Table of precedence for the Commonwealth of Australia

The following is the Australian Table of Precedence.

1. The Queen of Australia: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
2. The Governor-General of Australia: His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley
3. Governors of states in order of appointment:
   1. Governor of Queensland His Excellency The Honourable Paul de Jersey (29 July 2014)
   2. Governor of South Australia His Excellency The Honourable Hieu Van Le (1 September 2014)
   3. Governor of Tasmania Her Excellency Professor The Honourable Kate Warner (10 December 2014)
   4. Governor of Victoria Her Excellency The Honourable Linda Dessau (1 July 2015)
   5. Governor of Western Australia His Excellency The Honourable Kim Beazley (1 May 2018)
   6. Governor of New South Wales Her Excellency The Honourable Margaret Beazley (2 May 2019)
4. The Prime Minister The Honourable Scott Morrison MP
5. The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives in order of election:
   1. Speaker of the House of Representatives The Honourable Tony Smith (10 August 2015)
   2. President of the Senate Senator The Honourable Scott Ryan (13 November 2017)
6. The Chief Justice of Australia The Honourable Susan Kiefel
7. Senior diplomatic posts:
   1. Ambassadors and High Commissioners in order of date of presentation of the Letters of Credence or Commission
   2. Chargés d'affaires en pied or en titre in order of date of presentation of the Letters of Credence or Commission
   3. Chargés d'affaires and Acting High Commissioners in order of date of assumption of duties
8. Members of the Federal Executive Council:
   1. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Transport (Michael McCormack)
   2. Treasurer (Josh Frydenberg)
   3. Minister for Finance and the Public Sector and Vice President of the Executive Council (Mathias Cormann)
   4. Minister for Foreign Affairs (Marise Payne)
   5. Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment (Simon Birmingham)
   6. Attorney-General (Christian Porter)
   7. Minister for Home Affairs (Peter Dutton)
   8. Minister for Small and Family Business, Skills and Vocational Education (Michaelia Cash)
   9. Minister for Resources and Northern Australia (Matt Canavan)
   10. Minister for Industry, Science and Technology (Karen Andrews)
   11. Minister for Education (Dan Tehan)
   12. Minister for Health (Greg Hunt)
   13. Minister for Families and Social Services (Paul Fletcher)
   14. Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources (David Littleproud)
   15. Minister for the Environment (Melissa Price)
   16. Minister for Energy (Angus Taylor)
   17. Minister for Cities, Urban Infrastructure and Population (Alan Tudge)
   18. Assistant Treasurer (Stuart Robert)
   19. Special Minister of State (Alex Hawke)
   20. Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Minister for Defence Personnel and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC (Darren Chester)
   21. Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs (David Coleman)
   22. Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care and Minister for Indigenous Health (Ken Wyatt)
   23. Minister for Human Services and Digital Transformation (Michael Keenan)
   24. Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister (Steve Irons)
   25. Assistant Minister for Regional Development and Territories (Sussan Ley)
   26. Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister (Andrew Broad)
   27. Assistant Minister for Roads and Transport (Scott Buchholz)
   28. Assistant Minister for Treasury and Finance (Zed Seselja)
   29. Assistant Minister for Defence (David Fawcett)
   30. Assistant Minister for International Development and the Pacific (Anne Ruston)
   31. Assistant Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment (Mark Coulton)
   32. Assistant Minister for Home Affairs (Linda Reynolds)
   33. Assistant Minister for Social Services, Housing and Disability Services (Sarah Henderson)
   34. Assistant Minister for Children and Families (Michelle Landry)
   35. Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources (Richard Colbeck)
9. Administrators of Territories in order of appointment:
   1. Administrator of Norfolk Island (Eric Hutchinson) (1 April 2017)
   2. Administrator of the Australian Indian Ocean Territories (Natasha Griggs) (5 October 2017)
   3. Administrator of the Northern Territory (Vicki O'Halloran) (31 October 2017)
