Australian Prime Ministers ranked by how long they were in office
Since Australia became a federation in 1901, 31 Prime Ministers have taken office.
Among them, only a handful have either served consecutive or non-consecutive terms, even though there is no limit to how long a PM can remain in the job as long, as they continue to be elected by the public.
Current PM Anthony Albanese has served just short of three years after coming into power in May 2022.
If he wins this upcoming federal election, Albanese will zoom up the list to become one of the top 10 longest-serving Prime Ministers of Australia.
Here, we take a look at every prime minister's term ranked from shortest to longest.
Read on to see the photos.
23. Harold Holt
Harold Holt is one of three prime ministers to die in office – and the only one to disappear.
On December 19, 1967, Holt was officially declared dead from drowning after he vanished while swimming.
His term was just short of two years when he went missing.
22. Tony Abbott
Tony Abbott served almost two years as Prime Minister between September 2013 and September 2015.
He stepped down after Malcolm Turnbull took his place in the famous leadership spill in 2015.
20. Edmond Barton
Sir Edmond Barton was Australia's first prime minister when the nation became a federation in 1901.
He served a modest term of two years and 266 days as leader of the Protectionist Party.
19. Kevin Rudd
Following his famous election slogan 'Kevin '07', Rudd became Australia's 26th prime minister in 2007, serving a term of two years and 203 days until 2010.
He is one of two PMs to serve non-consecutive terms, after becoming the nation's leader again in 2013 but this time for a short burst of 83 days.
Rudd was replaced by his deputy Julia Gillard following a leadership spill.
18. Anthony Albanese
Australia's current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese came into power in 2022 and is just shy of serving a three-year term ahead of the upcoming federal election.
16. Malcolm Turnbull
Former Liberal PM Malcolm Turnbull beat out Whitlam by only two days after serving two years and 343 days between 2015 and 2018.
15. Julia Gillard
Australia's first and only female Prime Minister Julia Gillard served a term of three years and three days between 2010 and 2013 after a leadership spill led to her stepping up as PM.
Gillard lost her position after another leadership spill in 2013 to Kevin Rudd, who then served his second term.
12. Scott Morrison
Scott Morrison served as PM during the height of COVID-19 between 2018 and 2022.
His term of three years and 272 days makes him the 12th longest-serving PM in Australian history.
11. Paul Keating
Paul Keating became PM during one of Labor's longest reigns in office.
His term was between 1991 and 1996 – four years and 82 days.
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