List of Justices of the High Court of Australia


The following table contains the details of the 48 men and five women who have ever been appointed as Justices of the High Court of Australia. The High Court of Australia was formed in 1903 under the Judiciary Act 1903, and under Section 71 of the Australian Constitution the judicial power of the Commonwealth of Australia is vested in the Court. Since the passing of the Australia Act 1986, the court has been the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy.
In a May 2017 speech, Justice Virginia Bell observed that "few Australians outside the law schools are
likely to be able to name the Chief Justice, let alone the puisne Justices of the High Court".

History

The court is currently composed of seven judges: six Justices and the Chief Justice of Australia.
Appointments were for life until 1977, when a mandatory retirement age of 70 was established, though several post-1977 Justices have retired before reaching the age of 70.

List of Justices

The current judges are listed in bold on the table below.
#ImageNameStateBirth/deathPositionTerm
began		Term
ended		Days in officePM at app'tPrior judicial
experience		Notes
1Qld1845–1920Chief JusticeDeakinChief Justice,
Sup Ct of Qld
2NSW1849–1920JusticeDeakin-Former Prime Minister
Died in office
3NSW1851–1912JusticeDeakin-Died in office
4Vic1855–1948Justice Deakin-Resigned to be appointed Governor-General
4Vic1855–1948Chief JusticeScullin-Resigned to be appointed Governor-General
5Vic1851–1929JusticeDeakin-Died in office
6Vic1852–1936Justice Fisher-
6Vic1852–1936Chief JusticeScullin-
7Qld1853–1939JusticeFisher-
8*NSW1862–1945Justice30 Fisher-Resigned before sitting
9NSW1863–1956Justice13,544FisherSup Ct of NSW
10NSW1863–1932Chief Justice3,817Hughes-
11Vic1871–1958Justice10,953Hughes-
12Vic1886–1972Justice Bruce-
12Vic1886–1972Chief Justice Menzies-
13NSW1894–1965Justice3,545Scullin-Resigned to return to politics
14NSW1892–1990JusticeScullin-
15Vic1877–1964Chief Justice6,023Lyons-
16NSW1889–1963Justice6,498MenziesSup Ct of NSW
17Qld1887–1972Justice4,383ChifleyChief Justice,
Sup Ct of Qld
18Vic1892–1961Justice4,169MenziesSup Ct of VicDied in office
19NSW1903–1994Justice7,388Menzies-
20NSW1901–1969Justice6,178MenziesSup Ct of NSWDied in office
21Vic1907–1974Justice6,014Menzies-Died in office
22NSW1900–1987Justice4,922Menzies-
23NSW1899–1972Justice3,843MenziesSup Ct of NSWDied in office
24NSW1903–1997Chief Justice6,134Menzies-
25NSW1909–1973Justice1,531GortonSup Ct of NSW
NSW Ct of App		Died in office
26Qld1917–2005Justice GortonFed Ct of BK
Sup Ct of Qld
26Qld1917–2005Chief Justice FraserFed Ct of BK
Sup Ct of Qld
27Vic1923–2017Justice3,723McMahonSup Ct of VicResigned to be appointed Governor-General
28NSW1925–Justice8,291 McMahonSup Ct of NSW
NSW Ct of App
28NSW1925–Chief Justice HawkeSup Ct of NSW
NSW Ct of App
29NSW1917–2015Justice1,883WhitlamSup Ct of NSW
NSW Ct of App
30NSW1922–1986Justice4,271Whitlam-Died in office
31Vic1916–1982Justice2,097Fraser-Died in office
32WA1922–2005Justice3,556 Fraser-
33Qld1928–Justice6,307 FraserFed Ct
33Qld1928–Chief Justice KeatingFed Ct
34NSW1931–Justice4,887 FraserFed CtResigned to be appointed Governor-General
35Vic1933–Justice5,495 Fraser-
36WA1930–2015Justice4,014 HawkeFed Ct
37NSW1943–Justice5,838 Hawke-
38NSW1935–Justice6,104 HawkeSup Ct of NSW
NSW Ct of App
39NSW1942–Justice6,381 KeatingFed Ct
40NSW1939–Justice4,745 KeatingSup Ct of NSW
Pres, NSW Ct of App
41Vic1945–Justice6,465 HowardSup Ct of Vic
Vic Ct of App
42Qld1937–Justice3,496 Howard-
43NSW1938–Chief Justice3,752 HowardChief Justice,
Sup Ct of NSW
44NSW1943–Justice3,681 HowardSup Ct of NSW
NSW Ct of App
45Vic1945–Justice3,381 HowardFed Ct
46'Qld1954–JusticeIncumbent HowardSup Ct of Qld
Fed Ct
46'Qld1954–Chief JusticeIncumbent TurnbullSup Ct of Qld
Fed Ct
47WA1947–Chief Justice3,072 RuddFed Ct
48'NSW1951–JusticeIncumbent RuddSup Ct of NSW
NSW Ct of App
49'NSW1958–JusticeIncumbent Gillard-
50'Qld1952–JusticeIncumbent GillardSup Ct of Qld
Fed Ct
51'Vic1950–JusticeIncumbent AbbottSup Ct of Vic
52'Vic1964–JusticeIncumbent AbbottFed Ct
53'WA1974–JusticeIncumbent TurnbullFed Ct
Sup Ct of WA

Current Justices

Composition of the High Court

13 politicians, serving or former, have been appointed to the High Court of Australia. Nine justices have served in the Parliament of Australia: Edmund Barton, Richard O'Connor, Isaac Isaacs, H. B. Higgins, Edward McTiernan, H. V. Evatt, John Latham, Garfield Barwick, and Lionel Murphy. All but Evatt were appointed after their parliamentary service; Evatt resigned from the bench in order to pursue his federal political career, although he had previously served in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. In addition to the above, four justices served in colonial parliaments: Samuel Griffith, Charles Powers, Albert Piddington and Adrian Knox, although all concluded their political careers more than 10 years prior to their appointments. As of 2020, the most recent justice to serve in state or federal parliament is Lionel Murphy.
This following chart illustrates the composition of the High Court. It indicates the seven seats of the court, and who has occupied each seat at different points in the court's existence. The red portions represent the future part of a judge's term and show the date at which they are bound to retire from the court. The blue portions of a judge's term show a period in which that judge was Chief Justice.