Attorney-General of Victoria

The Attorney-General of Victoria, in formal contexts also Attorney-General or Attorney General for Victoria,[1] is a minister in the Government of Victoria, Australia. The Attorney-General is a senior minister in the state government and the First Law Officer of the State.

Attorney-General of Victoria
Victorian Coat of arms
Flag of Victoria
Incumbent Jaclyn Symes since 22 December 2020
Department of Justice and Community Safety
Style	The Honourable
Member of	Parliament Cabinet Executive Council
Reports to	Premier of Victoria
Seat	Level 26, 121 Exhibition Street, Melbourne
Nominator	Premier of Victoria
Appointer	Governor of Victoria on the advice of the premier
Term length	At the Governor's pleasure
Formation	15 Jul 1851
First holder	Sir William Stawell
Website	www.justice.vic.gov.au

The current Attorney-General of Victoria has, since December 2020, been Jaclyn Symes of the Australian Labor Party. The Attorney-General is one of the ministers who administer parts of the Victorian Department of Justice and Community Safety, with responsibility for the state's courts and tribunals.

List of attorneys-general of Victoria

Order	Name	Start	End	Time in office
1	William Stawell	15 Jul 1851	24 Feb 1857	5 years, 224 days
2	Thomas Howard Fellows	25 Feb 1857	10 Mar 1857	13 days
3	Henry Samuel Chapman	11 Mar 1857	28 Apr 1857	48 days
4	Archibald Michie	29 Apr 1857	9 Mar 1858	314 days
-	Henry Samuel Chapman	10 Mar 1858	26 Oct 1859	1 year, 230 days
5	John Wood	27 Oct 1859	25 Nov 1860	1 year, 29 days
6	Richard Davies Ireland	26 Nov 1860	28 Jul 1861	244 days
7	Butler Cole Aspinall	29 Jul 1861	13 Nov 1861	107 days
-	Richard Davies Ireland	14 Nov 1861	26 Jun 1863	1 year, 224 days
8	George Higinbotham	27 Jun 1863	5 May 1868	4 years, 313 days
9	Morgan McDonnell	6 May 1868	10 Jul 1868	65 days
10	George Paton Smith	11 Jul 1868	19 Sep 1869	70 days
-	Morgan McDonnell	20 Sep 1869	8 Apr 1870	200 days
-	Archibald Michie	9 Apr 1870	19 Jun 1871	1 year, 71 days
11	Robert Walsh	5 Jul 1871	9 Jun 1872	340 days
12	James W. Stephen	10 Jun 1872	1 May 1874[2]	1 year, 325 days
13	George Kerferd	2 May 1874[2][3]	7 Aug 1875	1 year, 97 days
14	Robert Le Poer Trench	9 Aug 1875	19 Oct 1875	71 days
-	George Kerferd	20 Oct 1875	20 May 1877	1 year, 212 days
-	Robert Le Poer Trench	22 May 1877	26 Mar 1878	308 days
15	Bryan O'Loghlen	27 Mar 1878	4 Apr 1880	2 years, 8 days
-	George Kerferd	5 Mar 1880	2 Aug 1880	150 days
16	William Kinsey Vale	3 Aug 1880	8 Jul 1881	339 days
-	Bryan O'Loghlen	9 Jul 1881	7 Mar 1883	1 year, 241 days
-	George Kerferd	8 Mar 1883	1 Jan 1886	2 years, 299 days
17	Henry John Wrixon	18 Feb 1886	4 Nov 1890	4 years, 259 days
18	William Shiels	5 Nov 1890	15 Feb 1892	1 year, 102 days
19	John Gavan Duffy	16 Feb 1892	27 Apr 1892	71 days
-	William Shiels	28 Apr 1892	22 Jan 1893	269 days
-	Bryan O'Loghlen	23 Jan 1893	26 Sep 1894	1 year, 246 days
20	Isaac Isaacs	27 Sep 1894	4 Dec 1899	5 years, 68 days
21	William Irvine	5 Dec 1899	18 Nov 1900	348 days
