Australian Democrats Leaders 1978-2008

Don Chipp was the first leader of the Australian Democrats. Elected at the December 1977 federal election, he took office on July 1, 1978.

Chipp was the longest-serving leader of the Democrats. The second longest-serving leader, Cheryl Kernot, defected to the ALP in 1997, subsequently becoming a one-term Labor member in the House of Representatives.

At the November 2007 federal election, the last of the Australian Democrats senators lost their seats. Lyn Allison remained as leader until the expiry of her term on June 30, 2008.

Australian Democrats Leaders Since 1978
No.	Name	State	Began	Ended	Length
1	Don Chipp	Vic	01 Jul 1978	18 Aug 1986	8 years, 1 month, 17 days
2	Janine Haines	SA	18 Aug 1986	01 Mar 1990	3 years, 7 months, 10 days
3	Michael Macklin	Qld	1 Mar 1990	30 Jun 1990	4 months
4	Janet Powell	Vic	01 Jul 1990	19 Aug 1991	1 year, 1 month, 18 days
5	John Coulter	SA	02 Oct 1991	29 Apr 1993	1 year, 6 months, 27 days
6	Cheryl Kernot	Qld	29 Apr 1993	15 Oct 1997	4 years, 5 months, 16 days
7	Meg Lees	SA	Dec 1997	6 Apr 2001	3 years, 3 months
8	Natasha Stott Despoja	SA	6 Apr 2001	21 Aug 2002	1 year, 4 months, 15 days
9	Andrew Bartlett	Qld	5 Oct 2002	3 Nov 2004	2 years, 1 month, 29 days
10	Lyn Allison	Vic	3 Nov 2004	30 Jun 2008	3 years, 7 months, 27 days