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 (Sir Peter Cosgrove)
3. Governors of states in order of appointment:
   1. Governor of Victoria (Alex Chernov) (8 April 2011)
   2. Governor of Queensland (Paul de Jersey) (29 July 2014)
   3. Governor of South Australia (Hieu Van Le) (1 September 2014)
   4. Governor of New South Wales (General David Hurley) (2 October 2014)
   5. Governor of Western Australia (Kerry Sanderson) (20 October 2014)
   6. Governor of Tasmania (Kate Warner) (10 December 2014)

1. The Prime Minister (Tony Abbott)
2. The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives in order of appointment:
   1. Speaker of the House of Representatives (Bronwyn Bishop)
   2. President of the Senate (Stephen Parry)
3. The Chief Justice of Australia (Robert French)
4. 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
5. Members of the Federal Executive Council:
   1. Vice-President of the Executive Council, Attorney-General and Minister for the Arts (George Brandis)
   2. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development (Warren Truss)
   3. Minister for Foreign Affairs (Julie Bishop)
   4. Minister for Employment and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on the Public Service (Eric Abetz)
   5. Treasurer (Joe Hockey)
   6. Minister for Agriculture (Barnaby Joyce)
   7. Minister for Education and Training (Christopher Pyne)
   8. Minister for Indigenous Affairs (Nigel Scullion)
   9. Minister for Industry and Science (Ian Macfarlane)
   10. Minister for Social Services (Scott Morrison)
   11. Minister for Communications (Malcolm Turnbull)
   12. Minister for Health and Minister for Sport (Sussan Ley)
   13. Minister for Small Business (Bruce Billson)
   14. Minister for Trade and Investment (Andrew Robb)
   15. Minister for Defence (Kevin Andrews)
   16. Minister for Environment (Greg Hunt)
   17. Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (Peter Dutton)
   18. Minister for Finance (Mathias Cormann)
   19. Assistant Minister for Social Services (Mitch Fifield)
   20. Assistant Minister for Health (Fiona Nash)
   21. Assistant Minister for Employment (Luke Hartsuyker)
   22. Assistant Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC (Michael Ronaldson)
   23. Assistant Minister for Education (Simon Birmingham)
   24. Minister for Human Services (Marise Payne)
   25. Minister for Justice (Michael Keenan)
   26. Assistant Minister for Defence (Stuart Robert)
   27. Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women (Michaelia Cash)
   28. Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development (Jamie Briggs)
   29. Assistant Treasurer (Josh Frydenberg)
   30. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture (Richard Colbeck)
   31. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry and Science (Karen Andrews)
   32. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Trade and Investment (Steven Ciobo)
   33. Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer (Kelly O'Dwyer)
   34. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social Services (Concetta Fierravanti-Wells)
   35. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment (Bob Baldwin)
   36. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education and Training (Scott Ryan)
   37. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence (Darren Chester)
   38. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications (Paul Fletcher)
   39. Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister (Christian Porter)
   40. Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister (Alan Tudge)
   41. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance (Michael McCormack)
6. 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)
7. The Leader of the Opposition (Bill Shorten)
8. 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)
9. 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)
10. 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)
11. 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)
12. The Chief Minister of the Northern Territory (Adam Giles)
13. The Chief Minister of Norfolk Island (Lisle Snell)
14. The Lord Mayor "within their City" (only applicable in a city with a Lord Mayor)
15. Justices of the High Court in order of appointment:
    1. Kenneth Hayne (appointed 1997)
    2. Susan Crennan (appointed 2005)
    3. Susan Kiefel (appointed 2007)
    4. Virginia Bell (appointed 2009)
    5. Stephen Gageler (appointed 2012)
    6. Patrick Keane (appointed 2013)
16. The Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia (James Allsop)
17. The President of Fair Work Australia (Iain Ross)
18. Chief Justices of States in order of appointment:
    1. Chief Justice of Victoria (Marilyn Warren)
    2. Chief Justice of Western Australia (Wayne Martin)
    3. Chief Justice of New South Wales (Tom Bathurst)
    4. Chief Justice of South Australia (Chris Kourakis)
    5. Chief Justice of Tasmania (Alan Blow)
    6. Chief Justice of Queensland (Tim Carmody)
19. The Chief of the Defence Force (Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin)
20. Australian members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
    1. Doug Anthony
    2. Ian Sinclair
21. Chief Judges of Federal Courts in order of appointment
22. Members of Parliament (see list of Australian Senators and list of members of the Australian House of Representatives)
23. Judges of Federal Courts and Deputy Presidents of the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission in order of appointment
24. 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)
25. Heads of religious communities according to the date of assuming office in Australia
26. Presiding officers of State Legislatures in order of appointment
    1. Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly (Michael Sutherland)
    2. President of the Western Australian Legislative Council (Barry House)
    3. President of the Victorian Legislative Council (Bruce Atkinson)
    4. President of the New South Wales Legislative Council (Don Harwin)
    5. Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (Shelley Hancock)
    6. Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly (Michael Atkinson)
    7. President of the Tasmanian Legislative Council (Jim Wilkinson)
    8. Speaker of the Tasmanian House of Assembly (Elise Archer)
    9. President of the South Australian Legislative Council (Russell Wortley)
    10. Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly (Telmo Languiller)
    11. Speaker of the Queensland Legislative Assembly (Peter Wellington)
27. Speaker of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly (Kezia Purick)
28. Speaker of the Norfolk Island Legislative Assembly (David Buffett)
29. Members of State Executive Councils in order of appointment
30. Members of the Northern Territory Executive Council in order of appointment
31. Leaders of the Opposition of State Legislatures in order of state populations
    1. New South Wales (Luke Foley)
    2. Victoria (Matthew Guy)
    3. Queensland (Lawrence Springborg)
    4. Western Australia (Mark McGowan)
    5. South Australia (Steven Marshall)
    6. Tasmania (Bryan Green)
32. Leader of the Opposition of the Northern Territory Legislature (Delia Lawrie)
33. Judges of State Supreme Courts in order of appointment
34. Members of State Legislatures in order of state populations
35. Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
36. Members of the Norfolk Island Legislative Assembly
37. 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)
    2. Chief of the Army (Lieutenant General David Morrison)
    3. Chief of the Air Force (Air Marshal Geoff Brown)
    4. Chief of the Navy (Vice Admiral Tim Barrett)
38. Consuls-General, Consuls and Vice-Consuls according to the date on which recognition was granted
39. Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Australian Capital Territory
40. 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 ACT Chief Minister or the Leader of the Opposition. This appears to be an oversight after the ACT was granted Self Government. This has been raised with the Australian Capital Territory Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.This is expected to be resolved in 2015 ^[1]

References

• 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