August 22, 2023 – UPDATE
The Chief Justice of the High Court, Susan Kiefel, will retire from the court on November 6, 2023. On August 22, Prime Minister Albanese and Attorney-General Dreyfus announced that the second-most senior justice, Stephen Gageler, will succeed Kiefel as the 14th Chief Justice since 1903.
Kiefel’s position on the court will be taken by Robert Beech-Jones, a judge of the NSW Supreme Court since 2012. For the past two years, Beech-Jones has been the Chief Judge at Common Law and a judge of the NSW Court of Appeal.
Following today’s announcement of Gageler’s appointment, the next vacancy is likely to come in 2028 when Gageler will turn 70 and be constitutionally retired.
Five of the current justices are in their 50s and one is in his 40s. Assuming there are no deaths or early retirements, the next vacancy after Gageler will be in 2034 when Michelle Gordon turns 70. The court may be about to experience a long period of stability.
There are seven Justices of the High Court of Australia.
Justices are appointed by the Federal Government, on advice to the Governor-General, under Section 72 of the Constitution.
The High Court was established in 1903 with three Justices. Two more were added in 1906, followed by another two in 1913. The number fell back to six between 1931 and 1946.
There have been a total of fifty-seven justices who have served since 1903. Thirty-seven justices (65%) have been appointed by non-Labor governments. Labor governments have appointed twenty justices (35%).
- The governments of six Prime Ministers appointed 31 of the 57 justices: Menzies 8, Howard 6, Deakin 5, Fraser 5, Fisher 4, Hawke 3.
- The governments of eleven prime ministers each appointed two justices: Hughes, Scullin, Gorton, McMahon, Whitlam, Keating, Rudd, Gillard, Abbott, Morrison and Albanese.
- The governments of four prime ministers each appointed one justice: Bruce, Lyons, Chifley and Turnbull.
- The ten governments of prime ministers Barton, Watson, Reid, Cook, Page, Fadden, Curtin, Forde, Holt and McEwen made no appointments to the High Court.
- The longest-serving justice was Sir Edward McTiernan, appointed by the Scullin Labor government, who served for 45 years, 8 months and 23 days between 1930 and 1976, retiring when he was 84.
- The oldest-serving justice was Sir George Rich, appointed by the Fisher Labor government, who served for 37 years and one month between 1913 and 1950, retiring when he was 87.
- The shortest-serving justice was Albert Piddington, appointed by the Fisher Labor government, who served just for just one month in 1913 and never actually sat on the bench. Piddington resigned after controversy over his appointment.
- The second shortest-serving justice was Sir Cyril Walsh, appointed by the Gorton Liberal government, who served for 3 years, 2 months and 9 days between 1969 and 1973. He is one of ten justices who died in office.
- The longest-serving Chief Justice was Sir Garfield Barwick, appointed by the Menzies Liberal government, who served for 16 years, 9 months and 15 days between 1964 and 1981. The second longest-serving Chief Justice was Sir John Latham, appointed by the Lyons United Australia Party government, who served for 16 years, 5 months and 27 days between 1935 and 1952.
- Eight Chief Justices first served as Justices of the High Court: Sir Isaac Isaacs, Frank Gavan Duffy, Sir Owen Dixon, Sir Harry Gibbs, Sir Anthony Mason, Sir Gerard Brennan, Susan Kiefel and Stephen Gageler.
Since the constitutional amendment of 1977, Justices are required to retire when they turn 70.
Knighthoods were bestowed upon 30 of the 35 justices appointed between 1903 and 1982. The last was Sir Daryl Dawson, in 1982. The Hawke government abolished imperial honours in the 1980s.
Nine of the fourteen Chief Justices are deceased. Four of Chief Justice Stephen Gageler’s predecessors are still living: Anthony Mason, Murray Gleeson, Robert French and Susan Kiefel.
Thirty-three of the fifty-seven justices are deceased. In addition to the current bench of seven, there are seventeen former justices still living. The oldest is [showcurrentage month=”4″ day=”21″ year=”1925″ template=”1″]-year-old former Chief Justice Sir Anthony Mason, who was first appointed by the McMahon Liberal government in 1972.
