Table of precedence for the Commonwealth of Australia

The following is the Australian Table of Precedence.

1. The Queen of Australia (Elizabeth II)
2. The Governor-General of Australia (General Sir Peter Cosgrove)
3. Governors of states in order of appointment:
   1. Governor of Queensland (Paul de Jersey) (29 July 2014)
   2. Governor of South Australia (Hieu Van Le) (1 September 2014)
   3. Governor of New South Wales (General David Hurley) (2 October 2014)
   4. Governor of Western Australia (Kerry Sanderson) (20 October 2014)
   5. Governor of Tasmania (Kate Warner) (10 December 2014)
   6. Governor of Victoria (Linda Dessau) (1 July 2015)
4. The Prime Minister (Malcolm Turnbull)
5. The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives in order of appointment:
   1. President of the Senate (Stephen Parry) (7 July 2014)
   2. Speaker of the House of Representatives (Tony Smith) (10 August 2015)
6. The Chief Justice of Australia (Robert French)
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. Vice-President of the Executive Council, Attorney-General (George Brandis)
   2. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources (Barnaby Joyce)
   3. Minister for Foreign Affairs (Julie Bishop)
   4. Minister for Employment, Minister for Women and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service (Michaelia Cash)
   5. Treasurer (Scott Morrison)
   6. Minister for Education and Training (Simon Birmingham)
   7. Minister for Indigenous Affairs (Nigel Scullion)
   8. Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science (Christopher Pyne)
   9. Minister for Social Services (Christian Porter)
   10. Minister for Communications and Minister for the Arts (Mitch Fifield)
   11. Minister for Health, Minister for Aged Care and Minister for Sport (Sussan Ley)
   12. Minister for Small Business and Assistant Treasurer (Kelly O'Dwyer)
   13. Minister for Trade and Investment (Steven Ciobo)
   14. Minister for Defence (Marise Payne)
   15. Minister for the Environment (Greg Hunt)
   16. Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (Peter Dutton)
   17. Minister for Finance and Special Minister of State (Mathias Cormann)
   18. Minister for Infrastructure and Transport (Darren Chester)
   19. Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC and Minister for Defence Materiel (Dan Tehan)
   20. Minister for Major Projects, Territories, and Local Government (Paul Fletcher)
   21. Minister for Rural Health, Minister for Regional Development and Minister for Regional Communications (Fiona Nash)
   22. Minister for Vocational Education and Skills (Scott Ryan)
   23. Minister for Human Services (Alan Tudge)
   24. Minister for Justice and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Counter-Terrorism (Michael Keenan)
   25. Minister for Resources and Energy (Josh Frydenberg)
   26. Minister for International Development and the Pacific (Concetta Fierravanti-Wells)
   27. Minister for Tourism and International Education and Minister Assisting the Minister for Trade and Investment (Richard Colbeck)
   28. Minister for Northern Australia (Matthew Canavan)
   29. Assistant Minister for Innovation (Wyatt Roy)
   30. Assistant Minister for Defence (Michael McCormack)
   31. Assistant Minister for Multicultural Affairs (Craig Laundy)
   32. Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care (Ken Wyatt)
   33. Assistant Minister for Disability Services (Jane Prentice)
   34. Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister for Cities and Digital Transformation (Angus Taylor)
   35. Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister (Keith Pitt)
   36. Assistant Minister for Immigration and Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister (James McGrath)
   37. Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources (Anne Ruston)
   38. Assistant Minister for Science (Karen Andrews)
   39. Assistant Minister to the Treasurer (Alex Hawke)
   40. Assistant Minister to the Minister for Finance (Peter Hendy)
9. Administrators of Territories in order of appointment:
   1. Administrator of the Northern Territory (John Hardy)
   2. Administrator of Norfolk Island (Gary Hardgrave)
   3. Administrator of the Australian Indian Ocean Territories (Barry Haase)
10. The Leader of the Opposition (Bill Shorten)
11. Former Governors-General in order of leaving office:
    1. Sir Ninian Stephen (1982–1989)
    2. Bill Hayden (1989–1996)
    3. Sir William Deane (1996–2001)
    4. Dr Peter Hollingworth (2001–2003)
    5. Major General Michael Jeffery (2003–2008)
    6. Dame Quentin Bryce (2008–2014)
12. Former Prime Ministers in order of leaving office:
    1. Bob Hawke (1983–1991)
    2. Paul Keating (1991–1996)
    3. John Howard (1996–2007)
    4. Kevin Rudd (2007–2010, 2013)
    5. Julia Gillard (2010–2013)
    6. Tony Abbott (2013-2015)
13. Former Chief Justices of Australia in order of leaving office:
    1. Sir Anthony Mason (1987–1995)
    2. Sir Gerard Brennan (1995–1998)
    3. Murray Gleeson (1998–2008)
14. Premiers of states in order of state populations:
    1. Premier of New South Wales (Mike Baird)
    2. Premier of Victoria (Daniel Andrews)
    3. Premier of Queensland (Annastacia Palaszczuk)
