Attorney-General of Victoria

The Attorney-General of Victoria, in formal contexts also Attorney-General or Attorney General for Victoria,^[1] is a minister in the Government of Victoria, Australia. The Attorney-General is a senior minister in the state government and the First Law Officer of the State.

Attorney-General of Victoria
Victorian coat of arms
Flag of Victoria
Incumbent Sonya Kilkenny since 19 December 2024
Department of Justice and Community Safety
Style	The Honourable
Member of	Parliament Cabinet Executive Council
Reports to	Premier of Victoria
Seat	Level 26, 121 Exhibition Street, Melbourne
Nominator	Premier of Victoria
Appointer	Governor of Victoria on the advice of the premier
Term length	At the governor's pleasure
Formation	15 Jul 1851
First holder	Sir William Stawell
Deputy	Solicitor-General
Website	www.justice.vic.gov.au

The current Attorney-General of Victoria has, since December 2024, been Sonya Kilkenny of the Australian Labor Party. The Attorney-General is one of the ministers who administer parts of the Victorian Department of Justice and Community Safety, with responsibility for the state's courts and tribunals.

Bill Slater served as Attorney-General of Victoria 6 separate times and Arthur Rylah holds the record for the longest term of 11 years and 334 days.

Colonial Victoria

Order	MP[2]	Term start	Term end	Time in office	Notes
1	William Stawell MP	15 July 1851	25 February 1857	5 years, 225 days	[3][4][5]
2	Thomas Fellows MP	25 February 1857	11 March 1857	14 days	[4]
3	Henry Samuel Chapman^	11 March 1857	29 April 1857	49 days	[6]
4	Archibald Michie MP	29 April 1857	10 March 1858	315 days	[7]
(3)	Henry Samuel Chapman MP	10 March 1858	27 October 1859	1 year, 231 days	[8]
5	John Wood MP	27 October 1859	26 November 1860	1 year, 30 days	[9]
6	Richard Davies Ireland MP	26 November 1860	29 July 1861	245 days	[10]
7	Butler Cole Aspinall MP	29 July 1861	14 November 1861	108 days
(6)	Richard Davies Ireland MP	14 November 1861	27 June 1863	1 year, 225 days	[11]
8	George Higinbotham MP	27 June 1863	6 May 1868	4 years, 314 days	[12]
9	Morgan McDonnell MP	6 May 1868	11 July 1868	66 days	[13]
10	George Paton Smith MP	11 July 1868	20 September 1869	1 year, 71 days	[14]
(9)	Morgan McDonnell MP	20 September 1869	9 April 1870	201 days	[15]
(4)	Archibald Michie MP	9 April 1870	19 June 1871	1 year, 71 days	[16]
11	Robert Walsh MP	5 July 1871	10 June 1872	341 days	[17]
12	James Stephen MP	10 June 1872	1 May 1874	1 year, 325 days	[18]
13	George Kerferd MP	2 May 1874	7 August 1875	1 year, 97 days	[18][19]
14	Robert Le Poer Trench^	9 August 1875	20 October 1875	72 days	[20][21]
(13)	George Kerferd MP	20 October 1875	21 May 1877	1 year, 213 days	[22]
(14)	Robert Le Poer Trench^	22 May 1877	27 March 1878	309 days	[23]
15	Bryan O'Loghlen MP	27 March 1878	5 March 1880	1 year, 344 days	[23][24]
(13)	George Kerferd MP	5 March 1880	3 August 1880	151 days	[25]
16	William Vale MP	3 August 1880	9 July 1881	340 days	[26]
(15)	Bryan O'Loghlen MP	9 July 1881	8 March 1883	1 year, 242 days	[27]
(13)	George Kerferd MP	8 March 1883	1 January 1886	2 years, 299 days	[28]
17	Henry Wrixon MP	18 February 1886	5 November 1890	4 years, 260 days	[29]
18	William Shiels MP	5 November 1890	16 February 1892	1 year, 103 days	[30]
19	John Gavan Duffy MP	16 February 1892	28 April 1892	72 days	[31]
(18)	William Shiels MP	28 April 1892	23 January 1893	270 days
(15)	Bryan O'Loghlen MP	23 January 1893	27 September 1894	1 year, 247 days	[32]
20	Isaac Isaacs MP	27 September 1894	5 December 1899	5 years, 69 days	[33]
21	William Irvine MP	5 December 1899	19 November 1900	349 days	[34]
(20)	Isaac Isaacs MP	19 November 1900	4 June 1901	197 days	[35][36]
22	Samuel Gillott MP	4 June 1901	10 June 1902	1 year, 6 days	[36]

