The prime minister of Australia is the leader of the Australian Government and the Cabinet of Australia, with the support of the majority of the House of Representatives. Thirty-one people (thirty men and one woman) have served in the position since the office was created in 1901. The role of prime minister is not mentioned in the Constitution of Australia, but the prime minister is still appointed by the governor-general who under Section 64 of the constitution has the executive power to appoint ministers of state. The governor-general is appointed by the monarch of Australia based on the advice of the incumbent prime minister. Governors-general do not have fixed terms, but usually serve for five years.
Federal elections must be held every three years, although prime ministers may call elections early. Prime ministers do not have fixed terms, and generally serve the full length of their term unless they lose the majority of the House or are replaced as the leader of their party. Three former prime ministers lost a majority in the House (Alfred Deakin on two occasions, George Reid and Andrew Fisher), six resigned following leadership spills (John Gorton, Bob Hawke, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull) and three died in office (Joseph Lyons, John Curtin and Harold Holt, who disappeared and is presumed to have died).
Two prime ministers also lost their role in a double dissolution election, a snap election where the entire Senate stands for re-election rather than the typical half to resolve deadlocks between the two houses. These were Joseph Cook in 1914 and Malcolm Fraser in 1983. One prime minister, Gough Whitlam, was dismissed by the governor-general during a constitutional crisis.
Since the office was established in 1901, thirty men and one woman have been prime minister. Robert Menzies and Kevin Rudd served two non-consecutive terms in office while Alfred Deakin and Andrew Fisher served three non-consecutive terms. The prime ministership of Frank Forde, who was prime minister for seven days in 1945, was the shortest in Australian history. Menzies served the longest, with eighteen years over two non-consecutive periods. The current prime minister is Anthony Albanese, who assumed office on 23 May 2022. There are currently seven living former prime ministers. The most recent former prime minister to die was Bob Hawke, on 16 May 2019.
List of prime ministers
The parties shown are those to which the prime ministers belonged at the time they held office, and the electoral divisions shown are those they represented while in office. Several prime ministers belonged to parties other than those given and represented other electorates before and after their time in office.
Political parties
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) Constituency | Election | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | (Parliament) | Monarch | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Tenure | |||||||||
| 1 | Edmund Barton (1849–1920) MP for Hunter, NSW | 1901 | 1 January 1901 | 24 September 1903 | 2 years, 266 days | Protectionist | Barton | (1st) | Victoria r. 1837–1901 | ||
| Edward VII r. 1901–1910 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Alfred Deakin (1856–1919) MP for Ballaarat, Vic | — | 24 September 1903 | 27 April 1904 | 216 days | Deakin I | |||||
| 1903 | (2nd) | ||||||||||
| 3 | Chris Watson (1867–1941) MP for Bland, NSW | — | 27 April 1904 | 18 August 1904 | 113 days | Labor | Watson | ||||
| 4 | George Reid (1845–1918) MP for East Sydney, NSW | — | 18 August 1904 | 5 July 1905 | 321 days | Free Trade | Reid | ||||
| (2) | Alfred Deakin (1856–1919) MP for Ballaarat, Vic | — | 5 July 1905 | 13 November 1908 | 3 years, 131 days | Protectionist | Deakin II | ||||
| 1906 | (3rd) | ||||||||||