    4. Premier of Western Australia (Colin Barnett)
    5. Premier of South Australia (Jay Weatherill)
    6. Premier of Tasmania (Will Hodgman)
15. The Chief Minister of the Northern Territory (Adam Giles)
16. The Chief Minister of Norfolk Island (Lisle Snell)
17. The Lord Mayor "within their City" (only applicable in a city with a Lord Mayor)
18. Justices of the High Court in order of appointment:
    1. Susan Kiefel (3 September 2007)
    2. Virginia Bell (3 February 2009)
    3. Stephen Gageler (9 October 2012)
    4. Patrick Keane (1 March 2013)
    5. Geoffrey Nettle (3 February 2015)
    6. Michelle Gordon (9 June 2015)
19. The Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia (James Allsop)
20. Chief Justices of States in order of appointment:
    1. Chief Justice of Victoria (Marilyn Warren) (25 November 2003)
    2. Chief Justice of Western Australia (Wayne Martin) (1 May 2006)
    3. Chief Justice of New South Wales (Tom Bathurst) (1 June 2011)
    4. Chief Justice of South Australia (Chris Kourakis) (25 June 2012)
    5. Chief Justice of Tasmania (Alan Blow) (8 April 2013)
    6. Chief Justice of Queensland (Catherine Holmes) (11 September 2015)
21. Australian members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom:
    1. Doug Anthony
    2. Ian Sinclair
22. The Chief of the Defence Force (Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin)
23. Chief Judges of Federal Courts in order of appointment
24. Members of Parliament (see Members of the Australian Senate, 2014–2017 and Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 2013–2016)
25. Judges of Federal Courts in order of appointment
26. Lord Mayors of capital cities in order of city populations:
    1. Lord Mayor of Brisbane (Graham Quirk)
    2. Lord Mayor of Sydney (Clover Moore)
    3. Lord Mayor of Melbourne (Robert Doyle)
    4. Lord Mayor of Perth (Lisa Scaffidi)
    5. Lord Mayor of Adelaide (Martin Haese)
    6. Lord Mayor of Hobart (Sue Hickey)
    7. Lord Mayor of Darwin (Katrina Fong Lim)
27. Heads of religious communities according to the date of assuming office in Australia
28. Presiding officers of State Legislatures in order of appointment:
    1. President of the Western Australian Legislative Council (Barry House) (22 May 2009)
    2. President of the Victorian Legislative Council (Bruce Atkinson) (21 December 2010)
    3. President of the New South Wales Legislative Council (Don Harwin) (3 May 2011)
    4. Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (Shelley Hancock) (3 May 2011)
    5. Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly (Michael Atkinson) (5 February 2013)
    6. Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly (Michael Sutherland) (11 April 2013)
    7. President of the Tasmanian Legislative Council (Jim Wilkinson) (21 May 2013)
    8. Speaker of the Tasmanian House of Assembly (Elise Archer) (31 March 2014)
    9. President of the South Australian Legislative Council (Russell Wortley) (6 May 2014)
    10. Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly (Telmo Languiller) (23 December 2014)
    11. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland (Peter Wellington) (24 March 2015)
29. Speaker of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly (Kezia Purick)
30. Speaker of the Norfolk Island Legislative Assembly (David Buffett)
31. Members of State Executive Councils in order of appointment
32. Members of the Northern Territory Executive Council in order of appointment
33. Leaders of the Opposition of State Legislatures in order of state populations:
    1. Leader of the Opposition of New South Wales (Luke Foley)
    2. Leader of the Opposition of Victoria (Matthew Guy)
    3. Leader of the Opposition of Queensland (Lawrence Springborg)
    4. Leader of the Opposition of Western Australia (Mark McGowan)
    5. Leader of the Opposition of South Australia (Steven Marshall)
    6. Leader of the Opposition of Tasmania (Bryan Green)
34. Leader of the Opposition of the Northern Territory (Delia Lawrie)
35. Judges of State Supreme Courts in order of appointment
36. Members of State Legislatures in order of state populations
37. Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
38. Members of the Norfolk Island Legislative Assembly
39. 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 Ray Griggs) (30 June 2014)
    2. Chief of Navy (Vice Admiral Tim Barrett) (30 June 2014)
    3. Chief of Army (Lieutenant General Angus Campbell) (16 May 2015)
    4. Chief of Air Force (Air Marshal Leo Davies) (4 July 2015)
40. Consuls-General, Consuls and Vice-Consuls according to the date on which recognition was granted
41. Members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly (see Members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, 2012–2016)
42. Recipients of Decorations or Honours from the Sovereign

Notes

• While the Queen herself is not listed in the order of precedence in the official Gazette, as Queen of Australia she holds the highest precedence in Australia.
• 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 has been raised with the Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition and is 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 (Fairfax Media). 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