Australian orders of precedence


Australia has several orders of precedence that depends on whether an event is organised by the Commonwealth or a state. This is a reflection of the continuing partial sovereignty of the states.

Commonwealth order of precedence

The following is the federal order of precedence for Australia:
  1. King of Australia: King Charles III
  2. Governor-General of Australia: Sam Mostyn
  3. Governor of the State when within their own State.
  4. Governors of the other States in order of appointment:
  5. #Governor of New South Wales: Margaret Beazley
  6. #Governor of Tasmania: Barbara Baker
  7. #Governor of South Australia: Frances Adamson
  8. #Governor of Queensland: Jeannette Young
  9. #Governor of Western Australia: Chris Dawson
  10. #Governor of Victoria: Margaret Gardner
  11. When within the Northern Territory, the Administrator of the Northern Territory: Hugh Heggie
  12. Prime Minister: Anthony Albanese
  13. When within their own State or Territory, the Premier of the State or the Chief Minister of the Territory
  14. The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives in order of election :
  15. #President of the Senate: Senator Sue Lines
  16. #Speaker of the House of Representatives: Milton Dick
  17. Chief Justice of Australia: Stephen Gageler
  18. Senior diplomatic posts:
  19. #Ambassadors and High Commissioners in order of date of presentation of the Letters of Credence or Commission
  20. #Chargés d'affaires en pied or en titre in order of date of presentation of the Letters of Credence or Commission
  21. #Chargés d'affaires ad interim and Acting High Commissioners in order of date of assumption of duties
  22. Members of the Federal Executive Council under summons :
  23. #
  24. The Administrator of the Northern Territory: Hugh Heggie
  25. The Leader of the Opposition: Sussan Ley
  26. Former holders of high offices:
  27. #Former governors-general in order of leaving office:
  28. ##Sir William Deane
  29. ##Peter Hollingworth
  30. ##Dame Quentin Bryce
  31. ##General Sir Peter Cosgrove
  32. ##David Hurley
  33. #Former prime ministers in order of leaving office:
  34. ##Paul Keating
  35. ##John Howard
  36. ##Kevin Rudd
  37. ##Julia Gillard
  38. ##Tony Abbott
  39. ##Malcolm Turnbull
  40. ##Scott Morrison
  41. #Former chief justices in order of leaving office:
  42. ##Anthony Mason
  43. ##Murray Gleeson
  44. ##Robert French
  45. ##Susan Kiefel
  46. Premiers of states in order of state populations, then chief ministers of the territories in order of territory populations:
  47. #Premier of New South Wales: Chris Minns
  48. #Premier of Victoria: Jacinta Allan
  49. #Premier of Queensland: David Crisafulli
  50. #Premier of Western Australia: Roger Cook
  51. #Premier of South Australia: Peter Malinauskas
  52. #Premier of Tasmania: Jeremy Rockliff
  53. #Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory: Andrew Barr
  54. #Chief Minister of the Northern Territory: Lia Finocchiaro
  55. The lord mayor when within their jurisdiction
  56. Justices of the High Court in order of appointment:
  57. #Michelle Gordon
  58. #James Edelman
  59. #Simon Steward
  60. #Jacqueline Sarah Gleeson
  61. #Jayne Jagot
  62. #Robert Beech-Jones
  63. Senior judges:
  64. #Chief justice of the Federal Court of Australia: Debra Mortimer
  65. #Chief justice of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia : Will Alstergren
  66. #Chief judge of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia : Jointly held with the above by Will Alstergren
  67. The chief justice of the Supreme Court of the jurisdiction
  68. The other chief justices of the Supreme Courts of the States and Territories in order of appointment :
  69. #Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia: Chris Kourakis
  70. #Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory: Michael Grant
  71. #Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia: Peter Quinlan
  72. #Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales: Andrew Bell
  73. #Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory: Lucy McCallum
  74. #Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland: Helen Bowskill
  75. #Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Tasmania: Chris Shanahan
  76. #Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria: Richard Niall
  77. Australian members of the Privy Council in order of appointment:
  78. #Ian Sinclair
  79. #Sir William Heseltine
  80. The chief of the Defence Force
  81. Chief judges of State and Territory courts in order of their appointment to any of their respective jurisdictions' courts
  82. Members of parliament
  83. Presidents of federal tribunals:
  84. #President of the Fair Work Commission: Adam Hatcher SC
  85. #President of the Administrative Review Tribunal: Emilios Kyrou
  86. Other judges of federal, state and territory courts in order of their appointment to any of their respective jurisdictions' courts