10. The Leader of the Opposition The Honourable Anthony Albanese MP
11. Former holders of high offices:
    1. Former Governors-General in order of leaving office:
       1. Bill Hayden (1989–1996)
       2. Sir William Deane (1996–2001)
       3. Dr Peter Hollingworth (2001–2003)
       4. Major General Michael Jeffery (2003–2008)
       5. Dame Quentin Bryce (2008–2014)
       6. General Sir Peter Cosgrove (2014-2019)
    2. Former Prime Ministers in order of leaving office:
       1. Paul Keating (1991–1996)
       2. John Howard (1996–2007)
       3. Kevin Rudd (2007–2010, 2013)
       4. Julia Gillard (2010–2013)
       5. Tony Abbott (2013–2015)
       6. Malcolm Turnbull (2015–2018)
    3. Former Chief Justices in order of leaving office:
       1. Sir Anthony Mason (1987–1995)
       2. Sir Gerard Brennan (1995–1998)
       3. Murray Gleeson (1998–2008)
       4. Robert French (2008–2017)
12. Premiers of states in order of state populations, then the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory:
    1. Premier of New South Wales (Gladys Berejiklian)
    2. Premier of Victoria (Daniel Andrews)
    3. Premier of Queensland (Annastacia Palaszczuk)
    4. Premier of Western Australia (Mark McGowan)
    5. Premier of South Australia (Steven Marshall)
    6. Premier of Tasmania (Peter Gutwein)
    7. Chief Minister of the Northern Territory (Michael Gunner)
13. Justices of the High Court in order of appointment:
    1. Virginia Bell (3 February 2009)
    2. Stephen Gageler (9 October 2012)
    3. Patrick Keane (1 March 2013)
    4. Geoffrey Nettle (3 February 2015)
    5. Michelle Gordon (9 June 2015)
    6. James Edelman (30 January 2017)
14. Senior judges:
    1. Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia (James Allsop)
    2. President of the Fair Work Commission (Iain Ross)
15. Chief Justices of States in order of appointment:
    1. Chief Justice of New South Wales (Tom Bathurst) (1 June 2011)
    2. Chief Justice of South Australia (Chris Kourakis) (25 June 2012)
    3. Chief Justice of Tasmania (Alan Blow) (8 April 2013)
    4. Chief Justice of Queensland (Catherine Holmes) (11 September 2015)
    5. Chief Justice of Victoria (Anne Ferguson) (2 October 2017)
    6. Chief Justice of Western Australia (Peter Quinlan) (13 August 2018)
16. Australian members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom in order of appointment:
    1. Doug Anthony (23 June 1971)
    2. Ian Sinclair (17 January 1977)
    3. Sir William Heseltine (26 March 1986)
17. The Chief of the Defence Force (General Angus Campbell)
18. Chief Judges of Federal and Territory Courts in order of appointment
    1. Chief Justice of the Australian Capital Territory (Helen Murrell) (28 October 2013)
    2. Chief Justice of the Northern Territory (Michael Grant) (5 July 2016)
    3. Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia (John Pascoe) (13 October 2017)
19. Members of Parliament (see Members of the Australian Senate, 2019–2022 and Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 2019–2022)
20. Judges of the Federal Court of Australia and Family Court of Australia, and Deputy presidents of the Fair Work Commission in order of appointment
21. Lord Mayors of capital cities in order of city populations:
    1. Lord Mayor of Sydney (Clover Moore)
    2. Lord Mayor of Melbourne (Sally Capp)
    3. Lord Mayor of Brisbane (Adrian Schrinner)
    4. Lord Mayor of Perth (Lisa Scaffidi) (Suspended since 2 March 2018)
    5. Lord Mayor of Adelaide (Sandy Verschoor)
    6. Lord Mayor of Hobart (Anna Reynolds)
    7. Lord Mayor of Darwin (Kon Vatskalis)
22. Heads of religious communities according to the date of assuming office in Australia
23. Presiding officers of State Legislatures in order of appointment, then Presiding Officer of the Northern Territory legislature:
    1. President of the New South Wales Legislative Council (John Ajaka) (21 February 2017)
    2. Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly (Colin Brooks) (7 March 2017)
    3. Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly (Peter Watson) (11 May 2017)
    4. President of the Western Australian Legislative Council (Kate Doust) (23 May 2017)
    5. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland (Curtis Pitt) (13 February 2018)
    6. Speaker of the Tasmanian House of Assembly (Sue Hickey) (1 May 2018)
    7. Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly (Vincent Tarzia) (3 May 2018)