| 5 | Andrew Fisher (1862–1928) MP for Wide Bay, Qld | — | 13 November 1908 | 2 June 1909 | 201 days | Labor | Fisher I | ||||
| (2) | Alfred Deakin (1856–1919) MP for Ballaarat, Vic | — | 2 June 1909 | 29 April 1910 | 331 days | Liberal | Deakin III | ||||
| (5) | Andrew Fisher (1862–1928) MP for Wide Bay, Qld | 1910 | 29 April 1910 | 24 June 1913 | 3 years, 56 days | Labor | Fisher II | (4th) | |||
| George V r. 1910–1936 | |||||||||||
| 6 | Joseph Cook (1860–1947) MP for Parramatta, NSW | 1913 | 24 June 1913 | 17 September 1914 | 1 year, 85 days | Liberal | Cook | (5th) | |||
| (5) | Andrew Fisher (1862–1928) MP for Wide Bay, Qld | 1914 | 17 September 1914 | 27 October 1915 | 1 year, 40 days | Labor | Fisher III | (6th) | |||
| Billy Hughes (1862–1952) MP for West Sydney, NSW (until 1917) MP for Bendigo, Vic (1917–22) MP for North Sydney, NSW (from 1922) | — | 27 October 1915 | 9 February 1923 | 7 years, 105 days | Hughes I | ||||||
| National Labor | Hughes II | ||||||||||
| 7 | Nationalist | Hughes III | |||||||||
| 1917 | Hughes IV | (7th) | |||||||||
| 1919 | Hughes V | (8th) | |||||||||
| 8 | Stanley Bruce (1883–1967) MP for Flinders, Vic | 1922 | 9 February 1923 | 22 October 1929 | 6 years, 255 days | Nationalist (Coalition) | Bruce I | (9th) | |||
| 1925 | Bruce II | (10th) | |||||||||
| 1928 | Bruce III | (11th) | |||||||||
| 9 | James Scullin (1876–1953) MP for Yarra, Vic | 1929 | 22 October 1929 | 6 January 1932 | 2 years, 76 days | Labor | Scullin | (12th) | |||
| 10 | Joseph Lyons (1879–1939) MP for Wilmot, Tas | 1931 | 6 January 1932 | 7 April 1939 | 7 years, 91 days | United Australia | Lyons I | (13th) | |||
| 1934 | Lyons II | (14th) | |||||||||
| — | United Australia (Coalition) | Lyons III | Edward VIII r. 1936 | ||||||||
| George VI r. 1936–1952 | |||||||||||
| 1937 | Lyons IV | (15th) | |||||||||
| 11 | Earle Page (1880–1961) MP for Cowper, NSW | — | 7 April 1939 | 26 April 1939 | 19 days | Country (Coalition) | Page | ||||
| 12 | Robert Menzies (1894–1978) MP for Kooyong, Vic | — | 26 April 1939 | 29 August 1941 | 2 years, 125 days | United Australia | Menzies I | ||||
| United Australia (Coalition) | Menzies II | ||||||||||
| 1940 | Menzies III | (16th) | |||||||||
| 13 | Arthur Fadden (1894–1973) MP for Darling Downs, Qld | — | 29 August 1941 | 7 October 1941 | 39 days | Country (Coalition) | Fadden | ||||
| 14 | John Curtin (1885–1945) MP for Fremantle, WA | — | 7 October 1941 | 5 July 1945 | 3 years, 271 days | Labor | Curtin I | ||||
| 1943 | Curtin II | (17th) | |||||||||
| 15 | Frank Forde (1890–1983) MP for Capricornia, Qld | — | 5 July 1945 | 13 July 1945 | 7 days | Forde | |||||
| 16 | Ben Chifley (1885–1951) MP for Macquarie, NSW | — | 13 July 1945 | 19 December 1949 | 4 years, 159 days | Chifley I | |||||
| 1946 | Chifley II | (18th) | |||||||||
| (12) | Robert Menzies (1894–1978) MP for Kooyong, Vic | 1949 | 19 December 1949 | 26 January 1966 | 16 years, 38 days | Liberal (Coalition) | Menzies IV | (19th) | |||
| 1951 | Menzies V | (20th) | |||||||||
| Elizabeth II r. 1952–2022 | |||||||||||
| 1954 | Menzies VI | (21st) | |||||||||
| 1955 | Menzies VII | (22nd) | |||||||||
| 1958 | Menzies VIII | (23rd) | |||||||||
| 1961 | Menzies IX | (24th) | |||||||||
| 1963 | Menzies X | (25th) | |||||||||
| 17 | Harold Holt (1908–1967) MP for Higgins, Vic | — | 26 January 1966 | 17 December 1967 | 1 year, 327 days | Holt I | |||||
| 1966 | Holt II | (26th) | |||||||||
| 18 | John McEwen (1900–1980) MP for Murray, Vic | — | 19 December 1967 | 10 January 1968 | 22 days | Country (Coalition) | McEwen | ||||
| 19 | John Gorton (1911–2002) MP for Higgins, Vic | — | 10 January 1968 | 10 March 1971 | 3 years, 59 days | Liberal (Coalition) | Gorton I | ||||
| 1969 | Gorton II | (27th) | |||||||||
| 20 | William McMahon (1908–1988) MP for Lowe, NSW | — | 10 March 1971 | 5 December 1972 | 1 year, 270 days | McMahon | |||||
