Mark Alfred Dreyfus (born 3 October 1956) is an Australian politician and lawyer. He is a member of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

(ALP), and has been the MP for Isaacs since the 2007 election. Dreyfus served as the

attorney-general of Australia The attorney-general of Australia (AG), also known as the Commonwealth attorney-general, is the minister of state and chief law officer of the Commonwealth of Australia charged with overseeing federal legal affairs and public security as the ...

in 2013 and then 2022 to 2025, and as

cabinet secretary A cabinet secretary is usually a senior official (typically a civil servant) who provides services and advice to a cabinet of ministers as part of the Cabinet Office. In many countries, the position can have considerably wider functions and powe ...

from 2010 to 2013 and then 2022 to 2025. Before beginning his political career, Dreyfus worked as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

for two decades, specialising in constitutional, commercial and

environmental law Environmental laws are laws that protect the environment. The term "environmental law" encompasses treaties, statutes, regulations, conventions, and policies designed to protect the natural environment and manage the impact of human activitie ...

. After winning the seat of Isaacs in 2007, Dreyfus was appointed to the Cabinet in September 2010 by Julia Gillard as Cabinet Secretary. In February 2013, following the resignation of Nicola Roxon, he was moved to become Attorney-General for the first time. After

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June to September 2013. He held office as the Leaders of the Australian Labo ...

replaced Gillard as Prime Minister in June 2013, Dreyfus was retained as Attorney-General and given the additional roles of Special Minister of State and Minister for the Public Service and Integrity. He would hold these positions for less than three months, as Labor was defeated in the 2013 election. Throughout Labor's subsequent nine years in opposition, Dreyfus served as shadow attorney-general under both Bill Shorten and

Anthony Albanese Anthony Norman Albanese ( or ; born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been the Leaders of the Australian Labor Party#Leader, leader of the Labor Party si ...

. Following Labor's victory in the 2022 election, he was appointed to the positions of Attorney-General and Cabinet Secretary for the second time within the first Albanese ministry. During his second tenure as attorney-general, he oversaw the introduction of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, the creation of the Administrative Review Tribunal in place of the abolished Administrative Appeals Tribunal, and the establishment of the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme. He also ordered the discontinuation of the prosecution of whistleblower Bernard Collaery. He was removed as attorney-general following a cabinet reshuffle after the 2025 election.

Early life and education

Dreyfus was born in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Western Australia, the son of George Dreyfus, a noted composer who came to Australia from

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. Three of Mark's great-grandparents perished during

The Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. Mark's father was moved to Australia when he was eleven years old. Many Jewish children in Australia were cared for throughout the war, including Mark's father, who had no idea if they would ever see their parents again. Dreyfus was educated at

Scotch College, Melbourne Scotch College is a private, Presbyterian day and boarding school for boys, located in Hawthorn, an inner-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The college was established in 1851 as The Melbourne Academy in a house in Spri ...

on a full scholarship and the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

, where he resided at Ormond College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

Legal career

Before entering parliament, Dreyfus worked as a

for twenty years, with an extensive practice in commercial, defamation, constitutional and environmental law. He appeared before the High Court in the leading implied freedom of political communication cases of '' Theophanous v Herald & Weekly Times Ltd'' (1994) and '' Lange v Australian Broadcasting Corporation'' (1997). He also represented Michael Danby in a defamation suit against the LaRouche movement. In 1999 he was appointed Queen's Counsel. Dreyfus also served as a director of the Law Council of Australia and on the Victorian Bar Council and Victorian Bar Ethics Committee. Since his first professional role as a Field Officer for the Northern Land Council, Dreyfus has worked closely with Aboriginal communities in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

, including representing a number of the claimants in the landmark Stolen Generations litigation.

Parliamentary career

In March 2006, Dreyfus successfully challenged the sitting Labor member for the Division of Isaacs, Ann Corcoran, for the Labor candidacy in the 2007 election. At the 2007 election, he defeated the Liberal candidate, Ross Fox, gaining a 5.9-point swing to Labor. Following Labor's victory at the

2007 Australian federal election The 2007 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 24 November 2007. All 150 seats in the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives and 40 of the seats in the 76-member Australian Senate, Senate were up for electi ...

, Dreyfus was appointed the Chair of the House of Representatives Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee. At the 2010 Australian federal election, Dreyfus was re-elected, gaining a further 3.33-point swing to Labor. In September 2010, Dreyfus was appointed as Cabinet Secretary as well as Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency in the Second Gillard Ministry. Dreyfus took on additional responsibilities in December 2011 when he was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Industry and Innovation. At the 2013 Australian federal election, Dreyfus was re-elected with a reduced margin of 3.9%, which was extended to 5.9% at the

2016 Australian federal election The 2016 Australian federal election was a double dissolution election held on Saturday, 2 July 2016, to elect all 226 members of the 45th Parliament of Australia, 45th Parliament of Australia, after an extended eight-week official campaign p ...

