This page details numerous records and characteristics of individuals who have held the office of Prime Minister of Australia.

Period of service

Time in office Sir Robert Menzies was the longest-serving prime minister of Australia, serving for 18 years and 163 days total. His first tenure (1939–1941) lasted 2 years and 125 days and his second tenure (1949–1966) 16 years and 38 days. Menzies’ second term of over 16 years was the longest single term. This term is also longer than the accumulated period of terms of any other prime minister. The shortest-serving prime minister was Frank Forde, who served in the position in an interim capacity for one week in July 1945 after the death of John Curtin. The prime minister with the longest time between the beginning of the first and end of the last terms was also Menzies, with over 25 years between those dates.National Museum of Australia – Prime Ministers

Number of terms If a “term” is defined as a contiguous period served as prime minister, both Alfred Deakin and Andrew Fisher served the greatest number of terms, with three each. Robert Menzies and Kevin Rudd both served two separate terms as prime ministers. If a “term” is defined as a period of office separated by an election, Robert Menzies served the most terms, winning eight terms.

Terms of prime ministers and reigns of monarchs of Australia The office of Prime Minister of Australia has existed under the reigns of seven monarchs since Federation in 1901.

Number of monarchs served under Joseph Lyons is the only prime minister to have served under three monarchs during one term (Lyons died in 1939):

George V, (1932–1936) Edward VIII, (1936) George VI, (1936–1939)

Through being in office at transitions between reigns, four prime ministers each served under two monarchs. These include:

Edmund Barton (Victoria and Edward VII) Andrew Fisher (Edward VII and George V) Robert Menzies (George VI and Elizabeth II) Anthony Albanese (Elizabeth II and Charles III)

Queen Elizabeth II had by far the greatest number of prime ministers serve her during her reign, being 16. In descending numerical order, numbers of prime ministers in office during all monarch's reigns are: Elizabeth II (1952–2022) – sixteen, from Menzies to Albanese George VI (1936–1952) – seven, from Lyons to Menzies George V (1910–1936) – six, from Fisher to Lyons Edward VII (1901–1910) – five, from Barton to Fisher Charles III (2022–present) – one (Albanese) Edward VIII (1936) – one (Lyons) Victoria (1901) – one (Barton)

Prime ministers born during reigns in which they held office Only seven prime ministers came to serve office under sovereigns in whose own reigns they were born in. The present prime minister, Anthony Albanese, was the sixth prime minister to have been born in the reign of Elizabeth II.

Queen Victoria (reigned 1837–1901) Edmund Barton (born 1849, served 1901–1903)

Queen Elizabeth II (reigned 1952–2022) Malcolm Turnbull (born 1954, served 2015–2018) Kevin Rudd (born 1957, served 2007–2010, 2013) Tony Abbott (born 1957, served 2013–2015) Julia Gillard (born 1961, served 2010–2013) Anthony Albanese (born 1963, served 2022–present) Scott Morrison (born 1968, served 2018–2022)

Morrison has the additional distinction of being younger than all of his monarch's children.

Prime ministers who lived under most reigns Billy Hughes (1862–1952), Stanley Bruce (1883–1967), James Scullin (1876–1953), Earle Page (1880–1961), Robert Menzies (1894–1978), Arthur Fadden (1894–1973), Frank Forde (1890–1983), and John McEwen (1900–1980) all lived under the reigns of six sovereigns: Victoria, Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII, George VI and Elizabeth II.

Number of governors-general served under Robert Menzies is the only prime minister to have served under six governors-general during his time in office (1939–1941, 1949–1966):

Lord Gowrie, (1939–1945) William McKell, (1949–1953) William Slim, (1953–1960) Viscount Dunrossil, (1960–1961) Viscount De L'Isle, (1961–1965) Lord Casey, (1965–1966)

Two prime ministers each served under three governors-general. These include:

Malcolm Fraser (John Kerr, Zelman Cowen, and Ninian Stephen) John Howard (William Deane, Peter Hollingworth, and Michael Jeffery)

Lord Gowrie has the distinction of having the greatest number of prime ministers serve during his term, being 5:

Joseph Lyons, (1936–1939) Earle Page, (1939) Robert Menzies, (1939–1941) Arthur Fadden, (1941) John Curtin, (1941–1945)

Lord Casey follows with 4:

Robert Menzies, (1965–1966) Harold Holt, (1966–1967) John McEwen, (1967–1968) John Gorton, (1968–1969)

Six governors general each had three prime ministers serve during their term. These include:

Lord Northcote (Alfred Deakin, Chris Watson, and George Reid) Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson (Andrew Fisher, Joseph Cook, and Billy Hughes) Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (John Curtin, Frank Forde, and Ben Chifley) Paul Hasluck (John Gorton, William McMahon, and Gough Whitlam) Quentin Bryce (Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, and Tony Abbott) Peter Cosgrove (Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull, and Scott Morrison)

Age

Age of appointment The youngest prime minister upon appointment by the governor-general was Chris Watson, who was 37 years, and 18 days old when his term began on 27 April 1904.Australian Parliamentary Publications - Traits and Trends of prime ministers of Australia The oldest prime minister upon appointment was John McEwen, who was 67 years, and 265 days old when he took office in a temporary capacity on 17 December 1967.

