Solicitor-General

The Solicitor-General is the second law officer of the Commonwealth of Australia.

The functions of the Solicitor-General under s 12 of the Law Officers Act 1964 (Cth) are to act as counsel for the Commonwealth and its emanations, to furnish opinions on questions of law referred to them by the Attorney-General and to perform such other functions ordinarily performed by counsel as the Attorney requests.

The Solicitor-General appears in most matters in the High Court of Australia involving the Commonwealth and its emanations and in select matters of importance in the intermediate appellate courts of Australia. The Solicitor-General has a wide practice, appearing in matters involving constitutional law, extradition, migration, native title, trade practices, taxation, corporations, customs, international arbitration and criminal law.

The Solicitor-General will ordinarily appear as one of the counsel representing the Commonwealth in all matters before international judicial and arbitral tribunals.

The Solicitor-General also provides a substantial number of legal opinions each year in Commonwealth matters.

The Solicitor-General is assisted by 2 counsel assisting and works in close collaboration with senior officers of the Attorney-General's Department, Australian Government Solicitor, other key departments and agencies and with leading counsel from the private bar.

Dr Ruth Higgins SC

Dr Ruth Higgins commences as Australia’s Solicitor-General on 8 June 2026. She is the first woman to be appointed to the position.

Dr Higgins holds a Doctor of Philosophy (Law) from Balliol College, University of Oxford and a Bachelor of Laws (Hons I) and Diploma of Legal Practice from the University of Glasgow. She was called to the New South Wales Bar in 2006 and appointed senior counsel in 2017. 

Dr Higgins is the immediate past President of the NSW Bar Association and served as a director of the Australian Bar Association and the Law Council of Australia. She has authored and edited several books, including The Moral Limits of Law and Rediscovering Rhetoric.

Between 2023 and 2026, Dr Higgins was a part-time member of the Takeovers Panel. She has lectured in law at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and was a Visiting Scholar at Columbia University and a Visiting Fellow at each of New College and Harris Manchester College, Oxford. Prior to being appointed, Dr Higgins practised nationally in competition law, constitutional law, class actions, energy, media, corporate criminal law and corporations law.

Dr Higgins’ appointment is for a term of 5 years until 7 June 2031.