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Thegovernor-general of Australia is the federal representative of theAustralian monarch (currentlyCharles III).[1] The position came into being on 29 October 1900 with the establishment of the first Commonwealth office,[2] just prior tothe adoption of the newnational constitution and has been held by 28 people since then. Because governors-general are appointedat His Majesty's pleasure, there is no fixed term, but governors-general are usually given a 5-year term.[1]
For the first two decades after federation, governors-general were selected solely by the British government. The monarch was consulted on the decision into the 1930s. The first four governors-general were peers; SirRonald Munro Ferguson (appointed 1914) was the first commoner to hold the position, although he was also later elevated to the peerage. In 1920,Billy Hughes became the firstprime minister to be consulted over the governor-generalship.Stanley Bruce (1925) andJoseph Lyons (1935) either asked for or were given a list of suitable candidates to choose from.
James Scullin (1930) became the first prime minister of Australia to exercise complete discretion in the appointment; his nomination of SirIsaac Isaacs made Australia the firstDominion to have a native-born governor-general. In 1945,John Curtin nominatedPrince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, to the post. Henry was the first and only royal officeholder to take up the office — in October 1938,Prince George, Duke of Kent had been announced as successor toLord Gowrie with effect from November 1939,[3][4] but on 11 September 1939, the Duke's appointment was postponed due to the outbreak of the Second World War. Prince George died in 1942 and thus his appointment never eventuated, instead Lord Gowrie continued in office in Australia until 1945, creating a still-unsurpassed record term of over 9 years.[5] A second Australian (William McKell) was appointed in 1947; he was followed by three more Britons, each chosen by SirRobert Menzies. Menzies's fourth nomination wasRichard Casey, who took office in 1965; he and all subsequent governors-general have been Australian citizens. All Australian states exceptSouth Australia andTasmania have provided at least one appointee (although the latter of these provided an Administrator of the Commonwealth for several months in 2003). The first female governor-general,Quentin Bryce, took office in 2008.
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Monarch Reign | Prime Minister Term of office | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||
| 1 |  | John Hope 7th Earl of Hopetoun (1860–1908) | 1 January 1901[a] | 17 July 1902[b] | 1 year, 197 days | Victoria (1837–1901) | Edmund Barton (1901–1903) | [6] |
| Edward VII (1901–1910) | ||||||||
| 2 |  | Hallam Tennyson 2nd Baron Tennyson (1852–1928) | 9 January 1903 | 21 January 1904 | 1 year, 12 days | |||
| Alfred Deakin (1903–1904) | ||||||||
| 3 |  | Henry Northcote 1st Baron Northcote (1846–1911) | 21 January 1904 | 9 September 1908 | 4 years, 232 days | |||
| Chris Watson (1904) | ||||||||
| George Reid (1904–1905) | ||||||||
| Alfred Deakin (1905–1908) | ||||||||
| 4 |  | William Ward 2nd Earl of Dudley (1867–1932) | 9 September 1908 | 31 July 1911 | 2 years, 325 days | |||
| Andrew Fisher (1908–1909) | ||||||||
| Alfred Deakin (1909–1910) | ||||||||
| Andrew Fisher (1910–1913) | ||||||||
| George V (1910–1936) | ||||||||
| 5 | .jpg) | Thomas Denman 3rd Baron Denman (1874–1954) | 31 July 1911 | 18 May 1914 | 2 years, 291 days | |||
| Joseph Cook (1913–1914) | ||||||||
| 6 | .jpg) | SirRonald Munro Ferguson (1860–1934) | 18 May 1914 | 6 October 1920 | 6 years, 141 days | |||
| Andrew Fisher (1914–1915) | ||||||||
| Billy Hughes (1915–1923) | ||||||||
| 7 |  | Henry Forster 1st Baron Forster (1866–1936) | 6 October 1920 | 8 October 1925 | 5 years, 2 days | |||