| 21 | Gough Whitlam (1916–2014) MP for Werriwa, NSW | 1972 | 5 December 1972 | 11 November 1975 | 2 years, 341 days | Labor | Whitlam I | (28th) | |||
| — | Whitlam II | ||||||||||
| 1974 | Whitlam III | (29th) | |||||||||
| 22 | Malcolm Fraser (1930–2015) MP for Wannon, Vic | — | 11 November 1975 | 11 March 1983 | 7 years, 120 days | Liberal (Coalition) | Fraser I | ||||
| 1975 | Fraser II | (30th) | |||||||||
| 1977 | Fraser III | (31st) | |||||||||
| 1980 | Fraser IV | (32nd) | |||||||||
| 23 | Bob Hawke (1929–2019) MP for Wills, Vic | 1983 | 11 March 1983 | 20 December 1991 | 8 years, 284 days | Labor | Hawke I | (33rd) | |||
| 1984 | Hawke II | (34th) | |||||||||
| 1987 | Hawke III | (35th) | |||||||||
| 1990 | Hawke IV | (36th) | |||||||||
| 24 | Paul Keating (b. 1944) MP for Blaxland, NSW | — | 20 December 1991 | 11 March 1996 | 4 years, 82 days | Keating I | |||||
| 1993 | Keating II | (37th) | |||||||||
| 25 | John Howard (b. 1939) MP for Bennelong, NSW | 1996 | 11 March 1996 | 3 December 2007 | 11 years, 267 days | Liberal (Coalition) | Howard I | (38th) | |||
| 1998 | Howard II | (39th) | |||||||||
| 2001 | Howard III | (40th) | |||||||||
| 2004 | Howard IV | (41st) | |||||||||
| 26 | Kevin Rudd (b. 1957) MP for Griffith, Qld | 2007 | 3 December 2007 | 24 June 2010 | 2 years, 203 days | Labor | Rudd I | (42nd) | |||
| 27 | Julia Gillard (b. 1961) MP for Lalor, Vic | — | 24 June 2010 | 27 June 2013 | 3 years, 3 days | Gillard I | |||||
| 2010 | Gillard II | (43rd) | |||||||||
| (26) | Kevin Rudd (b. 1957) MP for Griffith, Qld | — | 27 June 2013 | 18 September 2013 | 83 days | Rudd II | |||||
| 28 | Tony Abbott (b. 1957) MP for Warringah, NSW | 2013 | 18 September 2013 | 15 September 2015 | 1 year, 362 days | Liberal (Coalition) | Abbott | (44th) | |||
| 29 | Malcolm Turnbull (b. 1954) MP for Wentworth, NSW | — | 15 September 2015 | 24 August 2018 | 2 years, 343 days | Turnbull I | |||||
| 2016 | Turnbull II | (45th) | |||||||||
| 30 | Scott Morrison (b. 1968) MP for Cook, NSW | — | 24 August 2018 | 23 May 2022 | 3 years, 272 days | Morrison I | |||||
| 2019 | Morrison II | (46th) | |||||||||
| 31 | Anthony Albanese (b. 1963) MP for Grayndler, NSW | 2022 | 23 May 2022 | Incumbent | 3 years, 209 days | Labor | Albanese I | (47th) | |||
| 2025 | Albanese II | (48th) | Charles III r. 2022–present | ||||||||
Timeline
Career-based timeline
This timeline below shows most of the early life, the political career and death of each prime minister from 1901. The first prime minister was Edmund Barton in the early 20th century.
Key
- Each dark coloured bar denotes the time spent as prime minister
- A light colour denotes time spent in Parliament before or after serving as prime minister
- A grey colour bar denotes the time the prime minister spent outside Parliament, either before or after their political career
Notable moments
- changed party: Cook (pre-office), Watson (post-office), Hughes (in office and post-office), Lyons (pre-office)
- died in office: Lyons, Curtin, Holt
- died shortly after leaving office: Chifley
- left Parliament on leaving office: Barton, Bruce, Menzies, Fraser, Hawke, Keating, Howard, Gillard, Turnbull
- long career after being prime minister: Cook, Hughes, Scullin, Page, Fadden, McMahon
- was prime minister after an interruption to their service in Parliament: Scullin, Curtin, Chifley
- lived for more than twenty years after leaving Parliament: Watson, Cook, Bruce, Forde, Gorton, Whitlam, Fraser, Hawke, Keating
- former prime minister still living: Keating, Howard, Rudd, Gillard, Abbott, Turnbull, Morrison
Timeline
See also
- History of Australia
- List of prime ministers of Australia by birthplace
- List of prime ministers of Australia by time in office
- Politics of Australia
- Spouse of the prime minister of Australia
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