List of prime ministers of Australia

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

+ Portrait Name Term of office Politicalparty Election Ministry Monarch(s) Took office Left office Time in office 1 Edmund Barton 1 January 1901 24 September 1903 Protectionist 1901 (1st) Barton Victoria Edward VII 2 Alfred Deakin 24 September 1903 27 April 1904 Protectionist — (1st) Deakin I 1903 (2nd) 3 Chris Watson 27 April 1904 18 August 1904 Labor — (2nd) Watson 4 George Reid 18 August 1904 5 July 1905 Free Trade — (2nd) Reid (2) Alfred Deakin 5 July 1905 13 November 1908 Protectionist — (2nd) Deakin II 1906 (3rd) 5 Andrew Fisher 13 November 1908 2 June 1909 Labor — (3rd) Fisher I (2) Alfred Deakin 2 June 1909 29 April 1910 Liberal — (3rd) Deakin III (5) Andrew Fisher 29 April 1910 24 June 1913 Labor 1910 (4th) Fisher II George V 6 Joseph Cook 24 June 1913 17 September 1914 Liberal 1913 (5th) Cook (5) Andrew Fisher 17 September 1914 27 October 1915 Labor 1914 (6th) Fisher III 7 Billy Hughes 27 October 1915 9 February 1923 Labor — (6th) Hughes I National Labor Hughes II Nationalist Hughes III 1917 (7th) Hughes IV 1919 (8th) Hughes V 8 Stanley Bruce 9 February 1923 22 October 1929 Nationalist(Coalition) 1922 (9th) Bruce I 1925 (10th) Bruce II 1928 (11th) Bruce III 9 James Scullin 22 October 1929 6 January 1932 Labor 1929 (12th) Scullin 10 Joseph Lyons 6 January 1932 7 April 1939 United Australia 1931 (13th) Lyons I 1934 (14th) Lyons II United Australia(Coalition) — (14th) Lyons III Edward VIII George VI 1937 (15th) Lyons IV 11 Earle Page 7 April 1939 26 April 1939 Country(Coalition) — (15th) Page 12 Robert Menzies 26 April 1939 29 August 1941 United Australia — (15th) Menzies I United Australia(Coalition) Menzies II 1940 (16th) Menzies III 13 Arthur Fadden 29 August 1941 7 October 1941 Country(Coalition) — (16th) Fadden 14 John Curtin 7 October 1941 5 July 1945 Labor — (16th) Curtin I 1943 (17th) Curtin II 15 Frank Forde 5 July 1945 13 July 1945 Labor — (17th) Forde 16 Ben Chifley 13 July 1945 19 December 1949 Labor — (17th) Chifley I 1946 (18th) Chifley II (12) Robert Menzies 19 December 1949 26 January 1966 Liberal(Coalition) 1949 (19th) Menzies IV 1951 (20th) Menzies V Elizabeth II 1954 (21st) Menzies VI 1955 (22nd) Menzies VII 1958 (23rd) Menzies VIII 1961 (24th) Menzies IX 1963 (25th) Menzies X 17 Harold Holt 26 January 1966 17 December 1967 Liberal(Coalition) — (25th) Holt I 1966 (26th) Holt II 18 John McEwen 19 December 1967 10 January 1968 Country(Coalition) — (26th) McEwen 19 John Gorton 10 January 1968 10 March 1971 Liberal(Coalition) — (26th) Gorton I 1969 (27th) Gorton II 20 William McMahon 10 March 1971 5 December 1972 Liberal(Coalition) — (27th) McMahon 21 Gough Whitlam 5 December 1972 11 November 1975 Labor 1972 (28th) Whitlam I — (28th) Whitlam II 1974 (29th) Whitlam III 22 Malcolm Fraser 11 November 1975 11 March 1983 Liberal(Coalition) — (29th) Fraser I 1975 (30th) Fraser II 1977 (31st) Fraser III 1980 (32nd) Fraser IV 23 Bob Hawke 11 March 1983 20 December 1991 Labor 1983 (33rd) Hawke I 1984 (34th) Hawke II 1987 (35th) Hawke III 1990 (36th) Hawke IV 24 Paul Keating 20 December 1991 11 March 1996 Labor — (36th) Keating I 1993 (37th) Keating II 25 John Howard 11 March 1996 3 December 2007 Liberal(Coalition) 1996 (38th) Howard I 1998 (39th) Howard II 2001 (40th) Howard III 2004 (41st) Howard IV 26 Kevin Rudd 3 December 2007 24 June 2010 Labor 2007 (42nd) Rudd I 27 Julia Gillard 24 June 2010 27 June 2013 Labor — (42nd) Gillard I 2010 (43rd) Gillard II (26) Kevin Rudd 27 June 2013 18 September 2013 Labor — (43rd) Rudd II 28 Tony Abbott 18 September 2013 15 September 2015 Liberal(Coalition) 2013 (44th) Abbott 29 Malcolm Turnbull 15 September 2015 24 August 2018 Liberal(Coalition) — (44th) Turnbull I 2016 (45th) Turnbull II 30 Scott Morrison 24 August 2018 23 May 2022 Liberal(Coalition) — (45th) Morrison I 2019 (46th) Morrison II 31 Anthony Albanese 23 May 2022 Incumbent Labor 2022 (47th) Albanese I 2025 (48th) Albanese II Charles III

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

List of prime ministers of Australia

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