Table of precedence for the Commonwealth of Australia explained

The following is the order of precedence for Australia:

  1. The King of Australia: His Majesty King Charles III
  2. The Governor-General of Australia: Her Excellency the Hon Sam Mostyn AC
  3. The Governor of the State when within their own State.
  4. The Governors of the other (or all) States in order of appointment:
    1. Governor of New South Wales

Margaret Beazley (2 May 2019)

    1. Governor of Tasmania

Barbara Baker (16 June 2021)

    1. Governor of South Australia

Frances Adamson (7 October 2021)

    1. Governor of Queensland

Jeannette Young (1 November 2021)

    1. Governor of Western Australia

Chris Dawson (15 July 2022)

    1. Governor of Victoria

Margaret Gardner (9 August 2023)

  1. When within the Northern Territory, the Administrator of the Northern Territory: Hugh Heggie (2 February 2023)
  2. The Prime Minister: Anthony Albanese
  3. When within their own State or Territory, the Premier of the State or the Chief Minister of the Territory
  4. The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives in order of election (if they are elected at the same time, the President of the Senate takes precedence):
    1. President of the Senate Senator: Sue Lines (26 July 2022)
    2. Speaker of the House of Representatives

Milton Dick (26 July 2022)

  1. The Chief Justice of Australia: Stephen Gageler
  2. 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 ad interim and Acting High Commissioners in order of date of assumption of duties
  3. Members of the Federal Executive Council under summons (in practice, this is all current Ministers and Assistant Ministers of the Commonwealth of Australia):
    1. Ministry List
  4. The Administrator of the Northern Territory: Hugh Heggie
  5. The Leader of the Opposition: Peter Dutton
  6. Former holders of high offices:
    1. Former Governors-General in order of leaving office:
      1. William Deane (1996–2001)
      2. Peter Hollingworth (2001–2003)
      3. Quentin Bryce (2008–2014)
      4. Peter Cosgrove (2014–2019)
      5. David Hurley (2019-2024)
    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)
      7. Scott Morrison (2018–2022)
    3. Former Chief Justices in order of leaving office:
      1. Anthony Mason (1987–1995)
      2. Murray Gleeson (1998–2008)
      3. Robert French (2008–2017)
      4. Susan Kiefel (2017–2023)
  7. Premiers of states in order of state populations, then Chief Ministers of the territories in order of territory populations:
    1. Premier of New South Wales

Chris Minns

    1. Premier of Victoria

Jacinta Allan

    1. Premier of Queensland

Annastacia Palaszczuk

    1. Premier of Western Australia

Roger Cook

    1. Premier of South Australia

Peter Malinauskas

    1. Premier of Tasmania

Jeremy Rockliff

    1. Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory

Andrew Barr

    1. Chief Minister of the Northern Territory

Natasha Fyles

  1. The Lord Mayor when within their jurisdiction
  2. Justices of the High Court in order of appointment:
    1. Michelle Gordon AC (9 June 2015)
    2. James Edelman (30 January 2017)
    3. Simon Steward (1 December 2020)
    4. Jacqueline Sarah Gleeson (1 March 2021)
    5. Jayne Jagot (17 October 2022)
    6. Robert Beech-Jones (6 November 2023)
  3. Senior judges:
    1. Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia

Debra Mortimer

    1. Chief Justice of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia (Division 1; the former Family Court of Australia): Will Alstergren
    2. Chief Judge of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2; the former Federal Circuit Court of Australia): Jointly held with the above by Will Alstergren
  2. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the (Australian) jurisdiction
  3. The other Chief Justices of the Supreme Courts of the States and Territories in order of appointment (where the Lieutenant-Governor of the states is not also Chief Justice, they take precedence immediately after that State's Chief Justice) :
    1. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia: The Hon Chris Kourakis SC (25 June 2012)
    2. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Tasmania: The Hon Alan Blow AO (8 April 2013)
    3. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory: Michael Grant (5 July 2016)
    4. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria: Anne Ferguson (2 October 2017)
    5. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia: Peter Quinlan SC (13 August 2018)
    6. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales: The Hon Andrew Bell SC (7 March 2022)
    7. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory: Lucy McCallum (8 March 2022)
    8. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland: The Hon Helen Bowskill KC (19 March 2022)
  4. Australian members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom in order of appointment:
    1. The Rt Hon Ian Sinclair AC (17 January 1977)
    2. The Rt Hon Sir William Heseltine (26 March 1986)
  5. The Chief of the Defence Force (General Angus Campbell)
  6. Chief Judges of State and Territory Courts in order of their appointment to any of their respective jurisdictions' courts
  7. Members of Parliament (see Members of the Australian Senate, 2022–2025 and Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 2022–2025)
  8. Presidents of Federal Tribunals:
    1. The President of the Fair Work Commission: The Hon Justice Adam Hatcher SC
    2. The President of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal: The Hon Justice Emilios Kyrou AO
  9. Other Judges of Federal, State and Territory Courts in order of their appointment to any of their respective jurisdictions' courts
  10. Lord Mayors of capital cities in order of city populations:
    1. Lord Mayor of Sydney