Post-federation

Order	MP[2]	Party affiliation		Term start	Term end	Time in office	Notes
(21)	William Irvine MP		Reform	10 June 1902	7 September 1903	1 year, 89 days	[37]
23	John Mark Davies MLC			7 September 1903	8 January 1909	5 years, 123 days	[38][39]
24	James Drysdale Brown MLC		Commonwealth Liberal	8 January 1909	9 December 1913	4 years, 335 days	[40][41]
25	William Evans MLC		Labor	9 December 1913	22 December 1913	13 days	[42]
26	Donald Mackinnon MP		Commonwealth Liberal	22 December 1913	9 November 1915	1 year, 322 days	[43][44]
27	Harry Lawson MP			9 November 1915	29 November 1917	2 years, 20 days	[44]
28	Agar Wynne MP		Nationalist	29 November 1917	21 March 1918	112 days	[45]
(27)	Harry Lawson MP			21 March 1918	21 October 1919	1 year, 214 days	[46]
29	Arthur Robinson MLC			21 October 1919	11 July 1924	4 years, 264 days	[46][47]
30	Henry Cohen MLC			11 July 1924	18 July 1924	7 days	[47]
31	Bill Slater MP		Labor	18 July 1924	18 November 1924	123 days	[48]
32	Frederic Eggleston MP		Nationalist	18 November 1924	28 April 1927	2 years, 161 days	[49]
33	John Allan MP		Country	28 April 1927	20 May 1927	22 days
(31)	Bill Slater MP		Labor	20 May 1927	22 November 1928	1 year, 186 days	[50]
34	Ian Macfarlan MP		Nationalist	22 November 1928	12 December 1929	1 year, 20 days	[51][52]
(31)	Bill Slater MP		Labor	12 December 1929	19 May 1932	2 years, 159 days	[53]
35	Robert Menzies MP		United Australia Party	19 May 1932	25 July 1934	2 years, 67 days	[54]
(34)	Ian Macfarlan MP			25 July 1934	2 April 1935	251 days
36	Albert Bussau MP		United Country	2 April 1935	18 April 1938	3 years, 16 days	[55]
37	Henry Bailey MP			26 April 1938	14 September 1943	5 years, 141 days	[56][55]
(31)	Bill Slater MP		Labor	14 September 1943	18 September 1943	4 days	[57]
(34)	Ian Macfarlan MP		United Australia Party	18 September 1943	21 November 1945	2 years, 64 days	[58][59]
(31)	Bill Slater MP		Labor	21 November 1945	20 November 1947	1 year, 364 days	[60]
38	Trevor Oldham MP		Liberal	20 November 1947	27 June 1950	2 years, 219 days	[61]
39	Tom Mitchell MP		Country	27 June 1950	28 October 1952	2 years, 123 days	[62]
40	Thomas Hollway MP		Electoral Reform League	28 October 1952	31 October 1952	3 days	[63]
(39)	Tom Mitchell MP		Country	31 October 1952	17 December 1952	47 days	[64][65]
(31)	Bill Slater MLC		Labor	17 December 1952	7 June 1955	2 years, 172 days	[66]
41	William Leggatt MP		Liberal Country Party	7 June 1955	8 June 1955	1 day	[67]
42	Arthur Rylah MP			8 June 1955	9 May 1967	11 years, 335 days
43	George Reid MP			9 May 1967	30 May 1973	6 years, 21 days	[67][68]
44	Vernon Wilcox MP		Liberal	30 May 1973	31 March 1976	2 years, 306 days	[68]
45	Alan Hunt MLC			31 March 1976	6 May 1976	36 days
46	Haddon Storey MLC			6 May 1976	8 April 1982	5 years, 337 days	[68][69]
47	John Cain MP		Labor	8 April 1982	8 September 1983	1 year, 153 days	[70]
48	Jim Kennan MLC			8 September 1983	14 December 1987	4 years, 97 days
49	Andrew McCutcheon MP			14 December 1987	2 April 1990	2 years, 109 days	[70][71]
(48)	Jim Kennan MP			2 April 1990	6 October 1992	2 years, 187 days	[71][72]
50	Jan Wade MP		Liberal	6 October 1992	20 October 1999	7 years, 14 days	[73]
51	Rob Hulls MP		Labor	20 October 1999	2 December 2010	11 years, 43 days	[74][75]
52	Robert Clark MP		Liberal	2 December 2010	4 December 2014	4 years, 2 days	[76][77]
53	Martin Pakula MP		Labor	4 December 2014	29 November 2018	3 years, 360 days	[78]
54	Jill Hennessy MP			29 November 2018	16 December 2020	2 years, 17 days
55	Jaclyn Symes MLC			22 December 2020	19 December 2024	3 years, 363 days	[78][79]
56	Sonya Kilkenny MP			19 December 2024	Incumbent	201 days	[80]

See also

• Victoria portal
• Politics portal

• Justice ministry
• Politics of Victoria