| Stanley Bruce (1923–1929) | ||||||||
| 8 |  | John Baird 1st Baron Stonehaven (1874–1941) | 8 October 1925 | 2 October 1930[c] | 4 years, 359 days | |||
| James Scullin (1929–1932) | ||||||||
| 9 | .jpg) | SirIsaac Isaacs (1855–1948) | 21 January 1931 | 23 January 1936 | 5 years, 2 days | |||
| Joseph Lyons (1932–1939) | ||||||||
| Edward VIII (1936) | ||||||||
| 10 |  | Brigadier-General Alexander Hore-Ruthven 1st Baron Gowrie (1872–1955) | 23 January 1936 | 30 January 1945 | 9 years, 7 days | |||
| George VI (1936–1952) | ||||||||
| Earle Page (1939) | ||||||||
| Robert Menzies (1939–1941) | ||||||||
| Arthur Fadden (1941) | ||||||||
| John Curtin (1941–1945) | ||||||||
| 11 |  | Prince Henry Duke of Gloucester (1900–1974) | 30 January 1945 | 11 March 1947 | 2 years, 40 days | |||
| Frank Forde (1945) | ||||||||
| Ben Chifley (1945–1949) | ||||||||
| 12 |  | SirWilliam McKell (1891–1985) | 11 March 1947 | 8 May 1953 | 6 years, 58 days | |||
| Robert Menzies (1949–1966) | ||||||||
| Elizabeth II (1952–2022) | ||||||||
| 13 |  | Field Marshal SirWilliam Slim (1891–1970) | 8 May 1953 | 2 February 1960 | 6 years, 270 days | |||
| 14 |  | William Morrison 1st Viscount Dunrossil (1893–1961) | 2 February 1960 | 3 February 1961[d] | 1 year, 1 day | |||
| 15 |  | William Sidney 1st Viscount De L'Isle (1909–1991) | 3 August 1961 | 7 May 1965 | 3 years, 277 days | |||
| 16 |  | Richard Casey Baron Casey (1890–1976) | 7 May 1965 | 30 April 1969 | 3 years, 358 days | |||
| Harold Holt (1966–1967) | ||||||||
| John McEwen (1967–1968) | ||||||||
| John Gorton (1968–1971) | ||||||||
| 17 | .jpg) | SirPaul Hasluck (1905–1993) | 30 April 1969 | 11 July 1974 | 5 years, 72 days | |||
| William McMahon (1971–1972) | ||||||||
| Gough Whitlam (1972–1975) | ||||||||
| 18 | .jpg) | SirJohn Kerr (1914–1991) | 11 July 1974 | 8 December 1977 | 3 years, 150 days | |||
| Malcolm Fraser (1975–1983) | ||||||||
| 19 |  | SirZelman Cowen (1919–2011) | 8 December 1977 | 29 July 1982 | 4 years, 233 days | |||
| 20 |  | SirNinian Stephen (1923–2017) | 29 July 1982 | 16 February 1989 | 6 years, 202 days | |||
| Bob Hawke (1983–1991) | ||||||||
| 21 |  | Bill Hayden (1933–2023) | 16 February 1989 | 16 February 1996 | 7 years | |||
| Paul Keating (1991–1996) | ||||||||
| 22 |  | SirWilliam Deane (born 1931) | 16 February 1996 | 29 June 2001 | 5 years, 133 days | |||
| John Howard (1996–2007) | ||||||||
| 23 |  | Peter Hollingworth (born 1935) | 29 June 2001 | 28 May 2003[e] | 1 year, 333 days | |||
| 24 |  | Major General Michael Jeffery (1937–2020) | 11 August 2003 | 5 September 2008 | 5 years, 25 days | |||
| Kevin Rudd (2007–2010) | ||||||||
| 25 | .jpg) | DameQuentin Bryce (born 1942) | 5 September 2008 | 28 March 2014 | 5 years, 204 days | |||
| Julia Gillard (2010–2013) | ||||||||
| Kevin Rudd (2013) | ||||||||
| Tony Abbott (2013–2015) | ||||||||
| 26 | _crop.jpg) | General SirPeter Cosgrove (born 1947) | 28 March 2014 | 1 July 2019 | 5 years, 95 days | |||
| Malcolm Turnbull (2015–2018) | ||||||||
| Scott Morrison (2018–2022) | ||||||||
| 27 | .jpg) | General David Hurley (born 1953) | 1 July 2019 | 1 July 2024 | 5 years | |||
| Anthony Albanese (since 2022) | ||||||||
| Charles III (since 2022) | ||||||||
| 28 | | Sam Mostyn (born 1965) | 1 July 2024 | Incumbent | 1 year, 145 days | [7] | ||
This is agraphical lifespan timeline of the governors-general of Australia. They are listed in order of first assuming office.
The following chart lists governors-general by lifespan (living governors-general on the green line), with the years outside of their governor-generalship in beige.
The following chart shows governors-general by their age (living governors-general in green), with the years of their governor-generalship in blue.
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