The tables below show the current court, Chief Justices and a complete list of all Justices since 1903. Each seat on the court has a number (1-7) which is shown for each occupant.
The Current Court
| Justices of the Australian High Court – as of November 6, 2023 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Name | State | Appointed by | Seat | Term Began | Retires | Birth | Age |
| Stephen Gageler CJ | Gillard (ALP) Albanese (ALP) |
06.11.2023 (CJ) |
||||||
| Michelle Gordon | Abbott (Lib) | |||||||
| James Edelman | Turnbull (Lib) | |||||||
| Simon Steward | Morrison (Lib) | |||||||
| Jacqueline Gleeson | Morrison (Lib) | |||||||
| Jayne Jagot | Albanese (ALP) | |||||||
| Robert Beech-Jones | Albanese (ALP) | |||||||
Chief Justices
| Chief Justices of the Australian High Court | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Name | State | Appointed by | Seat | Term Began | Term Ended | Reason | Birth | Death | Age |
| (Sir) Samuel Griffith CJ | Deakin (Prot) | |||||||||
| (Sir) Adrian Knox CJ | Hughes (Nat) | |||||||||
| (Sir) Isaac Isaacs CJ | Deakin (Prot) Scullin (ALP) |
02.04.1930 (CJ) |
||||||||
| (Sir) Frank G. Duffy CJ | Fisher (ALP) Scullin (ALP) |
22.01.1931 (CJ) |
||||||||
| (Sir) John Latham CJ | Lyons (UAP) | |||||||||
| (Sir) Owen Dixon CJ | Bruce (Nat) Menzies (Lib) |
18.04.1952 (CJ) |
||||||||
| (Sir) Garfield Barwick CJ | Menzies (Lib) | |||||||||
| (Sir) Harry Gibbs CJ | Gorton (Lib) Hawke (ALP) |
12.02.1981 (CJ) |
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| (Sir) Anthony Mason CJ | McMahon (Lib) Hawke (ALP) |
06.02.1987 (CJ) |
||||||||
| (Sir) Gerard Brennan CJ | Fraser (Lib) Keating (ALP) |
21.04.1995 (CJ) |
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| Murray Gleeson CJ | Howard (Lib) | |||||||||
| Robert French CJ | Rudd (ALP) | |||||||||
| Susan Kiefel CJ | Howard (Lib) Turnbull (Lib) |
30.01.2017 (CJ) |
||||||||
| Stephen Gageler CJ | Gillard (ALP) Albanese (ALP) |
06.11.2023 (CJ) |
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Justices – Complete List
Seat One – 7 Justices: Griffith, Knox, McTiernan, Aickin, Dawson, Hayne, Gordon.
Seat Two – 7 Justices: Barton, Starke, Fullagar, Owen, Mason, Gummow, Gageler.
Seat Three – 11 Justices: O’Connor, Duffy, Latham, Taylor, Walsh, Jacobs, Wilson, McHugh, Crennan, Nettle, Steward.
Seat Four – 8 Justices: Isaacs, Webb, Menzies, Murphy, Toohey, Callinan, Kiefel, Beech-Jones
Seat Five – 7 Justices: Higgins, Dixon, Barwick, Brennan, M.Gleeson, French, Edelman.
Seat Six – 9 Justices: Powers, Evatt, Williams, Windeyer, Stephen, Deane, Kirby, Bell, J.Gleeson.
Seat Seven – 8 Justices: Piddington, Rich, Kitto, Gibbs, Gaudron, Heydon, Keane, Jagot.
