| Post: | Leader of the Opposition in the Senate |
| Body: | Australian Senate |
| Incumbent: | Simon Birmingham |
| Incumbentsince: | 23 May 2022 |
| Style: | The Honourable Senator |
| Member Of: | Shadow Cabinet Opposition |
| Appointer: | Opposition Party Caucus |
| Constituting Instrument: | Constitution of Australia |
The Leader of the Opposition in the Senate is a party office held by the Opposition's most senior member of the Shadow Cabinet in the Australian Senate, elected to lead the opposition party (or parties) in the body.[1] Though the leader in the Senate does not have the power of the office of Leader of the Opposition (i.e. the leader in the House of Representatives and overall party leader), there are some parallels between the latter's status in the lower house and the former's in the Senate. In addition to his or her own shadow ministerial portfolio, the leader has overarching responsibility for all policy areas and acts as the opposition's principal spokesperson in the upper house. The leader is entitled to sit at the table of the Senate, and has priority in gaining recognition from the President of the Senate to speak in debate. Another similarity is that the leader typically announces changes to opposition officeholders in the Senate, including shadow ministers, party leadership and whips.[2] The leader also has some responsibility for appointing opposition senators to committees, a role filled by the Manager of Opposition Business and whips in the lower house. The current leader is Simon Birmingham. He is assisted by a Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, currently Michaelia Cash.
| Senate opposition leader | Term began | Term ended | Party | Leader of the Opposition | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 June 1901 | 18 August 1904 | Free Trade | George Reid | ||||||
| 18 August 1904 | 5 July 1905 | Labor | Chris Watson | ||||||
| 5 July 1905 | 21 November 1907 | Free Trade | George Reid | ||||||
| Anti-Socialist | |||||||||
| 21 November 1907 | 2 June 1909 | Anti-Socialist | |||||||
| Joseph Cook | |||||||||
| Commonwealth Liberal | Alfred Deakin | ||||||||
| 2 June 1909 | 29 April 1910 | Labor | Andrew Fisher | ||||||
| 29 April 1910 | 24 June 1913 | Commonwealth Liberal | Alfred Deakin | ||||||
| Joseph Cook | |||||||||
| 24 June 1913 | 30 July 1914 | Labor | Andrew Fisher | ||||||
| 30 July 1914 | 14 February 1917 | Commonwealth Liberal | Joseph Cook | ||||||
| 17 February 1917 | 30 June 1926 | Labor | Frank Tudor | ||||||
| Matthew Charlton | |||||||||
| 9 July 1926[3] | 25 June 1929 | Labor | |||||||
| James Scullin | |||||||||
| 25 June 1929[4] | 22 October 1929 | Labor | |||||||
| 22 October 1929 | 6 January 1932 | Nationalist | John Latham | ||||||
| United Australia | Joseph Lyons | ||||||||
| 6 January 1932 | 30 June 1935 | Labor | James Scullin | ||||||
| 1 July 1935[5] | 7 October 1941 | Labor | |||||||
| John Curtin | |||||||||
| 7 October 1941 | 31 May 1947 | UAP | Arthur Fadden | ||||||
| Robert Menzies[6] | |||||||||
| Liberal | |||||||||
| 1 June 1947[7] | 19 November 1949 | Country | |||||||
| 19 December 1949 | 11 June 1951 | Labor | Chifley | ||||||
| 11 June 1951[8] | 17 August 1966 | Labor | |||||||
| H. V. Evatt | |||||||||
| Arthur Calwell | |||||||||
| 17 August 1966[9] | 8 February 1967 | Labor | |||||||
| Gough Whitlam | |||||||||
| 8 February 1967[10] | 5 December 1972 | Labor | |||||||
| 20 December 1972[11] | 11 November 1975 | Liberal | Billy Snedden | ||||||
| Malcolm Fraser | |||||||||
| 11 November 1975 | 28 September 1980[12] | Labor | Gough Whitlam | ||||||
| Bill Hayden | |||||||||
| 7 November 1980[13] | 11 March 1983 | Labor | |||||||
| Bob Hawke | |||||||||
| 11 March 1983[14] | 27 February 1990 | Liberal | Andrew Peacock | ||||||
| John Howard | |||||||||
| Andrew Peacock | |||||||||
| 3 April 1990[15] | 11 March 1996 | Liberal | John Hewson | ||||||
| Alexander Downer | |||||||||
| John Howard | |||||||||
| 19 March 1996[16] | 22 October 2004 | Labor | Kim Beazley | ||||||
| Simon Crean | |||||||||
| Mark Latham | |||||||||
| 22 October 2004[17] | 3 December 2007 | Labor | |||||||
| Kim Beazley | |||||||||
| Kevin Rudd | |||||||||
| 3 December 2007[18] | 3 May 2010 | Liberal | Brendan Nelson | ||||||
| Malcolm Turnbull | |||||||||
| Tony Abbott | |||||||||
| 3 May 2010[19] [20] | 18 September 2013 | Liberal | |||||||
| 18 September 2013 | 23 May 2022 | Labor | Chris Bowen | ||||||
| Bill Shorten | |||||||||
| Anthony Albanese | |||||||||
| height=60px | 23 May 2022[21] | Incumbent | Liberal | Peter Dutton | |||||