-	Isaac Isaacs	19 Nov 1900	3 Jun 1901	196 days
22	Samuel Gillott	4 Jun 1901	9 Jun 1902	1 year, 5 days
-	William Irvine	10 Jun 1902	6 Sep 1903	1 year, 88 days
23	John Mark Davies	7 Sep 1903	7 Jan 1909	5 years, 122 days
24	James Drysdale Brown	8 Jan 1909	8 Dec 1913	4 years, 334 days
25	William Evans	9 Dec 1913	21 Dec 1913	12 days
26	Donald Mackinnon	22 Dec 1913	8 Nov 1915	1 year, 321 days
27	Harry Lawson	9 Nov 1915	28 Nov 1917	2 years, 19 days
28	Agar Wynne	29 Nov 1917	20 Mar 1918	111 days
-	Harry Lawson	21 Mar 1918	20 Oct 1919	1 year, 213 days
29	Arthur Robinson	21 Oct 1919	10 Jul 1924	4 years, 263 days
30	Henry Cohen	11 Jul 1924	17 Jul 1924	6 days
31	Bill Slater	18 Jul 1924	17 Nov 1924	122 days
32	Frederic Eggleston	18 Nov 1924	27 Apr 1927	2 years, 160 days
33	John Allan	28 Apr 1927	19 May 1927	21 days
-	Bill Slater	20 May 1927	21 Nov 1928	1 year, 185 days
34	Ian Macfarlan	26 Nov 1928	11 Dec 1929	1 year, 15 days
-	Bill Slater	12 Dec 1929	18 May 1932	2 years, 158 days
35	Robert Menzies	19 May 1932	24 Jul 1934	2 years, 66 days
-	Ian Macfarlan	25 Jul 1934	1 Apr 1935	250 days
36	Albert Bussau	2 Apr 1935	18 Apr 1938	3 years, 16 days
37	Henry Bailey	26 Apr 1938	13 Sep 1943	5 years, 140 days
-	Bill Slater	14 Sep 1943	17 Sep 1943	3 days
-	Ian Macfarlan	18 Sep 1943	20 Nov 1945	2 years, 63 days
-	Bill Slater	21 Nov 1945	19 Nov 1947	1 year, 363 days
38	Trevor Oldham	20 Nov 1947	26 Jun 1950	2 years, 218 days
39	Thomas Walter Mitchell	27 Jun 1950	27 Oct 1952	2 years, 122 days
40	Thomas Hollway	28 Oct 1952	30 Oct 1952	2 days
-	Thomas Walter Mitchell	31 Oct 1952	16 Dec 1952	46 days
-	Bill Slater	17 Dec 1952	6 Jun 1955	2 years, 171 days
41	William Leggatt	7 Jun 1955	7 Jun 1955	0 days
42	Arthur Rylah	8 Jun 1955	8 May 1967	11 years, 334 days
43	George Reid	9 May 1967	29 May 1973	6 years, 20 days
44	Vernon Wilcox	30 May 1973	30 Mar 1976	2 years, 305 days
45	Alan Hunt	31 Mar 1976	5 May 1976	35 days
46	Haddon Storey	6 May 1976	7 Apr 1982	5 years, 336 days
47	John Cain (junior)	8 Apr 1982	7 Sep 1983	1 year, 152 days
48	Jim Kennan	8 Sep 1983	13 Dec 1987	4 years, 96 days
49	Andrew McCutcheon	14 Dec 1987	1 Apr 1990	2 years, 108 days
-	Jim Kennan	2 Apr 1990	5 Oct 1992	2 years, 186 days
50	Jan Wade	6 Oct 1992	19 Oct 1999	7 years, 13 days
51	Rob Hulls	20 Oct 1999	2 Dec 2010	11 years, 43 days
52	Robert Clark	2 Dec 2010	4 Dec 2014	4 years, 2 days
53	Martin Pakula	4 Dec 2014	29 Nov 2018	6 years, 53 days
54	Jill Hennessy	29 Nov 2018	16 Dec 2020	2 years, 17 days
55	Jaclyn Symes	22 Dec 2020	present	35 days

See also

• Justice ministry
• Politics of Victoria

References

1. See, e.g., Bullivant v Attorney-General for Victoria [1900] AC 196; Ryan v Attorney General for Victoria [1967] VR 514
2. "Statistical Register of the State of Victoria" (PDF). 1908.
3. "Friday, May 1, 1874". The Argus. Melbourne. 1 May 1874. p. 4.

Sources

• Complete list of Australian Federal, State and Territory Attorney-General's (Compiled by Patrick O'Neill) retrieved November 2012