Administrator of the State

The title Administrator of the Government (Administrator) has several uses in Australia.

Section 4 of the Australian Constitution provides that:

Accordingly, an Administrator is appointed when the Governor-General dies, resigns or is absent from Australia. The Administrator is styled either Administrator of the Commonwealth or, less commonly, Administrator of the Government of the Commonwealth. By convention, the Administrator is usually the longest serving state Governor, who holds a dormant commission from the sovereign (currently Elizabeth II).

On 11 May 2003, the letters patent commissioning the Governor-General were amended to enable Peter Hollingworth to stand aside as Governor-General following a controversy about his past handling of child abuse allegations, and Tasmanian Governor Guy Green was appointed Administrator until Hollingworth's permanent replacement (Major-Gen Michael Jeffery) took office on 8 August 2003.

The present longest serving State Governor is Paul de Jersey who has been Governor of Queensland since 29 July 2014 and holds the dormant commission to act as the Administrator of the Commonwealth when the Governor-General is absent from Australia. The second-longest serving State Governor is Hieu Van Le who has been Governor of South Australia since 1 September 2014.

In the Australian states, when the Governor dies, resigns or is absent, the Lieutenant-Governor (appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Premier) performs the official duties of the Governor as Administrator until a new Governor is appointed. In the absence of both a Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, the Chief Justice of the state's Supreme Court or the next most senior Puisne Judge, traditionally holding, ex officio, the position of Lieutenant-Governor, assumes his or her position as head of the executive until a Governor is appointed. In 2001, the Constitution of Queensland was amended to restore the office of Lieutenant-Governor in that state.

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