  87. Lord mayors of capital cities in order of city populations:
  88. #Lord mayor of Sydney: Councillor Clover Moore
  89. #Lord mayor of Melbourne: Councillor Nicholas Reece
  90. #Lord mayor of Brisbane: Councillor Adrian Schrinner
  91. #Lord mayor of Perth: Bruce Reynolds
  92. #Lord mayor of Adelaide: Dr Jane Lomax-Smith
  93. #Lord mayor of Hobart: Councillor Anna Reynolds
  94. #Lord mayor of Darwin: Lord Mayor of Darwin, Kon Vatskalis
  95. Heads of religious communities according to the date of assuming office in Australia
  96. The presiding officer of the state legislature when in their own jurisdiction.
  97. Presiding officers of the other state legislatures in order of appointment, then presiding officer of territory legislatures in order of appointment:
  98. #President of the Tasmanian Legislative Council: Craig Farrell
  99. #President of the Western Australian Legislative Council: Alanna Clohesy
  100. #President of the South Australian Legislative Council: Terry Stephens
  101. #Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly: Maree Edwards
  102. #President of the Victorian Legislative Council: Shaun Leane
  103. #President of the New South Wales Legislative Council: Ben Franklin
  104. #Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly: Greg Piper
  105. #Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly: Leon Bignell
  106. #Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland: Pat Weir
  107. #Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly: Stephen Price
  108. #Speaker of the Tasmanian House of Assembly: Jacquie Petrusma
  109. #Speaker of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly: Robyn Lambley
  110. #Speaker of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly: Mark Parton
  111. The members of the particular State Executive Council under summons, then the members of the other State Executive Councils in order of state populations, and then the ministers of the Australian Capital Territory and then members of the Northern Territory Executive Council:
  112. #Executive Council of New South Wales
  113. #Executive Council of Victoria
  114. #Executive Council of Queensland
  115. #Executive Council of Western Australia
  116. #Executive Council of South Australia
  117. #Executive Council of Tasmania
  118. #Ministers of the Australian Capital Territory
  119. #Executive Council of the Northern Territory
  120. The Leader of the Opposition of the particular State, and then Leaders of the Opposition of State Legislatures in order of state populations, then Leaders of the Opposition in Territory Legislatures in order of territory populations:
  121. #Leader of the Opposition of New South Wales: Kellie Sloane
  122. #Leader of the Opposition of Victoria: Jess Wilson
  123. #Leader of the Opposition of Queensland: Steven Miles
  124. #Leader of the Opposition of Western Australia: Basil Zempilas
  125. #Leader of the Opposition of South Australia: Vincent Tarzia
  126. #Leader of the Opposition of Tasmania: Josh Willie
  127. #Leader of the Opposition of the Australian Capital Territory: Mark Parton
  128. #Leader of the Opposition of the Northern Territory: Selena Uibo
  129. Members of the Federal Executive Council not under summons
  130. Members of the particular State or Territory legislature, and then Members of State and Territory Legislatures in order of population:
  131. #New South Wales Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council
  132. #Victorian Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council
  133. #Legislative Assembly of Queensland
  134. #Western Australian Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council
  135. #South Australian House of Assembly and Legislative Council
  136. #Tasmanian House of Assembly and Legislative Council
  137. #Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
  138. #Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
  139. The Secretaries of Departments of the Australian Public Service and their peers and the Chiefs of the Air Force, Army, and Navy in order of first appointment to this group:
  140. #Chief of Army: Lieutenant General Simon Stuart
  141. #Chief of Navy: Vice Admiral Mark Hammond
  142. #Chief of Air Force: Air Marshal Stephen Chappell
  143. Consuls-General, Consuls and Vice-Consuls according to the date on which recognition was granted
  144. Recipients of awards and honours, at or above the Knight Bachelor, precedence being established according to the Australian honours order of wearing, and recipients of equivalent awards according to the date on which the award was announced.

    State orders of precedence

Each of the Australian states also publishes an order of precedence that differs from the Commonwealth order of precedence, generally with the relevant premier and state officials given higher precedence compared to federal officials.