Attorney-General of Australia

Attorney-General of Australia

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 there is no constitutional requirement that this be the case. 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 is head of the Attorney-General's Department, and is the minister responsible for the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). 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 a number of Attorneys-General have gone on to judicial appointments.

Following the recent general election, at which Labor's Kevin Rudd defeated the Liberal/National coalition led by John Howard, Robert McClelland replaced Phillip Ruddock as Attorney-General on 3 December 2007.

List of Australian Attorneys-General



:* 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.


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