Governor-General of Australia

The Governor-General of Australia is the representative in Australia of Australia's head of state, Charles III. The current Governor-General is Sam Mostyn.

Governor-General of Australia
Badge
Flag of the Governor-General
Incumbent Sam Mostyn since 1 July 2024
Viceregal
Style	His Excellency the Honourable
Residence	Government House (Canberra) Admiralty House (Sydney)
Seat	Canberra
Nominator	Prime Minister of Australia
Appointer	Monarch of Australia on the advice of the Prime Minister
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure (usually 5 years by convention)[1]
Formation	1 January 1901
First holder	The Earl of Hopetoun
Salary	A$495,000[2]
Website	gg.gov.au

The Governor-General of Australia is a powerful person in the country. The Governor-General is leader of the Executive Council and Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Defence Forces.

List of governors-general

No.	Term		Name
	From	To
1	1 January 1901	9 January 1903	John Adrian Louis Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun
2	9 January 1903	21 January 1904	Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson
3	21 January 1904	9 September 1908	Henry Northcote, 1st Baron Northcote
4	9 September 1908	31 July 1911	William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley
5	31 July 1911	18 May 1914	Thomas Denman, 3rd Baron Denman
6	18 May 1914	6 October 1920	Sir Ronald Munro-Ferguson
7	6 October 1920	8 October 1925	Henry Forster, 1st Baron Forster
8	8 October 1925	21 January 1931	John Baird, 1st Baron Stonehaven
9	21 January 1931	23 January 1936	Sir Isaac Isaacs
10	23 January 1936	30 January 1945	Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Baron Gowrie
11	30 January 1945	11 March 1947	Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester
12	11 March 1947	8 May 1953	Sir William McKell
13	8 May 1953	2 February 1960	Sir William Slim
14	2 February 1960	3 February 1961	William Morrison, 1st Viscount Dunrossil
15	3 August 1961	7 May 1965	William Sidney, 1st Viscount De L'Isle
16	7 May 1965	30 April 1969	Richard Gardiner Casey, Baron Casey
17	30 April 1969	11 July 1974	Sir Paul Hasluck
18	11 July 1974	8 December 1977	Sir John Kerr
19	8 December 1977	29 July 1982	Sir Zelman Cowen
20	29 July 1982	16 February 1989	Sir Ninian Stephen
21	16 February 1989	16 February 1996	Bill Hayden
22	16 February 1996	29 June 2001	Sir William Deane
23	29 June 2001	28 May 2003	Dr Peter Hollingworth
24	11 August 2003	9 September 2008	Major-General Michael Jeffery
25	10 September 2008	26 March 2014	Ms Quentin Bryce, AC
26	26 March 2014	1 July 2019	Sir Peter Cosgrove
27	1 July 2019	1 July 2024	David Hurley
28	1 July 2024		Sam Mostyn

Living former governors-general

As of October 2023^[update] there are five living former governors-general of Australia. The most recently deceased governor-general, Bill Hayden (1989–1996), died on 21 October 2023.

Name	Term of office	Date of birth
Sir William Deane	1996–2001	(1931-01-04) 4 January 1931 (age 94)
Peter Hollingworth	2001–2003	(1935-04-10) 10 April 1935 (age 90)
Dame Quentin Bryce	2008–2014	(1942-12-23) 23 December 1942 (age 82)
Sir Peter Cosgrove	2014–2019	(1947-07-28) 28 July 1947 (age 78)
David Hurley	2019–2024	(1953-08-26) 26 August 1953 (age 71)

Other websites

• Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia