Chief Justice of Australia

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Chief Justice of Australia
$584,520[1]
Website[1]

The chief justice of Australia is the presiding justice of the

Commonwealth of Australia. The incumbent is Stephen Gageler
, since 6 November 2023.

Constitutional basis

The office of Chief Justice of the High Court is established under section 71 of the Australian Constitution, which establishes the High Court as consisting of a chief justice and at least two other Justices. The court was constituted by, and its first members were appointed under, the Judiciary Act 1903, with the first appointments to the High Court commencing on 5 October 1903.

Role

The chief justice is

governor-general of Australia, on the advice of the federal government. They can be removed only by the governor-general, on a request from both houses of the federal parliament, although this has never been done. Since 1977, an appointment has been until the mandatory retirement age of seventy (before 1977, appointment was for life).[2] The one substantial difference between a chief justice and the other justices of the court is that, where opinion on the court is evenly divided, ordinarily the side of the question that is supported by the chief justice prevails.[3]

The chief justice often acts as the governor-general's deputy, especially at ceremonies such as the opening of

reserve powers.[4] However, Chief Justice Garfield Barwick created controversy during the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis[5] when he advised Governor-General Sir John Kerr on the constitutional legality of dismissing a prime minister—especially as the prime minister, Gough Whitlam
, had refused Kerr's request for permission to consult Barwick or to act on any advice except Whitlam's own.

The chief justice also administers the oath of allegiance and the oath of office to the governor-general-designate when they take up their appointment.[6]

List

There is a strong tradition of appointing new chief justices from within the existing ranks of the High Court. Out of the fourteen chief justices, eight were incumbent

attorneys-general (John Latham and Garfield Barwick). Uniquely, Robert French was appointed directly to the chief justiceship from a lower federal court, while Adrian Knox was appointed as a barrister
in private practice with no judicial experience.

No. Image Chief Justice Tenure Nominating
Prime Minister 		State Previous Post
1
GCMG, KC

(1845–1920) 		5 October 1903 – 17 October 1919
(16 years) 		Alfred Deakin  Queensland Chief Justice of Queensland (1893–1903)
2
KCMG, KC

(1863–1932) 		18 October 1919 – 31 March 1930
(10 years, 5 months) 		Billy Hughes  New South Wales Barrister in private practice
3
KCMG, KC

(1855–1948) 		2 April 1930 – 21 January 1931
(9 months) 		James Scullin  Victoria Justice of the High Court (1906–1930)
4
KCMG, KC

(1852–1936) 		22 January 1931 – 1 October 1935
(4 years, 8 months) 		James Scullin  Victoria Justice of the High Court (1913–1931)
5
QC

(1877–1964) 		11 October 1935 – 7 April 1952
(16 years, 5 months) 		Joseph Lyons  Victoria Attorney-General of Australia (1932–1934)
6
QC

(1886–1972) 		18 April 1952 – 13 April 1964
(11 years, 11 months) 		Sir Robert Menzies  Victoria Justice of the High Court (1929–1952)
7
QC

(1903–1997) 		27 April 1964 – 11 February 1981
(16 years, 9 months) 		Sir Robert Menzies  New South Wales Attorney-General of Australia (1958–1964)
8
QC

(1917–2005) 		12 February 1981 – 5 February 1987
(5 years, 11 months) 		Malcolm Fraser  Queensland Justice of the High Court (1970–1981)
9
KBE, KC

(born 1925) 		6 February 1987 – 20 April 1995
(8 years, 2 months) 		Bob Hawke  New South Wales Justice of the High Court (1972–1987)
10
QC

(1928–2022) 		21 April 1995 – 21 May 1998
(3 years, 1 month) 		Paul Keating  Queensland Justice of the High Court (1981–1995)
11
AC, KC

(born 1938) 		22 May 1998 – 29 August 2008
(10 years, 3 months) 		John Howard  New South Wales Chief Justice of New South Wales (1988–1998)
12
AC

(born 1947) 		1 September 2008 – 29 January 2017
(8 years, 4 months) 		Kevin Rudd  Western Australia Judge of the Federal Court of Australia (1986–2008)
13
AC, KC

(born 1954) 		30 January 2017 – 5 November 2023
(6 years, 9 months) 		Malcolm Turnbull  Queensland Justice of the High Court (2007–2017)
14
AC, SC

(born 1958) 		6 November 2023 – present
(5 months) 		Anthony Albanese  New South Wales Justice of the High Court (2012–2023)

Chief Justice Sir John Latham took a leave of absence from the office from 1940 to 1941 to serve as Australia's first ambassador to Japan. Sir George Rich was Acting Chief Justice in his absence.[7]

References

  1. ^ Gothe-Snape, Jackson (9 October 2017). "High Court: Meet the Men and Women Behind the Bench". ABC News. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  2. ^ Constitution, s 72 (amended in 1977).
  3. ^ Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth), s 23(2).
  4. ^ Markwell, Donald (1999). "Griffith, Barton and the Early Governor-Generals: Aspects of Australia's Constitutional Development". Public Law Review.
  5. Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media
    . Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  6. ^ Letters Patent Relating to the Office of Governor‑General of the Commonwealth of Australia – via Federal Register of Legislation.
  7. ISBN 0-522-84327-1
    .
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