    8. President of the Victorian Legislative Council (Shaun Leane) (19 December 2018)
    9. Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (Jonathan O'Dea) (7 May 2019)
    10. President of the Tasmanian Legislative Council (Craig Farrell) (21 May 2019)
    11. President of the South Australian Legislative Council (Terry Stephens) (5 February 2020)
    12. Speaker of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly (Kezia Purick) (23 October 2012)
24. Members of State Executive Councils in order of state populations, and then members of the Northern Territory Executive Council:
    1. Executive Council of New South Wales
    2. Executive Council of Victoria
    3. Executive Council of Queensland
    4. Executive Council of Western Australia
    5. Executive Council of South Australia
    6. Executive Council of Tasmania
    7. Executive Council of the Northern Territory
25. Leaders of the Opposition of State Legislatures in order of state populations, then in the Northern Territory:
    1. Leader of the Opposition of New South Wales (Jodi McKay)
    2. Leader of the Opposition of Victoria (Michael O'Brien)
    3. Leader of the Opposition of Queensland (Deb Frecklington)
    4. Leader of the Opposition of Western Australia (Liza Harvey)
    5. Leader of the Opposition of South Australia (Peter Malinauskas)
    6. Leader of the Opposition of Tasmania (Rebecca White)
    7. Leader of the Opposition of the Northern Territory (Lia Finocchiaro)
26. Judges of State and Territory Supreme Courts in order of appointment:
    1. Supreme Court of New South Wales
    2. Supreme Court of Victoria
    3. Supreme Court of Queensland
    4. Supreme Court of Western Australia
    5. Supreme Court of South Australia
    6. Supreme Court of Tasmania
    7. Supreme Court of the Northern Territory
27. Members of State Legislatures in order of state populations:
    1. New South Wales Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council
    2. Victorian Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council
    3. Queensland Legislative Assembly
    4. Western Australian Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council
    5. South Australian House of Assembly and Legislative Council
    6. Tasmanian House of Assembly and Legislative Council
    7. Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
28. The Secretaries of Departments of the Australian Public Service and their peers and the Chiefs of the Air Force, Army, and Navy and Vice Chief of the Defence Force in order of first appointment to this group:
    1. Vice Chief of the Defence Force (Vice Admiral David Johnston (vice admiral) ) (6 July 2018)
    2. Chief of Navy (Vice Admiral Michael Noonan) (6 July 2018)
    3. Chief of Army (Lieutenant General Richard Burr) (2 July 2018)
    4. Chief of Air Force (Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld) (July 2019)
29. Consuls-General, Consuls and Vice-Consuls according to the date on which recognition was granted
30. Members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
31. Recipients of Decorations or Honours from the Sovereign
32. Citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia

Notes

• The Location of Officials matters for precedence; an official enjoys different precedence within and without his or her state.
• Each State and Territory also has its own Table of Precedence.
• The recipients of Decorations or Honours gain precedence in the order of Seniority or Superiority of the Orders themselves; the Orders of Knighthood in Australia have the same seniority as in the United Kingdom, with a few insertions or promotions of entirely Australian, non-British honours; see Australian Honours Order of Wearing.
• No reference is made to the Chief Minister, the Leader of the Opposition or the Speaker of the Australian Capital Territory. This appears to be an oversight after the ACT was granted self government. This had been raised with the Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition and was expected to be resolved in 2015.[1]

References

1. McIlroy, Tom (26 February 2015). "Canberra's diplomatic mistake – 25 years in the making". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 8 July 2015.

• Table of Precedence for the Commonwealth of Australia– as Gazetted in Special Gazette No. S206 on Tuesday, 5 October 1982. Note, this pre dates ACT Self Government, 1988.
• Protocol Guidelines, Appendix 22, Commonwealth Table of Precedence