Age on leaving office The youngest prime minister to leave office was also Watson, who left office only four months after he was appointed at the age of 37 years, and 131 days. The oldest prime minister to leave office was Menzies, who was 71 years and 37 days old when he stepped down on 26 January 1966.

Age differences between incoming and outgoing prime ministers The largest age gap between an incoming prime minister and outgoing one was 22 years and 44 days between Chris Watson and George Reid during 1904. In recent years, the largest age gap between an incoming prime minister and outgoing one was 18 years and 57 days between John Howard and Kevin Rudd during 2007. The smallest age gap between an incoming prime minister and outgoing one was 27 days between Andrew Fisher and Billy Hughes during 1915. In recent years, the smallest age gap between an incoming prime minister and outgoing one was 44 days between Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott during 2013.

Longest lived The longest-lived prime minister was Gough Whitlam, who lived for 98 years and 102 days (1916–2014)

Shortest lived The shortest-lived prime minister was Harold Holt, born 1908, who died in office at age 59 years and 134 days in 1967.

Longest retirement The longest period of retirement (retirement being the period between the end of their last term and their death) for a prime minister was Whitlam's, which was 38 years, 344 days long (1975–2014).

Shortest retirement The shortest period of retirement was Ben Chifley, who died in 1951, 1 year and 176 days after he left office.

Intervals between terms of office Of the prime ministers who have served more than one term, the largest interval was that of Menzies, which lasted 10 years from 1939 to 1949.

Birthplace

Of the 31 prime ministers, 24 have been born in Australia. Of the ones that were not born in Australia, six were born in the United Kingdom:Individual Records of Prime Ministers (MOADOPH) Reid and Fisher were born in Scotland Cook, Hughes and Abbott were born in England Gillard was born in Wales Watson was born in Chile. Of the 24 prime ministers born within Australia: Nine have been born in modern-day Victoria in total. Six were born in colonial Victoria (Deakin, Bruce, Scullin, Menzies, Curtin and McEwen). Three have been born in Victoria in federated Australia (Gorton, Whitlam, and Fraser). Ten have been born in modern-day New South Wales. Three were born in colonial New South Wales (Barton, Page, and Chifley) and seven were born in modern New South Wales (Holt, McMahon, Keating, Howard, Turnbull, Morrison, and Albanese). Three have been born in modern-day Queensland. Two of those were born in colonial Queensland (Fadden and Forde) and one in Queensland as its own state (Rudd). One (Hawke) was born in post-federation South Australia. One (Lyons) was born in colonial Tasmania Some prime ministers represented electorates in states other than they were born in.

Federal elections Most prime ministers in office between federal elections There have been three periods between elections in which three prime ministers were in office. Between the 1903 election and 1906 election, Deakin, Watson and Reid all took the office before Deakin regained it for the 1906 election after several parliamentary confidence shuffles between parties. Between the 1940 election and 1943 election, Menzies, Fadden and Curtin held the office after the House of Representatives lost confidence in the United Australia Party coalition. Between the 1943 election and 1946 election, Curtin held the office until his death, when Forde temporarily took the office and Chifley was elected as the leader of the Labor Party. Between the 1966 election and 1969 election, Holt held the office before McEwen took it over after his death and Gorton ultimately succeeded him.

Most elections contested The largest number of elections contested by a prime minister is nine. Menzies contested the 1940, 1946, 1949, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1958, 1961, and 1963 elections. The greatest number of elections won by a prime minister is eight, a record also held by Menzies, who won 8 of the 9 elections he contested. The greatest number of elections lost by an individual is three, George Reid, H. V. Evatt, Arthur Calwell, and Gough Whitlam all lost three federal elections.

Age at losing an election The oldest prime minister to lose a federal election was John Howard, who lost his own seat and the election of 2007 at 68 years and 121 days old. The oldest person to lose a federal election was Arthur Calwell, who lost the election of 1966 at 70 years and 90 days old. The youngest prime minister to lose a federal election was Stanley Bruce, who was 46 years, and 180 days old when he lost the 1929 election. In recent years, the youngest prime minister to lose a federal election was Paul Keating, who was 52 years and 44 days old when he lost the 1996 election. The youngest person to lose a federal election was Chris Watson who was 36 years and 251 days old when he lost the 1903 election. The youngest person to lose a federal election without ever becoming prime minister was Mark Latham who was 43 years and 223 days old when he lost the 2004 election.

Age at winning an election The oldest prime minister to lead a party to victory at a federal election was Robert Menzies, who won the 1963 election aged 68 years and 347 days. The oldest prime minister to lead a party to victory at a federal election for the first time was Malcolm Turnbull, who won the 2016 election aged 61 years and 251 days. The youngest prime minister to win an election was Stanley Bruce, who was 42 years, and 213 days old when he won the 1925 election. In recent years, the youngest prime minister to win an election was Julia Gillard, who was 48 years, and 326 days old when she won the 2010 election.

Prime ministers in office without an election Nearly all (24) prime ministers of Australia have held the office at some point during their tenures without the mandates from an election. This is a common occurrence due to the parliamentary and party systems in Australia, when the position is often made vacant by a spill or leader who is resigning or retiring. In the early days of the office, the unstable non-majority party system also caused many changes in power.