Queensland U ...

, 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. : Gallagher served as part of an interim five-person ministry for nine days, until the full ministry was commissioned.

List of assistant ministers for the republic

The position is responsible for the Albanese government's policy of establishing a republic and is the first Commonwealth portfolio for republic policy.

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 The Attorney-General of the Northern Territory, in formal contexts also Attorney-General or Attorney General for the Northern Territory, is the primary Law Officers of the Crown, Law Officer of the Crown in the Northern Territory. The Attorney ...

* Attorney-General of Queensland * Attorney-General of South Australia * Attorney-General of Tasmania * Attorney-General of Victoria * Attorney-General of Western Australia

Notes

References

External links

* {{Australian federal ministerial portfolios Attorney-General