. Dreyfus had an easier run at the 2019 Australian federal election after his

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia (LP) is the prominent centre-right political party in Australia. It is considered one of the two major parties in Australian politics, the other being the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The Liberal Party was fo ...

opponent was disendorsed for an earlier 'anti-Muslim rant', Dreyfus was re-elected with a 3.45 percent swing in his favour. Dreyfus was again comfortably re-elected in the 2022 Australian federal election, though his campaign was assisted when his Liberal Party opponent was referred to the Australian Federal Police for investigation after admitting that, though he was enrolled to vote at a pub in the Isaacs electorate, he actually lived in the Melbourne suburb of Camberwell, some 20 km away. Dreyfus had a further swing in his favour - his sixth in seven elections - to comfortably hold the seat at the 2025 Australian federal election. Dreyfus is a member of Labor Right faction. He is a strong advocate for action on climate change and for the establishment a federal anti-corruption agency. Dreyfus was a vocal supporter of the 'yes' campaign during the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey and a vocal opponent against Abbott government era funding reductions to climate science research at the

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...

Attorney-General in Gillard-Rudd government

On 2 February 2013, Dreyfus was promoted to Attorney-General and as Minister for Emergency Management after the resignation of Nicola Roxon. Dreyfus was given additional responsibilities on 1 July 2013 as Special Minister of State and Minister for the Public Service and Integrity following the decision by Gary Gray to resign from the ministry following the June 2013 Labor leadership spill. As Attorney-General, Dreyfus appeared before the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

as Counsel and Advocate for Australia in the case of ''Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v Japan; New Zealand intervening)'' in June and July 2013. On 1 April 2014, the ICJ handed down its decision in favour of Australia that Japan cease whaling in the

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the world ocean, generally taken to be south of 60th parallel south, 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is the seco ...

Shadow Attorney-General

Dreyfus served as Labor's Shadow Attorney-General from

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, where he championed the establishment of a Federal Integrity Commission and greater funding for community legal centres. Dreyfus as shadow attorney general is the only person to hold the same portfolio in the entirety of Labor's nine years in opposition between 2013 and 2022 as well as being longest serving shadow attorney general.

Attorney-General in Albanese government

Following Labor's victory in the 2022 Australian federal election, Dreyfus was appointed as Attorney-General in the Albanese government on 31 May 2022. In his first interview as Attorney-General he said legislating Labor's promised national anti-corruption commission by the end of 2022 was his "paramount priority", calling it a "nation-building" reform. In September 2022, Dreyfus presented the legislation to create a national anti-corruption commission to Parliament, and the bill was passed on 30 November. On 7 July 2022 Dreyfus used his powers as Attorney-General to discontinue the prosecution of lawyer Bernard Collaery, which had been initiated by his predecessor Christian Porter. Collaery had been charged with disclosing confidential intelligence information about the Australia–East Timor spying scandal, with many criticising his prosecution as unjust and unfair. Dreyfus led the establishment of the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme, announcing the Letters Patent on 25 August 2022 alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Dreyfus is a member of the Parliamentary Friends of the IHRA, which has been advocating for universities to adopt a controversial definition of antisemitism. In 2024, the Albanese government banned the display of Nazi symbols, as well as the symbols of proscribed terrorist organisations. After Labor's victory in the 2025 Australian federal election, Dreyfus was not re-nominated by the Labor caucus to return to the ministry, ending his tenure as Attorney-General.

Personal life

Dreyfus married Chilean-born Deborah Chemke. The couple had three children, Joe, Tom and Laura. Deborah died on 1 November 2023. Dreyfus is a keen swimmer, cyclist and runner and is a frequent participant in open water swims and fun runs within his electorate. Dreyfus speaks fluent Spanish and has stated that, had he not become a lawyer, he would have liked to become a park ranger in the Alpine National Park. He is a supporter of the

St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club's name originates fro ...

References

External links

*
Mark Dreyfus website

The Hon Mark Dreyfus QC, MP
at the

Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Parliament of the Commonwealth and also known as the Federal Parliament) is the federal legislature of Australia. It consists of three elements: the Monarchy of Australia, monarch of Australia (repr ...

website , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dreyfus, Mark 1956 births Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Labor Right politicians Australian people of German-Jewish descent Australian King's Counsel Attorneys-general of Australia Jewish Australian politicians Living people Melbourne Law School alumni Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Isaacs Members of the Cabinet of Australia People educated at Melbourne High School 21st-century King's Counsel Albanese government Politicians from Perth, Western Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Australian MPs 2007–2010 Australian MPs 2010–2013 Australian MPs 2013–2016 Australian MPs 2016–2019 Australian MPs 2019–2022 Australian MPs 2022–2025