The Rt Hon the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Councillor Clover Moore AO

    1. Lord Mayor of Melbourne

The Rt Hon the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Councillor Sally Capp AO

    1. Lord Mayor of Brisbane

The Rt Hon the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Councillor Adrian Schrinner

    1. Lord Mayor of Perth

The Rt Hon the Lord Mayor of Perth, Mr Basil Zempilas

    1. Lord Mayor of Adelaide

The Rt Hon the Lord Mayor of Adelaide, Dr Jane Lomax-Smith AM

    1. Lord Mayor of Hobart

The Rt Hon the Lord Mayor of Hobart, Councillor Anna Reynolds

    1. Lord Mayor of Darwin

The Rt Worshipful the Lord Mayor of Darwin, the Hon Kon Vatskalis

  1. Heads of religious communities according to the date of assuming office in Australia
  2. The Presiding Officer(s) of the State Legislature when in their own jurisdiction.
  3. Presiding officers of the other (or all) State Legislatures in order of appointment, then Presiding Officer of Territory Legislatures in order of appointment:
    1. Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly

Colin Brooks (7 March 2017)

    1. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland

Curtis Pitt (13 February 2018)

    1. President of the Victorian Legislative Council

Nazih Elasmar (18 June 2020)

    1. Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly

Jonathan O'Dea (7 May 2019)

    1. President of the Tasmanian Legislative Council

Craig Farrell (21 May 2019)

    1. President of the South Australian Legislative Council

John Dawkins) (8 September 2020)

    1. Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly

Michelle Roberts) (29 April 2021)

    1. President of the New South Wales Legislative Council

Matthew Mason-Cox (4 May 2021)

    1. President of the Western Australian Legislative Council

Alanna Clohesy (25 May 2021)

    1. Speaker of the Tasmanian House of Assembly

Mark Shelton (22 June 2021)

    1. Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly

Dan Cregan (12 October 2021)

    1. Speaker of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly

Joy Burch (31 October 2016)

    1. Speaker of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly

Ngaree Ah Kit (20 October 2020)

  1. The members of the particular State Executive Council under summons (in practice, the ministers and assistant ministers of the government of the State), then the Members of the other State Executive Councils in order of state populations, and then the Ministers of the Australian Capital Territory 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. Ministers of the Australian Capital Territory
    8. Executive Council of the Northern Territory
  2. The Leader of the Opposition of the particular State, and then Leaders of the Opposition of State Legislatures in order of state populations, then Leaders of the Opposition in Territory Legislatures in order of territory populations:
    1. Leader of the Opposition of New South Wales

Mark Speakman

    1. Leader of the Opposition of Victoria

John Pesutto

    1. Leader of the Opposition of Queensland

David Crisafulli

    1. Leader of the Opposition of Western Australia

Shane Love

    1. Leader of the Opposition of South Australia

Peter Malinauskas

    1. Leader of the Opposition of Tasmania

Rebecca White

    1. Leader of the Opposition of the Australian Capital Territory

Elizabeth Lee

    1. Leader of the Opposition of the Northern Territory

Lia Finocchiaro

  1. Members of the Federal Executive Council not under summons (in practice, all past ministers and assistant ministers)
  2. Members of the particular State or Territory legislature, and then Members of State and Territory Legislatures in order of population:
    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. Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
    8. Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
  3. The Secretaries of Departments of the Australian Public Service and their peers and the Chiefs of the Air Force, Army, and Navy in order of first appointment to this group:
    1. Chief of Air Force

Air Marshal Robert Chipman (1 July 2022)

    1. Chief of Army

Lieutenant General Simon Stuart (2 July 2022)

    1. Chief of Navy

Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (6 July 2022)

  1. Consuls-General, Consuls and Vice-Consuls according to the date on which recognition was granted
  2. Recipients of Decorations or Honours from the Sovereign, specifically Decorations or Honours which are at or above the Knight Bachelor or above, and precedence being established according to the Australian honours order of wearing, and, where two people hold the same decoration or honour, according to the date on which the award was announced
  3. Citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia

Notes

References

Notes and References

  1. News: Tom. McIlroy. Canberra's diplomatic mistake – 25 years in the making. The Canberra Times. 26 February 2015. 8 July 2015.

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