| Justices of the Australian High Court – Complete List in Order of Appointment | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Name | State | Appointed by | Seat | Term Began | Term Ended | Reason | Birth | Death | Age |
| (Sir) Samuel Griffith CJ | Deakin (Prot) | |||||||||
| (Sir) Edmund Barton | Deakin (Prot) | |||||||||
| Richard E. O’Connor | Deakin (Prot) | |||||||||
| (Sir) Isaac Isaacs CJ | Deakin (Prot) Scullin (ALP) |
02.04.1930 (CJ) |
||||||||
| Henry B. Higgins | Deakin (Prot) | |||||||||
| (Sir) Frank G. Duffy CJ | Fisher (ALP) | 22.01.1931 (CJ) |
||||||||
| (Sir) Charles Powers | Fisher (ALP) | |||||||||
| Albert B. Piddington | Fisher (ALP) | |||||||||
| (Sir) George Rich | Fisher (ALP) | |||||||||
| (Sir) Adrian Knox CJ | Hughes (Nat) | |||||||||
| (Sir) Hayden Starke | Hughes (Nat) | |||||||||
| (Sir) Owen Dixon CJ | Bruce (Nat) Menzies (Lib) |
18.04.1952 (CJ) |
13.04.1964 |
|||||||
| Herbert V. Evatt | Scullin (ALP) | |||||||||
| (Sir) Edward McTiernan | Scullin (ALP) | |||||||||
| (Sir) John Latham CJ | Lyons (UAP) | |||||||||
| (Sir) Dudley Williams | Menzies (UAP) | |||||||||
| (Sir) William Webb | Chifley (ALP) | |||||||||
| (Sir) Willfred Fullagar | Menzies (Lib) | |||||||||
| (Sir) Frank Kitto | Menzies (Lib) | |||||||||
| (Sir) Alan Taylor | Menzies (Lib) | |||||||||
| (Sir) Douglas Menzies | Menzies (Lib) | |||||||||
| (Sir) Victor Windeyer | Menzies (Lib) | |||||||||
| (Sir) (William) Owen Dixon | Menzies (Lib) | |||||||||
| (Sir) Garfield Barwick CJ | Menzies (Lib) | |||||||||
| (Sir) Cyril Walsh | Gorton (Lib) | |||||||||
| (Sir) Harry Gibbs CJ | Gorton (Lib) Hawke (ALP) |
12.02.1981 (CJ) |
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| (Sir) Ninian Stephen | McMahon (Lib) | |||||||||
| (Sir) Anthony Mason CJ | McMahon (Lib) Hawke (ALP) |
06.02.1987 (CJ) |
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| (Sir) Kenneth Jacobs | Whitlam (ALP) | |||||||||
| Lionel K. Murphy | Whitlam (ALP) | |||||||||
| (Sir) Keith Aickin | Fraser (Lib) | |||||||||
| (Sir) Ronald Wilson | Fraser (Lib) | |||||||||
| (Sir) Gerard Brennan CJ | Fraser (Lib) Keating (ALP) |
21.04.1995 (CJ) |
||||||||
| (Sir) William Deane | Fraser (Lib) Keating (ALP) |
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| (Sir) Daryl Dawson | Fraser (Lib) | |||||||||
| John Toohey | Hawke (ALP) | |||||||||
| Mary Gaudron | Hawke (ALP) | |||||||||
| Michael McHugh | Hawke (ALP) | |||||||||
| William Gummow | Keating (ALP) | |||||||||
| Michael Kirby | Keating (ALP) | |||||||||
| Kenneth Hayne | Howard (Lib) | |||||||||
| Ian Callinan | Howard (Lib) | |||||||||
| Murray Gleeson CJ | Howard (Lib) | |||||||||
| John Dyson Heydon | Howard (Lib) | |||||||||
| Susan Crennan | Howard (Lib) | |||||||||
| Susan Kiefel CJ | Howard (Lib) Turnbull (Lib) |
30.01.2017 (CJ) |
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| Robert French CJ | Rudd (ALP) | |||||||||
| Virginia Bell | Rudd (ALP) | |||||||||
| Stephen Gageler | Gillard (ALP) | 06.11.2023 (CJ) |
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| Patrick Keane | Gillard (ALP) | |||||||||
| Geoffrey Nettle | Abbott (Lib) | |||||||||
| Michelle Gordon | Abbott (Lib) | |||||||||
| James Edelman | Turnbull (Lib) | |||||||||
| Simon Steward | Morrison (Lib) | |||||||||
| Jacqueline Gleeson | Morrison (Lib) | |||||||||
| Jayne Jagot | Albanese (ALP) | |||||||||
| Robert Beech-Jones | Albanese (ALP) | |||||||||
