The Attorney General of Australia is the chief law officer of the Crown and a member of the Federal Cabinet. In theory, he or she is appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the Prime Minister, and serves at the Governor-General's pleasure. In practice the Attorney-General is a party politician and his or her tenure is determined by political factors.

The Attorney General is head of the Attorney-General's Department and is the minister responsible for the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. The Attorney also serves as a general legal advisor to the Cabinet, and has carriage of legislation dealing with copyright, human rights and a range of other subjects. The Attorney-General is nearly always a distinguished lawyer, and a number of Attorneys-General have gone on to judicial appointments.

List of Australian Attorneys General

• Alfred Deakin Protectionist Party 1901-1903
• Senator James Drake Protectionist Party 1903-1904
• Henry Higgins Australian Labor Party* 1904
• Senator Josiah Symon Free Trade Party 1904-1905
• Isaac Isaacs Protectionist 1905-1906
• Littleton Groom Protectionist 1906-1908
• Billy Hughes Australian Labor Party 1908-1909
• Patrick Glynn Free Trade Party 1909-1910
• Billy Hughes Australian Labor Party 1910-1913
• William Irvine Commonwealth Liberal Party 1913-1914
• Billy Hughes Australian Labor Party/Nationalist Party 1914-1921
• Littleton Groom Nationalist Party 1921-1925
• John Latham Nationalist Party 1925-1929
• Frank Brennan Australian Labor Party 1929-1932
• John Latham United Australia Party 1932-1934
• Robert Menzies United Australia Party 1934-1938
• Billy Hughes United Australia Party 1938-1941
• Dr H.V. Evatt Australian Labor Party 1941-1949
• Senator John Spicer Liberal Party of Australia 1949-1956
• Senator Neil O'Sullivan Liberal Party of Australia 1956-1958
• Sir Garfield Barwick Liberal Party of Australia 1958-1964
• Billy Snedden Liberal Party of Australia 1964-1966
• Nigel Bowen Liberal Party of Australia 1966-1969
• Tom Hughes Liberal Party of Australia 1969-1971
• Nigel Bowen Liberal Party of Australia 1971
• Senator Ivor Greenwood Liberal Party of Australia 1971-1972
• Gough Whitlam Australian Labor Party 1972
• Senator Lionel Murphy Australian Labor Party 1972-1975
• Senator Ivor Greenwood Liberal Party of Australia 1975
• Robert Ellicott Liberal Party of Australia 1975-1977
• Senator Peter Durack 1977-1983
• Senator Gareth Evans Australian Labor Party 1983-1984
• Lionel Bowen Australian Labor Party 1984-1990
• Michael Duffy Australian Labor Party 1990-1993
• Duncan Kerr Australian Labor Party 1993
• Michael Lavarch Australian Labor Party 1993-1996
• Daryl Williams Liberal Party of Australia 1996-2003
• Philip Ruddock Liberal Party of Australia 2003-

* Higgins served in the Labor cabinet of Chris Watson but was not a member of the Labor Party. He was a Protectionist, but agreed to serve because Labor had no suitably qualified lawyer in Parliament.